Intl.NumberFormat

JavaScript has a number formatter (part of the Internationalization API).

// Create our number formatter.
const formatter = new Intl.NumberFormat('en-US', {
  style: 'currency',
  currency: 'USD',

  // These options are needed to round to whole numbers if that's what you want.
  //minimumFractionDigits: 0, // (this suffices for whole numbers, but will print 2500.10 as $2,500.1)
  //maximumFractionDigits: 0, // (causes 2500.99 to be printed as $2,501)
});

console.log(formatter.format(2500)); /* $2,500.00 */

Use undefined in place of the first argument ('en-US' in the example) to use the system locale (the user locale in case the code is running in a browser). Further explanation of the locale code.

Here's a list of the currency codes.

Intl.NumberFormat vs Number.prototype.toLocaleString

A final note comparing this to the older .toLocaleString. They both offer essentially the same functionality. However, toLocaleString in its older incarnations (pre-Intl) does not actually support locales: it uses the system locale. So when debugging old browsers, be sure that you're using the correct version (MDN suggests to check for the existence of Intl). There isn't any need to worry about this at all if you don't care about old browsers or just use the shim.

Also, the performance of both is the same for a single item, but if you have a lot of numbers to format, using Intl.NumberFormat is ~70 times faster. Therefore, it's usually best to use Intl.NumberFormat and instantiate only once per page load. Anyway, here's the equivalent usage of toLocaleString:

console.log((2500).toLocaleString('en-US', {
  style: 'currency',
  currency: 'USD',
})); /* $2,500.00 */

Some notes on browser support and Node.js

• Browser support is no longer an issue nowadays with 98% support globally, 99% in the US and 99+% in the EU
• There is a shim to support it on fossilized browsers (like Internet Explorer 8), should you really need to
• Node.js before v13 only supports en-US out of the box. One solution is to install full-icu, see here for more information
• Have a look at CanIUse for more information

Number.prototype.toFixed

This solution is compatible with every single major browser:

  const profits = 2489.8237;

  profits.toFixed(3) // Returns 2489.824 (rounds up)
  profits.toFixed(2) // Returns 2489.82
  profits.toFixed(7) // Returns 2489.8237000 (pads the decimals)

All you need is to add the currency symbol (e.g. "$" + profits.toFixed(2)) and you will have your amount in dollars.

Custom function

If you require the use of , between each digit, you can use this function:

function formatMoney(number, decPlaces, decSep, thouSep) {
    decPlaces = isNaN(decPlaces = Math.abs(decPlaces)) ? 2 : decPlaces,
    decSep = typeof decSep === "undefined" ? "." : decSep;
    thouSep = typeof thouSep === "undefined" ? "," : thouSep;
    var sign = number < 0 ? "-" : "";
    var i = String(parseInt(number = Math.abs(Number(number) || 0).toFixed(decPlaces)));
    var j = (j = i.length) > 3 ? j % 3 : 0;

    return sign +
        (j ? i.substr(0, j) + thouSep : "") +
        i.substr(j).replace(/(\decSep{3})(?=\decSep)/g, "$1" + thouSep) +
        (decPlaces ? decSep + Math.abs(number - i).toFixed(decPlaces).slice(2) : "");
}

document.getElementById("b").addEventListener("click", event => {
  document.getElementById("x").innerText = "Result was: " + formatMoney(document.getElementById("d").value);
});

<label>Insert your amount: <input id="d" type="text" placeholder="Cash amount" /></label>
<br />
<button id="b">Get Output</button>
<p id="x">(press button to get output)</p>

Use it like so:

(123456789.12345).formatMoney(2, ".", ",");

If you're always going to use '.' and ',', you can leave them off your method call, and the method will default them for you.

