How to Combine Dollars in AP Style

Writing about Dollars and Cents

• 1

  Use the dollar sign before the amount you are writing about; never write out the word "dollars" after any amount.

  $5

  $500

  $5,000

  $50,000

  $500,000

• 2

  Round amounts up or down when an exact figure is not essential to the story.

  Over $200,000 (not $203,052)

  Over $575,000 (not $579,001)

  or

  Almost $800,000 (not $797,964)

  Almost $450,000 (not $446,389)

• 3

  Write out the words with the dollar sign for amounts of $1 million and higher.

  $72 million

  $6 billion

  $2.7 trillion

• 4

  Write a number followed by the word "cents" for amounts of money less than $1.

  10 cents

  22 cents

  50 cents

  99 cents

Combining Dollars and Cents

• 5

  Use a dollar sign and a decimal point when writing an amount that combines dollars and cents.

  $62.50

  $459.03

  $5,698.22

• 6

  Add dollars and cents in writing by combining the forms from Section 1, Steps 1 and 4; and Section 2, Step 1.

  "The boy bought a piece of candy for 25 cents and a cake for $3, bringing his total to $3.25."

  "John spent a total of $56.23 on a present, $22.05 at one store and $34.18 at another."

• 7

  Add large dollar amounts to each other in writing by combining the forms from from Section 1, Steps 1 and 3.

  "The CEO earned $6.5 million and spent $3 million on a private plane, leaving him with $3.5 million."

  "Lisa spent $1.8 million last month, $1.5 million on a house and $300,000 on a yacht."