How to write calendar dates in your financial communications

August 30 or August 30th—which is the best way to write the calendar date?

Major style guides prefer August 30. I like it, too, because there’s less visual clutter. August 30th becomes even uglier when Microsoft Word uses superscript to raise the “th.”

The Chicago Manual of Style says, “Although the day of the month is actually an ordinal (and so pronounced in speaking), the American practice is invariably to write it as a cardinal number: 18 April or April 18, not 18th April (the British preference) or April 18th.”

The Associated Press Stylebook agrees.

When you write out dates for a global audience, keep in mind that preferences vary about whether the date goes before or after the month.

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net