(123456789.12345).formatMoney(2);

If your culture has the two symbols flipped (i.e., Europeans) and you would like to use the defaults, just paste over the following two lines in the formatMoney method:

    d = d == undefined ? "," : d,
    t = t == undefined ? "." : t,

Custom function (ES6)

If you can use modern ECMAScript syntax (i.e., through Babel), you can use this simpler function instead:

function formatMoney(amount, decimalCount = 2, decimal = ".", thousands = ",") {
  try {
    decimalCount = Math.abs(decimalCount);
    decimalCount = isNaN(decimalCount) ? 2 : decimalCount;

    const negativeSign = amount < 0 ? "-" : "";

    let i = parseInt(amount = Math.abs(Number(amount) || 0).toFixed(decimalCount)).toString();
    let j = (i.length > 3) ? i.length % 3 : 0;

    return negativeSign +
      (j ? i.substr(0, j) + thousands : '') +
      i.substr(j).replace(/(\d{3})(?=\d)/g, "$1" + thousands) +
      (decimalCount ? decimal + Math.abs(amount - i).toFixed(decimalCount).slice(2) : "");
  } catch (e) {
    console.log(e)
  }
};

document.getElementById("b").addEventListener("click", event => {
  document.getElementById("x").innerText = "Result was: " + formatMoney(document.getElementById("d").value);
});

<label>Insert your amount: <input id="d" type="text" placeholder="Cash amount" /></label>
<br />
<button id="b">Get Output</button>
<p id="x">(press button to get output)</p>

Short and fast solution (works everywhere!)

(12345.67).toFixed(2).replace(/\d(?=(\d{3})+\.)/g, '$&,');  // 12,345.67

The idea behind this solution is replacing matched sections with first match and comma, i.e. '$&,'. The matching is done using lookahead approach. You may read the expression as "match a number if it is followed by a sequence of three number sets (one or more) and a dot".

TESTS:

1        --> "1.00"
12       --> "12.00"
123      --> "123.00"
1234     --> "1,234.00"
12345    --> "12,345.00"
123456   --> "123,456.00"
1234567  --> "1,234,567.00"
12345.67 --> "12,345.67"

DEMO: http://jsfiddle.net/hAfMM/9571/

Extended short solution

You can also extend the prototype of Number object to add additional support of any number of decimals [0 .. n] and the size of number groups [0 .. x]:

/**
 * Number.prototype.format(n, x)
 * 
 * @param integer n: length of decimal
 * @param integer x: length of sections
 */
Number.prototype.format = function(n, x) {
    var re = '\\d(?=(\\d{' + (x || 3) + '})+' + (n > 0 ? '\\.' : '$') + ')';
    return this.toFixed(Math.max(0, ~~n)).replace(new RegExp(re, 'g'), '$&,');
};

1234..format();           // "1,234"
12345..format(2);         // "12,345.00"
123456.7.format(3, 2);    // "12,34,56.700"
123456.789.format(2, 4);  // "12,3456.79"

DEMO / TESTS: http://jsfiddle.net/hAfMM/435/

Super extended short solution

In this super extended version you may set different delimiter types:

/**
 * Number.prototype.format(n, x, s, c)
 * 
 * @param integer n: length of decimal
 * @param integer x: length of whole part
 * @param mixed   s: sections delimiter
 * @param mixed   c: decimal delimiter
 */
Number.prototype.format = function(n, x, s, c) {
    var re = '\\d(?=(\\d{' + (x || 3) + '})+' + (n > 0 ? '\\D' : '$') + ')',
        num = this.toFixed(Math.max(0, ~~n));

    return (c ? num.replace('.', c) : num).replace(new RegExp(re, 'g'), '$&' + (s || ','));
};

12345678.9.format(2, 3, '.', ',');  // "12.345.678,90"
123456.789.format(4, 4, ' ', ':');  // "12 3456:7890"
12345678.9.format(0, 3, '-');       // "12-345-679"

DEMO / TESTS: http://jsfiddle.net/hAfMM/612/

Take a look at the JavaScript Number object and see if it can help you.

• toLocaleString() will format a number using location specific thousands separator.
• toFixed() will round the number to a specific number of decimal places.

To use these at the same time the value must have its type changed back to a number because they both output a string.

