Money

Formatting of money requires consistency with the:

spacing around numerals, symbols and words
punctuation of larger numbers
placement of symbols denoting different currencies.

This section illustrates most style features using the Australian dollar, but you can also apply them when writing about other currencies.

Amounts below a million

Use numerals, with a comma to separate any thousands

$55

$5,500

Use numerals for sums of money below $1 million. Add a comma to separate thousands.

$92

$11,250

$3 980

$0.96 million

You can show amounts below $1 either:

with the cent symbol ‘c’ immediately after the number, or
as a decimal fraction.

If you’re using a decimal, make sure you have a zero before the decimal point and 2 digits after it.

45c

$0.45

$.45

$0.4

Millions and billions

Spell out the word ‘million’ or ‘billion’ in body text, with a space after the numeral

$4 million

$10.7 billion

You can generally mix words and numerals for large amounts of money, unless you need to be very specific.

$67 million

$1.2 billion

$1,200 million

See our Words or numerals entry for more detail about spelling numbers above 1 million.

If space is short, such as in a table or graph, use a shortened form. In this case, there is no space after the numeral.

$67m

$1.2b

Currencies

Don't use the 'A" symbol for the Australian dollar unless you also reference other dollar currencies. Use symbols for all other currencies.

$1,000

US$1,000

€1,000

If you are writing about Australian dollars to an Australian audience, you can simply reference the dollar without specifying it is the Australian dollar.

$1,000

Where you reference the dollar of more than one country, add the symbols for both to clarify which is which.

Each item costs A$100, which is around NZ$120 at today's exchange rate.

If you’re writing about another currency (such as the British pound), use the recognised symbol (such as £) before the number, with no space.

Currency	Symbol	Code
Australian dollars	A$1,000	AUD1,000
US dollars	US$1,000	USD1,000
New Zealand dollars	NZ$1,000	NZD1,000
Euros	€1,000	EUR1,000
British pounds	£1,000	GBP1,000
Japanese yen	¥1,000	JPY1,000

If you’re comparing multiple currencies, you can also use currency codes. This is more likely in a financial context.