Amount in words on an invoice, the rules in French and Arabic

On Algerian business documents, the invoice total is restated in words, after the phrase "This invoice is set at the sum of." This repetition protects against a typing error or a tampered figure: the version in words prevails in case of a discrepancy. Here is how to write it correctly, in French, then in Arabic.

The phrase

In French, the statement reads:

Arrêtée la présente facture à la somme de : cent vingt mille dinars algériens.

(This invoice is set at the sum of: one hundred and twenty thousand Algerian dinars.)

For a quote, you write "Arrêté le présent devis à la somme de" (This quote is set at the sum of). The amount is followed by the currency spelled out, "dinars algériens" (Algerian dinars), not the abbreviation DZD.

French spelling rules

Numbers are written with hyphens between every element under the 1990 spelling reform, or only below one hundred under traditional spelling. Both are accepted; the key is to stay consistent. The agreement rules, however, are not negotiable:

Correct examples:

• 80,000 DZD → quatre-vingt mille dinars algériens
• 200,000 DZD → deux cent mille dinars algériens
• 1,300,000 DZD → un million trois cent mille dinars algériens
• 2,000,000 DZD → deux millions de dinars algériens

Cents

The dinar is divided into one hundred centimes (cents). When the amount includes cents, they are written after "et" (and) or after a decimal comma, specifying "centimes":

• 120,000.50 DZD → cent vingt mille dinars algériens et cinquante centimes
• 4,500.05 DZD → quatre mille cinq cents dinars algériens et cinq centimes

If the amount is round, do not write "et zéro centime" (and zero cents): "cent vingt mille dinars algériens" is enough.

In Arabic

On an Arabic-language invoice, the equivalent phrase is:

حُصرت هذه الفاتورة في مبلغ : مائة وعشرون ألف دينار جزائري.

A few pointers for writing numbers:

• Units and tens are linked with "و" (and): خمسة وعشرون (twenty-five).
• Hundreds: مائة, مائتان, ثلاثمائة… ; thousands: ألف, ألفان, ثلاثة آلاف… (the plural "آلاف" is used from three to ten).
• The currency changes form with the number: دينار جزائري in the singular, دينارات جزائرية for small numbers (3 to 10), then دينار جزائري again beyond that.

Examples:

• 90,000 DZD → تسعون ألف دينار جزائري
• 250,000 DZD → مائتان وخمسون ألف دينار جزائري
• 1,500,000 DZD → مليون وخمسمائة ألف دينار جزائري

Common mistakes

1. "Cent-vingt mille" with an s on "cent": incorrect, "cent" is followed by another number.
2. "Deux milles": "mille" never takes an s.
3. Mixing digits and words in the statement ("120 mille dinars"): the statement must be entirely in words.
4. Forgetting the currency: "cent vingt mille" without "dinars algériens" is incomplete.
5. Writing the amount in words in one language and the rest of the document in another: the invoice must stay consistent.

Automatic calculation

MyHissab generates the amount in words for every quote and invoice, in French or Arabic depending on the document's language, applying the agreement rules above and handling cents. The result can be checked line by line on the PDF before sending.