Example:

Number((someNumber).toFixed(1)).toLocaleString()

EDIT

One can just use toLocaleString directly and its not necessary to recast to a number:

someNumber.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});

Multiple numbers

If you need to frequently format numbers similarly you can create a specific object for reuse. Like for German (Switzerland):

const money = new Intl.NumberFormat('de-CH',
  { style:'currency', currency: 'CHF' });
const percent = new Intl.NumberFormat('de-CH',
  { style:'percent', maximumFractionDigits: 1, signDisplay: "always"});

which than can be used as:

money.format(1234.50); // output CHF 1'234.50
percent.format(0.083);  // output +8.3%

Pretty nifty.

Below is the Patrick Desjardins (alias Daok) code with a bit of comments added and some minor changes:

/*
decimal_sep: character used as decimal separator, it defaults to '.' when omitted
thousands_sep: char used as thousands separator, it defaults to ',' when omitted
*/
Number.prototype.toMoney = function(decimals, decimal_sep, thousands_sep)
{
   var n = this,
   c = isNaN(decimals) ? 2 : Math.abs(decimals), // If decimal is zero we must take it. It means the user does not want to show any decimal
   d = decimal_sep || '.', // If no decimal separator is passed, we use the dot as default decimal separator (we MUST use a decimal separator)

   /*
   According to [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/411352/how-best-to-determine-if-an-argument-is-not-sent-to-the-javascript-function]
   the fastest way to check for not defined parameter is to use typeof value === 'undefined'
   rather than doing value === undefined.
   */
   t = (typeof thousands_sep === 'undefined') ? ',' : thousands_sep, // If you don't want to use a thousands separator you can pass empty string as thousands_sep value

   sign = (n < 0) ? '-' : '',

   // Extracting the absolute value of the integer part of the number and converting to string
   i = parseInt(n = Math.abs(n).toFixed(c)) + '',

   j = ((j = i.length) > 3) ? j % 3 : 0;
   return sign + (j ? i.substr(0, j) + t : '') + i.substr(j).replace(/(\d{3})(?=\d)/g, "$1" + t) + (c ? d + Math.abs(n - i).toFixed(c).slice(2) : '');
}

And here some tests:

// Some tests (do not forget parenthesis when using negative numbers and number with no decimals)
alert(123456789.67392.toMoney() + '\n' + 123456789.67392.toMoney(3) + '\n' + 123456789.67392.toMoney(0) + '\n' + (123456).toMoney() + '\n' + (123456).toMoney(0) + '\n' + 89.67392.toMoney() + '\n' + (89).toMoney());

// Some tests (do not forget parenthesis when using negative numbers and number with no decimals)
alert((-123456789.67392).toMoney() + '\n' + (-123456789.67392).toMoney(-3));

The minor changes are:

1. moved a bit the Math.abs(decimals) to be done only when is not NaN.

2. decimal_sep can not be empty string any more (a some sort of decimal separator is a must)

3. we use typeof thousands_sep === 'undefined' as suggested in How best to determine if an argument is not sent to the JavaScript function

4. (+n || 0) is not needed because this is a Number object

JSFiddle

If amount is a number, say -123, then

amount.toLocaleString('en-US', { style: 'currency', currency: 'USD' });

will produce the string "-$123.00".

Here's a complete working example.

accounting.js is a tiny JavaScript library for number, money and currency formatting.

Here's the best JavaScript money formatter I've seen:

Number.prototype.formatMoney = function(decPlaces, thouSeparator, decSeparator) {
    var n = this,
        decPlaces = isNaN(decPlaces = Math.abs(decPlaces)) ? 2 : decPlaces,
        decSeparator = decSeparator == undefined ? "." : decSeparator,
        thouSeparator = thouSeparator == undefined ? "," : thouSeparator,
        sign = n < 0 ? "-" : "",
        i = parseInt(n = Math.abs(+n || 0).toFixed(decPlaces)) + "",
        j = (j = i.length) > 3 ? j % 3 : 0;
    return sign + (j ? i.substr(0, j) + thouSeparator : "") + i.substr(j).replace(/(\d{3})(?=\d)/g, "$1" + thouSeparator) + (decPlaces ? decSeparator + Math.abs(n - i).toFixed(decPlaces).slice(2) : "");
};

It was reformatted and borrowed from here: How to format numbers as currency strings

You'll have to supply your own currency designator (you used $ above).

