How do I show a price without cents using DOLLAR?

Pass 0 as the second argument: =DOLLAR(cell,0). This tells DOLLAR to display zero decimal places, dropping the cents while still adding the dollar sign and thousand separators.

Can DOLLAR format negative prices or losses?

Yes. If the number argument is negative, DOLLAR prefixes a minus sign before the dollar sign (e.g., -$5,000.00). The rounding and decimal rules still apply to the absolute value.

Why does DOLLAR always use a dollar sign even when my spreadsheet locale uses euros?

DOLLAR is hard-coded to the "$" symbol regardless of regional settings. For locale-specific currency symbols, use the TEXT function with a custom number format that includes the appropriate symbol.

What’s the difference between DOLLAR and TEXT for formatting currency?

DOLLAR always returns a string with a dollar sign and respects the decimals argument, while TEXT lets you specify any custom format, including different symbols, grouping, and conditional patterns. Use TEXT when you need flexibility beyond the fixed "$" prefix.

DOLLAR function

DOLLAR formats a number as text with a dollar sign, optional decimals, rounding and thousand separators, ideal for showing list prices in real-estate sheets.

=DOLLAR(number, [decimals])

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Arguments

How DOLLAR reads its arguments

Argument	Required	Description
number	Required	The numeric value to format; if the argument is not a number (e.g., text that cannot be coerced), DOLLAR returns #VALUE!.
decimals	Optional	Optional integer that sets how many decimal places to display. Omitted defaults to 2. Positive values show that many cents, zero hides the decimal point, and negative values round to tens, hundreds, etc.

Returns

Text string representing the formatted currency.

Availability

Excel: All · Google Sheets: Supported

Worked examples

1. Show list price with default two-decimal cents

Address	Beds	Baths	List Price	Days on Market
123 Maple St	3	2	250000	45

=DOLLAR(D2)

Result: $250,000.00

The formula points at D2, which holds the numeric list price 250000. Because the decimals argument is omitted, DOLLAR uses its default of two decimal places, adds a leading dollar sign and comma separators, and returns the string "$250,000.00". The underlying number remains unchanged for any later calculations.

2. Round price to the nearest thousand for a summary report

Address	Beds	Baths	List Price	Days on Market
456 Oak Ave	4	3	375500.5	12

=DOLLAR(D3, -3)

Result: $376,000

Here D3 contains 375,500.5. By passing -3 as the decimals argument, DOLLAR rounds the number to the nearest thousand (10^3). The function discards any cents, rounds up to 376,000, adds the dollar sign and comma, and returns "$376,000" without any decimal portion.

3. Display price with no cents for a marketing flyer

Address	Beds	Baths	List Price	Days on Market
789 Pine Rd	2	1	199999	60

=DOLLAR(D4, 0)

Result: $199,999

D4 holds the value 199,999. The second argument 0 tells DOLLAR to show zero decimal places. The function therefore drops the decimal point and any fraction, formats the integer with commas, prefixes a dollar sign, and returns the clean string "$199,999" suitable for print.

Common errors

Which DOLLAR error are you seeing?

Error	Why it happens	How to fix it
#VALUE!	The number argument contains non-numeric text such as "ABC" that cannot be coerced to a number.	Wrap the argument in VALUE() to convert a numeric-looking string, or replace the text with a proper numeric cell reference.
#NUM!	The decimals argument is less than -10 (e.g., -15), which exceeds DOLLAR's allowed range for rounding positions.	Choose a decimals value between -10 and 30, or omit the argument to use the default two-decimal format.
#VALUE!	A multi-cell range (e.g., D2:D4) is supplied to the number argument without using an array-compatible construct.	Reference a single cell (e.g., D2) or use an aggregation function like SUM(D2:D4) before passing the result to DOLLAR.

Tips and when to use something else

Use DOLLAR when you need a printable currency string; keep the original numeric column for any further arithmetic.
Negative decimals let you round to the left of the decimal point—use -3 for thousands, -6 for millions, etc.
Combine DOLLAR with CONCAT or TEXTJOIN to build sentences like "Price: " & DOLLAR(D2).
If you need a locale-aware currency symbol or want to keep the value numeric, use TEXT(number, "$#,##0.00") instead of DOLLAR.

Related functions

TEXTTEXT converts a numeric, date, or time value into a formatted text string based on a custom format pattern you supply.CONCATCONCAT joins two or more text strings into one continuous string, automatically coercing numbers and dates to text without a delimiter.VLOOKUPVLOOKUP searches the first column of a table and returns a value from a specified column in the same row, optionally using exact or approximate matching.LEFTLEFT returns the leftmost characters from a text string, optionally limited by a specified number of characters.VALUEVALUE converts a text string that looks like a number, currency, or date into the underlying numeric value Excel or Sheets can use in calculations.

Frequently asked questions

How do I show a price without cents using DOLLAR?: Pass 0 as the second argument: =DOLLAR(cell,0). This tells DOLLAR to display zero decimal places, dropping the cents while still adding the dollar sign and thousand separators.
Can DOLLAR format negative prices or losses?: Yes. If the number argument is negative, DOLLAR prefixes a minus sign before the dollar sign (e.g., -$5,000.00). The rounding and decimal rules still apply to the absolute value.
Why does DOLLAR always use a dollar sign even when my spreadsheet locale uses euros?: DOLLAR is hard-coded to the "$" symbol regardless of regional settings. For locale-specific currency symbols, use the TEXT function with a custom number format that includes the appropriate symbol.
What’s the difference between DOLLAR and TEXT for formatting currency?: DOLLAR always returns a string with a dollar sign and respects the decimals argument, while TEXT lets you specify any custom format, including different symbols, grouping, and conditional patterns. Use TEXT when you need flexibility beyond the fixed "$" prefix.

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