How to format numbers as currency string?

Question

I would like to format a price in JavaScript. I'd like a function which takes a float as an argument and returns a string formatted like this:

"$ 2,500.00"

What's the best way to do this?

Answer 1

Number.prototype.toFixed

This solution is compatible with every single major browser:

  const profits = 2489.8237;

  profits.toFixed(3) //returns 2489.824 (rounds up)
  profits.toFixed(2) //returns 2489.82
  profits.toFixed(7) //returns 2489.8237000 (pads the decimals)

All you need is to add the currency symbol (e.g. "$" + profits.toFixed(2)) and you will have your amount in dollars.

Custom function

If you require the use of , between each digit, you can use this function:

function formatMoney(number, decPlaces, decSep, thouSep) {
decPlaces = isNaN(decPlaces = Math.abs(decPlaces)) ? 2 : decPlaces,
decSep = typeof decSep === "undefined" ? "." : decSep;
thouSep = typeof thouSep === "undefined" ? "," : thouSep;
var sign = number < 0 ? "-" : "";
var i = String(parseInt(number = Math.abs(Number(number) || 0).toFixed(decPlaces)));
var j = (j = i.length) > 3 ? j % 3 : 0;

return sign +
	(j ? i.substr(0, j) + thouSep : "") +
	i.substr(j).replace(/(\decSep{3})(?=\decSep)/g, "$1" + thouSep) +
	(decPlaces ? decSep + Math.abs(number - i).toFixed(decPlaces).slice(2) : "");
}

document.getElementById("b").addEventListener("click", event => {
  document.getElementById("x").innerText = "Result was: " + formatMoney(document.getElementById("d").value);
});

<label>Insert your amount: <input id="d" type="text" placeholder="Cash amount" /></label>
<br />
<button id="b">Get Output</button>
<p id="x">(press button to get output)</p>

Use it like so:

(123456789.12345).formatMoney(2, ".", ",");

If you're always going to use '.' and ',', you can leave them off your method call, and the method will default them for you.

(123456789.12345).formatMoney(2);

If your culture has the two symbols flipped (i.e. Europeans) and you would like to use the defaults, just paste over the following two lines in the formatMoney method:

    d = d == undefined ? "," : d, 
    t = t == undefined ? "." : t, 

Custom function (ES6)

If you can use modern ECMAScript syntax (i.e. through Babel), you can use this simpler function instead:

function formatMoney(amount, decimalCount = 2, decimal = ".", thousands = ",") {
  try {
    decimalCount = Math.abs(decimalCount);
    decimalCount = isNaN(decimalCount) ? 2 : decimalCount;

    const negativeSign = amount < 0 ? "-" : "";

    let i = parseInt(amount = Math.abs(Number(amount) || 0).toFixed(decimalCount)).toString();
    let j = (i.length > 3) ? i.length % 3 : 0;

    return negativeSign + (j ? i.substr(0, j) + thousands : '') + i.substr(j).replace(/(\d{3})(?=\d)/g, "$1" + thousands) + (decimalCount ? decimal + Math.abs(amount - i).toFixed(decimalCount).slice(2) : "");
  } catch (e) {
    console.log(e)
  }
};
document.getElementById("b").addEventListener("click", event => {
  document.getElementById("x").innerText = "Result was: " + formatMoney(document.getElementById("d").value);
});

<label>Insert your amount: <input id="d" type="text" placeholder="Cash amount" /></label>
<br />
<button id="b">Get Output</button>
<p id="x">(press button to get output)</p>