Call it like this (although note that the arguments default to 2, comma, and period, so you don't need to supply any arguments if that's your preference):

var myMoney = 3543.75873;
var formattedMoney = '$' + myMoney.formatMoney(2, ',', '.'); // "$3,543.76"

Here's another attempt, just for fun:

function formatDollar(num) {
    var p = num.toFixed(2).split(".");
    return "$" + p[0].split("").reverse().reduce(function(acc, num, i, orig) {
        return num + (num != "-" && i && !(i % 3) ? "," : "") + acc;
    }, "") + "." + p[1];
}

And some tests:

formatDollar(45664544.23423) // "$45,664,544.23"
formatDollar(45) // "$45.00"
formatDollar(123) // "$123.00"
formatDollar(7824) // "$7,824.00"
formatDollar(1) // "$1.00"
formatDollar(-1345) // "$-1,345.00
formatDollar(-3) // "$-3.00"

Works for all current browsers

Use toLocaleString to format a currency in its language-sensitive representation (using ISO 4217 currency codes).

(2500).toLocaleString("en-GB", {style: "currency", currency: "GBP", minimumFractionDigits: 2})

Example South African Rand code snippets for avenmore:

console.log((2500).toLocaleString("en-ZA", {style: "currency", currency: "ZAR", minimumFractionDigits: 2}))
// -> R 2 500,00
console.log((2500).toLocaleString("en-GB", {style: "currency", currency: "ZAR", minimumFractionDigits: 2}))
// -> ZAR 2,500.00

I think you want:

f.nettotal.value = "$" + showValue.toFixed(2);

just use the native javascript Intl

you just use the options to format its value

const number = 1233445.5678
console.log(new Intl.NumberFormat('en-US', { style: 'currency', currency: 'USD' }).format(number));

mozilla documentation link

Ok, based on what you said, I'm using this:

var DecimalSeparator = Number("1.2").toLocaleString().substr(1,1);

var AmountWithCommas = Amount.toLocaleString();
var arParts = String(AmountWithCommas).split(DecimalSeparator);
var intPart = arParts[0];
var decPart = (arParts.length > 1 ? arParts[1] : '');
decPart = (decPart + '00').substr(0,2);

return '£ ' + intPart + DecimalSeparator + decPart;

I'm open to improvement suggestions (I'd prefer not to include YUI just to do this :-) )

I already know I should be detecting the "." instead of just using it as the decimal separator...

Numeral.js - a JavaScript library for easy number formatting by @adamwdraper

numeral(23456.789).format('$0,0.00'); // = "$23,456.79"

The following is concise, easy to understand, and doesn't rely on any overly complicated regular expressions.

function moneyFormat(price, sign = '$') {
  const pieces = parseFloat(price).toFixed(2).split('')
  let ii = pieces.length - 3
  while ((ii-=3) > 0) {
    pieces.splice(ii, 0, ',')
  }
  return sign + pieces.join('')
}

console.log(
  moneyFormat(100),
  moneyFormat(1000),
  moneyFormat(10000.00),
  moneyFormat(1000000000000000000)
)

Here is a version with more options in the final output to allow formatting different currencies in different locality formats.

