A <code>BEGIN WORK</code> statement in [[SQL]] starts a [[database transaction|transaction]] within a [[relational database management system]] (RDBMS).
Any work done after this point will not be visible to other users, until a <code>[[Commit (SQL)|COMMIT]]</code> statement is issued. A <code>[[Rollback (data management)|ROLLBACK]]</code> statement can also be issued, which will undo any work performed since the <code>BEGIN WORK</code> command. Both <code>COMMIT</code> and <code>ROLLBACK</code> will end the transaction: another <code>BEGIN WORK</code> will need to be issued to start a new one.
Some database systems allow the synonyms <code>BEGIN</code> and <code>BEGIN TRANSACTION</code>, and may have other
