Dates and Numbers
- Sam Tipton
- Anonymous
Dates
Type Dates as Dictated:
Type dates as they are dictated within the format they are dictated (numeric or spelled out). For example, if the client says "12, 20, 2019", you would type it as 12/20/2019. You would not change it to December 20, 2019.
Never use an automatic Date Field to insert the date unless the client requests it or includes it in a template.
Ordinals (the "th", "st" or "rd" that often follow the day in a date) should not be included in most cases, unless the day precedes the month (12th of October) or if the day is said by itself (the 12th).
Examples of Date Formats: |
|---|
November 27, 2007 |
The 12th of June, 2010 (the day precedes the month, so the ordinal "th" should be typed) |
1/20/2006 |
01/04/06 |
1-23-77 |
Hyphen or Slash
Use whatever punctuation the client requests in dates. If they say "12 slash 2 slash 2019", type 12/2/2019. If they dictate hyphens or dashes, just use hyphens.
Scope of Service – Replacing Formats
If a client gives written or verbal instructions to, "Always type dates in numeric format no matter how they are dictated," this is outside our Scope of Service and we would type this as an Instruction to Staff.
Help tickets are not required and you would follow the procedure above.
Number Formatting
General Number Formatting Rules
The following rules should be used only if no special circumstances apply as laid out in the rest of this article:
- Numbers 10 and under should be typed out in words (ex. seven, ten).
- Numbers 11 and over should be typed in figures.
Always type these numbers as figures:
Percentages
- 4 percent
- 59 percent
Dollar Figures
- Include the dollar sign, and add .00 on whole dollar amounts ($18.00)
- $1.50
Rating Strings
- Workers comp clients will often dictate rating strings such as the following:
- 01.02.02-8(5)10-470H-13-11%
- Type all numbers in figures and use hyphens.
Measurements
- 12 feet
- 19 pounds
- 3 minutes
Time of Day
- 5:00 p.m. or 5:00 P.M. (never type o'clock)
- Military time: 2400 hours (not 24:00 hours)
Statistics, Proportions, Ratios, etc.
- 8 out of 10 judges agreed
Special circumstances
Number is the first word in a sentence
- Generally, you will spell out a number at the beginning of a sentence.
- Note that this applies only to a real text sentence, not just a phrase, heading, information in a Re section, etc.
- Example: Thirty years is too long to wait for a bus!
Roman numerals
- Roman numerals are used only upon the client's request, or if you are typing a designation following a name (John Smith III). If the client doesn't ask for a Roman numeral verbally or in a word list, please follow our regular number rules on this page.
SpeakWrite, LLC 2012-2019 ©