// higher order function that takes options then a price and will return the formatted price
const makeMoneyFormatter = ({
  sign = '$',
  delimiter = ',',
  decimal = '.',
  append = false,
  precision = 2,
  round = true,
  custom
} = {}) => value => {

  const e = [1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 1000000, 10000000]

  value = round
    ? (Math.round(value * e[precision]) / e[precision])
    : parseFloat(value)

  const pieces = value
    .toFixed(precision)
    .replace('.', decimal)
    .split('')

  let ii = pieces.length - (precision ? precision + 1 : 0)

  while ((ii-=3) > 0) {
    pieces.splice(ii, 0, delimiter)
  }

  if (typeof custom === 'function') {
    return custom({
      sign,
      float: value,
      value: pieces.join('')
    })
  }

  return append
    ? pieces.join('') + sign
    : sign + pieces.join('')
}

// create currency converters with the correct formatting options
const formatDollar = makeMoneyFormatter()
const formatPound = makeMoneyFormatter({
  sign: '£',
  precision: 0
})
const formatEuro = makeMoneyFormatter({
  sign: '€',
  delimiter: '.',
  decimal: ',',
  append: true
})

const customFormat = makeMoneyFormatter({
  round: false,
  custom: ({ value, float, sign }) => `SALE:$${value}USD`
})

console.log(
  formatPound(1000),
  formatDollar(10000.0066),
  formatEuro(100000.001),
  customFormat(999999.555)
)

I use the library Globalize (from Microsoft):

It's a great project to localize numbers, currencies and dates and to have them automatically formatted the right way according to the user locale! ...and despite it should be a jQuery extension, it's currently a 100% independent library. I suggest you all to try it out! :)

A shorter method (for inserting space, comma or point) with a regular expression:

    Number.prototype.toCurrencyString = function(){
        return this.toFixed(2).replace(/(\d)(?=(\d{3})+\b)/g, '$1 ');
    }

    n = 12345678.9;
    alert(n.toCurrencyString());

javascript-number-formatter (formerly at Google Code)

• Short, fast, flexible yet stand-alone.
• Accept standard number formatting like #,##0.00 or with negation -000.####.
• Accept any country format like # ##0,00, #,###.##, #'###.## or any type of non-numbering symbol.
• Accept any numbers of digit grouping. #,##,#0.000 or #,###0.## are all valid.
• Accept any redundant/foolproof formatting. ##,###,##.# or 0#,#00#.###0# are all OK.
• Auto number rounding.
• Simple interface, just supply mask & value like this: format( "0.0000", 3.141592).
• Include a prefix & suffix with the mask

(excerpt from its README)

Please try the below code

"250000".replace(/(\d)(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, '$1,');

Ans: 250,000

The main part is inserting the thousand-separators, and that could be done like this:

<script type="text/javascript">
  function ins1000Sep(val) {
    val = val.split(".");
    val[0] = val[0].split("").reverse().join("");
    val[0] = val[0].replace(/(\d{3})/g, "$1,");
    val[0] = val[0].split("").reverse().join("");
    val[0] = val[0].indexOf(",") == 0 ? val[0].substring(1) : val[0];
    return val.join(".");
  }

  function rem1000Sep(val) {
    return val.replace(/,/g, "");
  }

  function formatNum(val) {
    val = Math.round(val*100)/100;
    val = ("" + val).indexOf(".") > -1 ? val + "00" : val + ".00";
    var dec = val.indexOf(".");
    return dec == val.length-3 || dec == 0 ? val : val.substring(0, dec+3);
  }
</script>

<button onclick="alert(ins1000Sep(formatNum(12313231)));">

+1 to Jonathan M for providing the original method. Since this is explicitly a currency formatter, I went ahead and added the currency symbol (defaults to '$') to the output, and added a default comma as the thousands separator. If you don't actually want a currency symbol (or thousands separator), just use "" (empty string) as your argument for it.

Number.prototype.formatMoney = function(decPlaces, thouSeparator, decSeparator, currencySymbol) {
    // check the args and supply defaults:
    decPlaces = isNaN(decPlaces = Math.abs(decPlaces)) ? 2 : decPlaces;
    decSeparator = decSeparator == undefined ? "." : decSeparator;
    thouSeparator = thouSeparator == undefined ? "," : thouSeparator;
    currencySymbol = currencySymbol == undefined ? "$" : currencySymbol;

    var n = this,
        sign = n < 0 ? "-" : "",
        i = parseInt(n = Math.abs(+n || 0).toFixed(decPlaces)) + "",
        j = (j = i.length) > 3 ? j % 3 : 0;

    return sign + currencySymbol + (j ? i.substr(0, j) + thouSeparator : "") + i.substr(j).replace(/(\d{3})(?=\d)/g, "$1" + thouSeparator) + (decPlaces ? decSeparator + Math.abs(n - i).toFixed(decPlaces).slice(2) : "");
};

There is a JavaScript port of the PHP function "number_format".

