DOLLAR

Returns text representing a number in your currency format according to the regional setting you set for the form or web page.

Syntax:

DOLLAR(number, decimals)

returns text representing number as currency. decimals (optional, assumed to be 2 if omitted) sets the number of decimal places.

Example:

DOLLAR(255)

returns $255.00, if your currency is US dollars.

DOLLAR(367.456, 2)

returns $367.46, if your currency is US dollars.

Application:

Creating a Sales Report

Imagine you are a small business owner preparing a sales report. You have a list of products and their total sales, and you want to present this data clearly, with the sales figures formatted as currency.

Table:

	Product	Total Sales (Raw Number)	Total Sales (Formatted with DOLLAR)
	A	B	C
1	Laptop	2549.998	$2,550.00
2	Keyboard	150.25	$150.25
3	Monitor	550	$550.00
4	Mouse	45.751	$45.75
5	Webcam	99.99	$99.99

The Total Sales column contains raw numbers. To make them easier to read and understand as monetary values, you can use the DOLLAR function. The function takes two arguments:

number: The value you want to format. This can be a direct number, a cell reference, or a formula.
decimals: (Optional) The number of decimal places you want to display. If you omit this, the function defaults to 2. You can also use a negative number to round to the left of the decimal point.

Applying the DOLLAR function in a new column (Column C):

To format the "Total Sales" values, you would enter the following formula in cell C2 and then enter it to the other cells:

DOLLAR(B1, 2)

B1: This is the cell reference for the first number you want to format (2549.998).
2: This tells the function to round the number to two decimal places.

As you can see from the table, the DOLLAR function has done the following:

Added the currency symbol ($) to the beginning of each number.
Added a thousands separator (,) for the number greater than 999.
Rounded the numbers to two decimal places, as specified in the formula. For example, 2549.998 was rounded up to 2550.00.
Converted the number into a text string. This is an important distinction. While it looks like a number, the output of the DOLLAR function is a text string. This means you cannot use it directly in other mathematical calculations.