Formatting

Spacing

Don’t add a space between the currency symbol and the amount.

Decimals

Include a decimal and number of cents if more than 0. Also, be consistent. If you have one value that requires a decimal, apply it to all values in that sentence/table/page/flow. Use an en dash (–) when showing a range of amounts. Exception: Japanese yen and Korean won: there are no “cents”, and thus no decimal.

Numerals, words and abbreviations

When referring to money, use numerals. For cents or amounts of $1 million or more, spell the words cents, million, billion, trillion etc.

Examples: $26.52, $100,200, $8 million, 6 cents.

The abbreviations B for billion, M for million and K for thousand are often encountered, especially in newspaper headlines (Example: Foreign aid reduced by $5B in budget). Avoid them in formal writing. Note that there is no space between the numeral and the letter:

Sums of money are usually expressed in numerals, except when they refer to indefinite amounts or are used in a formal or legal context:

• a few thousand dollars
• a twenty-dollar bill
• Payments shall be made in equal instalments of two hundred and thirty dollars per month

Currency in digital products

If you decide to use “$”, be sure the dollar amount is displayed within reasonable proximity to the currency code. The preference, when space allows, is to use the currency code. Currency codes are specific to a currency and can’t be confused or misinterpreted by the reader. Currency symbols such as the dollar sign ($) aren’t unique and are easily misread.

Prices include

Many digital products require us to include an asterisk that corresponds with a disclaimer. The asterisk should follow the last digit with no spaces.

• 27.50* CAD
• $27.50*

Currency within body text

Show the currency symbol and country code abbreviation.