I find it very useful as it is easy to use and recognisable for PHP developers.

function number_format (number, decimals, dec_point, thousands_sep) {
    var n = number, prec = decimals;

    var toFixedFix = function (n,prec) {
        var k = Math.pow(10,prec);
        return (Math.round(n*k)/k).toString();
    };

    n = !isFinite(+n) ? 0 : +n;
    prec = !isFinite(+prec) ? 0 : Math.abs(prec);
    var sep = (typeof thousands_sep === 'undefined') ? ',' : thousands_sep;
    var dec = (typeof dec_point === 'undefined') ? '.' : dec_point;

    var s = (prec > 0) ? toFixedFix(n, prec) : toFixedFix(Math.round(n), prec);
    // Fix for Internet Explorer parseFloat(0.55).toFixed(0) = 0;

    var abs = toFixedFix(Math.abs(n), prec);
    var _, i;

    if (abs >= 1000) {
        _ = abs.split(/\D/);
        i = _[0].length % 3 || 3;

        _[0] = s.slice(0,i + (n < 0)) +
               _[0].slice(i).replace(/(\d{3})/g, sep+'$1');
        s = _.join(dec);
    } else {
        s = s.replace('.', dec);
    }

    var decPos = s.indexOf(dec);
    if (prec >= 1 && decPos !== -1 && (s.length-decPos-1) < prec) {
        s += new Array(prec-(s.length-decPos-1)).join(0)+'0';
    }
    else if (prec >= 1 && decPos === -1) {
        s += dec+new Array(prec).join(0)+'0';
    }
    return s;
}

(Comment block from the original, included below for examples & credit where due)

// Formats a number with grouped thousands
//
// version: 906.1806
// discuss at: http://phpjs.org/functions/number_format
// +   original by: Jonas Raoni Soares Silva (http://www.jsfromhell.com)
// +   improved by: Kevin van Zonneveld (http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net)
// +     bugfix by: Michael White (http://getsprink.com)
// +     bugfix by: Benjamin Lupton
// +     bugfix by: Allan Jensen (http://www.winternet.no)
// +    revised by: Jonas Raoni Soares Silva (http://www.jsfromhell.com)
// +     bugfix by: Howard Yeend
// +    revised by: Luke Smith (http://lucassmith.name)
// +     bugfix by: Diogo Resende
// +     bugfix by: Rival
// +     input by: Kheang Hok Chin (http://www.distantia.ca/)
// +     improved by: davook
// +     improved by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
// +     input by: Jay Klehr
// +     improved by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
// +     input by: Amir Habibi (http://www.residence-mixte.com/)
// +     bugfix by: Brett Zamir (http://brett-zamir.me)
// *     example 1: number_format(1234.56);
// *     returns 1: '1,235'
// *     example 2: number_format(1234.56, 2, ',', ' ');
// *     returns 2: '1 234,56'
// *     example 3: number_format(1234.5678, 2, '.', '');
// *     returns 3: '1234.57'
// *     example 4: number_format(67, 2, ',', '.');
// *     returns 4: '67,00'
// *     example 5: number_format(1000);
// *     returns 5: '1,000'
// *     example 6: number_format(67.311, 2);
// *     returns 6: '67.31'
// *     example 7: number_format(1000.55, 1);
// *     returns 7: '1,000.6'
// *     example 8: number_format(67000, 5, ',', '.');
// *     returns 8: '67.000,00000'
// *     example 9: number_format(0.9, 0);
// *     returns 9: '1'
// *     example 10: number_format('1.20', 2);
// *     returns 10: '1.20'
// *     example 11: number_format('1.20', 4);
// *     returns 11: '1.2000'
// *     example 12: number_format('1.2000', 3);
// *     returns 12: '1.200'

