PlanMaker CURRENCY Function: Format a Number as Currency Text

The CURRENCY function builds a display string containing a rounded amount and a currency symbol. It is convenient for a label, a short report sentence, or a printable summary such as Balance: $123.46. It is not the recommended way to store amounts you still intend to total: the returned cell holds text, not a numeric monetary value. Keeping a numeric value in one cell and applying PlanMaker’s Home → Number currency format is a better approach for calculations. The formatting command changes only the displayed number, not the underlying numeric value. SoftMaker CURRENCY · SoftMaker Number format.

Crucially, CURRENCY is a PlanMaker-specific formula name. SoftMaker states that when a workbook using this function is saved in an Excel file format, the calculations are replaced with their current results as fixed values. Excel has a different function called DOLLAR, but its existence does not make CURRENCY formulas portable. SoftMaker compatibility warning · Microsoft Excel DOLLAR.

=CURRENCY(Number [, n])

Square brackets in SoftMaker’s printed signature indicate an optional argument; do not type those brackets in a worksheet formula.

The English manual shows the argument separator comma and dot-decimal examples. These are the conventions used in the formulas in this guide. Regional separators and localized function names are not established here; if your installed locale rejects a literal example, use the separator shown by PlanMaker’s own formula editor. For currency output, your system’s country settings matter even when the numeric arithmetic is unchanged. Do not assume Canadian, U.S. and European workstations render identical strings. 2026 manual.

Why the 2021 documentation requires caution

The PlanMaker 2021 online reference contains an internal inconsistency: its prose says omitting n rounds to an integer, but on the very same page its worked CURRENCY(123.456) example returns $123.46. The 2024 PDF and 2026 online manual unambiguously specify two decimal places and print the same $123.46 example. Accordingly, two places is the documented 2024/2026 default, while 2021’s exact implementation needs native confirmation. This is a documentation discrepancy, not proof of a product regression. 2021 reference · 2024 manual, printed pp. 585–586 · 2026 reference.

In PlanMaker 2026, start a blank sheet. Type these numeric values in column A (do not type $ as part of the input). Put the formula from column B in the stated result cell. The following expected output assumes the U.S. symbols and decimal conventions in SoftMaker’s manual; another system may use a different symbol, grouping or spacing.

Reproduction: Enter A2:A7 exactly as above, then enter each B formula on its own row. Do not copy the formula of B2 down without changing the optional precision: the different arguments are the point of the test. Rows 2–4 are documented vendor formulas with literal 123.456 substituted by equal-valued references. Rows 5–7 are hypotheses based on decimal mathematics and the documented rounding description, not observed output. Avoid testing tie cases such as 12.345 to infer a rounding algorithm without execution.

One-cell examples (vendor-checked)

=CURRENCY(123.456)
=CURRENCY(123.456,2)
=CURRENCY(123.456,-2)

In SoftMaker’s U.S. locale examples, the output strings are $123.46, $123.46 and $100, respectively. All three come from SoftMaker’s own documentation. 2026 reference.

1. Make a label without losing the numeric source

Expected U.S.-locale label: Estimated charge: $123.46. The quoted text and concatenation are a worked construction derived from the documented string result, not a native-tested screenshot. Keep A10 numeric for downstream arithmetic and treat B10 as a presentation cell.

2. Calculate first, display second

Enter A12=12.3 (unit price) and B12=3 (units). Put =A12*B12 in C12 and =CURRENCY(C12,2) in D12. By independent arithmetic, C12’s expected numeric value is 36.9, and D12’s expected U.S.-style text is $36.90. Your invoice total should sum C12, not the string in D12. This technique avoids substituting a formatted text label for a calculable amount.

3. Rounded tens or hundreds for summary cards

=CURRENCY(149.4,-1) independently rounds to an expected $150 in a U.S.-style locale, while SoftMaker explicitly documents =CURRENCY(123.456,-2) → $100. Negative n is precision to the left of the decimal point, not a negative amount or an instruction to put a minus sign on the result. SoftMaker rounding parameter.

4. Avoid locale-specific strings in identifiers

Do not use a CURRENCY result as a stable storage key or a canonical CSV numeric column: $1,000.00, €1.000,00 and other possible local presentations are text strings with region-specific characters. Keep the amount numeric; for data interchange, explicitly specify the file and number formats appropriate to the receiving system. The variation follows from SoftMaker’s country-settings rule; these exact alternative renderings were not tested in PlanMaker.

No invented errors or limits: This tutorial does not assert a specific PlanMaker error code for invalid arguments, bounds for n, text-number coercion, or exact negative-currency typography. None was established from the inspected official reference.

The 2021, 2024 and 2026 official English manuals all list CURRENCY(Number [, n]). The 2021 omission-default prose differs from its own worked example; the 2024 PDF and 2026 HTML agree on the default of two decimal places. These are statements about documentation, not a claim of execution equivalence across desktop releases or editions. Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and NX-specific builds were not individually run.

Excel supports the related DOLLAR(number,[decimals]) function but not the exact CURRENCY name. SoftMaker explicitly warns that PlanMaker’s CURRENCY calculations are written as fixed current values on Excel-format export. Thus a workbook can look correct immediately after conversion yet no longer update if an input changes. A separate migration plan may use Excel DOLLAR or numeric cell formatting, but it is not an automatic formula equivalence guarantee. SoftMaker · Microsoft.

• SoftMaker ROUND reference — numeric rounding concept; use it instead of converting results to text when totals matter.
• SoftMaker FIXED reference — text formatting with specified decimal places and thousands separator control, but no automatic currency symbol.
• SoftMaker number formatting — change display while preserving the numeric stored value.
• Microsoft Excel DOLLAR — similar text-formatting intent, different formula name and conversion considerations.

Documentation access date: 2026-10-11 (UTC). Verification: official 2021/2024/2026 reference checked, independent arithmetic for sample amounts, zero native PlanMaker executions.