> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.shovels.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Why is job_value Returned in Cents?

> Learn why the Shovels API returns job_value in cents rather than dollars, following industry-standard practices for handling monetary values.

**The `job_value` field is returned in cents, not dollars.** A value of `1000000` represents \$10,000.00. This is intentional and follows established API design patterns for handling monetary values.

## Why Cents?

Returning monetary values in cents (the smallest currency unit) is a common practice in financial APIs. This approach:

* **Avoids floating-point precision errors** — representing \$10.50 as `1050` cents eliminates rounding issues that can occur with decimal numbers
* **Simplifies integer arithmetic** — calculations with whole numbers are faster and more reliable
* **Follows industry standards** — major payment APIs like [Stripe](https://docs.stripe.com/currencies#zero-decimal) use the same convention

## Converting to Dollars

To convert `job_value` to dollars in your application, divide by 100:

```python theme={null}
job_value_cents = 1000000
job_value_dollars = job_value_cents / 100  # Result: 10000.00
```

```javascript theme={null}
const jobValueCents = 1000000;
const jobValueDollars = jobValueCents / 100; // Result: 10000.00
```

<Tip>
  When displaying monetary values to users, format the result as currency after converting from cents.
</Tip>

## Related Articles

* [Understanding Query Parameters](/docs/knowledge-base/api/basics/query-parameters)
* [Data Dictionary](/docs/data-dictionary-api)
* [Understanding Permits](/docs/foundations-understanding-permits)