Appendix 1: Rounding Rules
How and when to round is often a source of confusion. This Appendix provides you with some rules for rounding your answers. We start with some general guidelines that apply globally throughout the entire textbook, then comment on the rules that apply to some specific sections of text.
Global Rounding Rules
- Interim solutions never get rounded unless there is a logical reason or business process forcing them to be rounded.
- When writing nonterminating decimals in this textbook, up to six decimals are written. The horizontal line format is used for repeating decimals. If the number is not a final solution, then it is assumed that all decimals or as many as possible are being carried forward.
- All final numbers are rounded to four decimals in decimal format and two decimals in percent format unless instructions indicate otherwise.
- Final solutions are rounded according to common business practices, practical limitations, or specific instructions.
- Zeroes not required at the end of decimals are generally not written unless required to meet a rounding standard or to visually line up a sequence of numbers.
Topic Specific Rounding Rules
Some specific topics have their own rounding standards. Until you learn about these topics, it does not make sense to put those standards here. However, the standards are introduced with the relevant topic. They are also summarized in Chapter 2.1: Rounding Whole Numbers and Decimals.
Attribution
“Appendix 1: Rounding Rules ” from Business Math: A Step-by-Step Handbook (2021B) by J. Olivier and Lyryx Learning Inc. through a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License unless otherwise noted.
