Admin Number Formats
For more number formats, use the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook on first reference, and the Microsoft Manual of Style on second reference.
Basic Standards
- For numbers 10 and higher, use numerals. For numbers lower than 10, spell out numbers. See correct examples:
- Yes – “We offer this service in nine countries.”
- Yes – “Over 200 companies use this service.”
- In headlines and "pull quotes", where the number is the focus, use numerals. See correct examples:
- Yes – “1 in 3 shoppers ...”
- Yes – “We’re #1”
- Use numerals for all numbers in the following cases:
- Units of measurement, including inches, acres, pounds, mph, and percentages
- Street addresses Example: 9 Franklin St.
- For large numbers, we use a comma.
- Correct example: 200,000 - never "200k" or "200 thousand"
- Exception: In large-format printing, we can use “200k” to add impact. Where this can be used: Posters, billboards, and small internet banners where space is tight.
Addresses
See Addresses section in Content Formats.
Percentages
In regular text, write out “percent”. However, the ”%” sign can be used in call-outs, graphics, and large-format content (Example: posters).
Example:
- No – “Merchants have reported increased sales of up to 130%”
- Yes – “Merchants have reported increased sales of up to 130 percent.”
Money
Do not add a space between the symbol and the number. … Examples: $781, £490, €2,183
This is how we write about money:
| Examples: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No – “$2.00" No – “$ 2" Yes – “$2” Yes – “$2.01” |
No – “$1232" No – “$1232.00" Yes – “$1,232” |
No – “$53,000,000" No – “$53m" No – “$53mil" Yes – “$53 million” |
No – “$1,200,000" No – “$1.2m" Yes – “$1.2 million” |
Dates and Times
Dates
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Do not abbreviate months of the year when they appear by themselves or with a year. … Correct example: “September 2015”.”
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Months:
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March, April, May, June, and July are never abbreviated in text.
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The remaining months are only abbreviated when followed by a date (Jan. 27).
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Abbreviations to use: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
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Never abbreviate …
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Days of the week … Correct example: Use “Wednesday”, not “Weds.”.
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Years … Correct example: Use “2017”, not “‘17”.
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Correct Examples:
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The conference begins …
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In September
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In September 2017
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Sept. 8
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Friday, Sept. 8
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Friday, Sept. 8, 2017
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Date-range format, in a sentence: The conference runs Sept. 8-12, 2017.
Times
General Usage:
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Formatting. Use numerals and “am” or “pm” without a space. Example: 10am.
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Omit “:00”. Don’t use minutes for on-the-hour time.
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Example: Exclude minutes for “7am”; include minutes for “10:30pm”.
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Use “noon” and “midnight”. Do not use 12pm and 12am.
Time Ranges:
- Use a hyphen between times to indicate a time period. Example: 7am-10:30pm.
- Exclude the "am" and "pm" when times are both either in the morning or after noon.
Example:- No – “6am-9am"
- Yes – “6-9am”
- Simplify range language:
Example:- No – “Holiday store hours go from 8am-10pm."
- Yes – “Holiday store hours are 8am-10pm.”
Time Zones:
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Formatting. When a time is not adjusted by the system to reflect the current time zone, append the time zone after the time. … Correct examples: “7:30am CT”, “7-10:30am CT”
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Do not indicate standard or daylight time. … Correct example: Central Time is written as “CT”, not “CST” or “CDT”.
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Do not use military time. … Incorrect example: Using 19:40, instead of 7:40pm.