Patrick Desjardins' answer looks good, but I prefer my JavaScript code simple. Here's a function I just wrote to take a number in and return it in currency format (minus the dollar sign):

// Format numbers to two decimals with commas
function formatDollar(num) {
    var p = num.toFixed(2).split(".");
    var chars = p[0].split("").reverse();
    var newstr = '';
    var count = 0;
    for (x in chars) {
        count++;
        if(count%3 == 1 && count != 1) {
            newstr = chars[x] + ',' + newstr;
        } else {
            newstr = chars[x] + newstr;
        }
    }
    return newstr + "." + p[1];
}

There is a built-in function, toFixed, in JavaScript:

var num = new Number(349);
document.write("$" + num.toFixed(2));

function CurrencyFormatted(amount)
{
    var i = parseFloat(amount);
    if(isNaN(i)) { i = 0.00; }
    var minus = '';
    if(i < 0) { minus = '-'; }
    i = Math.abs(i);
    i = parseInt((i + .005) * 100);
    i = i / 100;
    s = new String(i);
    if(s.indexOf('.') < 0) { s += '.00'; }
    if(s.indexOf('.') == (s.length - 2)) { s += '0'; }
    s = minus + s;
    return s;
}

From WillMaster.

I suggest the NumberFormat class from Google Visualization API.

You can do something like this:

var formatter = new google.visualization.NumberFormat({
    prefix: '$',
    pattern: '#,###,###.##'
});

formatter.formatValue(1000000); // $ 1,000,000

As usually, there are multiple ways of doing the same thing, but I would avoid using Number.prototype.toLocaleString since it can return different values based on the user settings.

I also don't recommend extending the Number.prototype - extending native objects prototypes is a bad practice since it can cause conflicts with other people code (e.g. libraries/frameworks/plugins) and may not be compatible with future JavaScript implementations/versions.

I believe that regular expressions are the best approach for the problem, here is my implementation:

/**
 * Converts number into currency format
 * @param {number} number    Number that should be converted.
 * @param {string} [decimalSeparator]    Decimal separator, defaults to '.'.
 * @param {string} [thousandsSeparator]    Thousands separator, defaults to ','.
 * @param {int} [nDecimalDigits]    Number of decimal digits, defaults to `2`.
 * @return {string} Formatted string (e.g. numberToCurrency(12345.67) returns '12,345.67')
 */
function numberToCurrency(number, decimalSeparator, thousandsSeparator, nDecimalDigits){
    //default values
    decimalSeparator = decimalSeparator || '.';
    thousandsSeparator = thousandsSeparator || ',';
    nDecimalDigits = nDecimalDigits == null? 2 : nDecimalDigits;

    var fixed = number.toFixed(nDecimalDigits), //limit/add decimal digits
        parts = new RegExp('^(-?\\d{1,3})((?:\\d{3})+)(\\.(\\d{'+ nDecimalDigits +'}))?$').exec( fixed ); //separate begin [$1], middle [$2] and decimal digits [$4]

    if(parts){ //number >= 1000 || number <= -1000
        return parts[1] + parts[2].replace(/\d{3}/g, thousandsSeparator + '$&') + (parts[4] ? decimalSeparator + parts[4] : '');
    }else{
        return fixed.replace('.', decimalSeparator);
    }
}

This might be a little late, but here's a method I just worked up for a coworker to add a locale-aware .toCurrencyString() function to all numbers. The internalization is for number grouping only, not the currency sign - if you're outputting dollars, use "$" as supplied, because $123 4567 in Japan or China is the same number of USD as $1,234,567 is in the US. If you're outputting euro, etc., then change the currency sign from "$".

Declare this anywhere in your HTML <head> section or wherever necessary, just before you need to use it:

  Number.prototype.toCurrencyString = function(prefix, suffix) {
    if (typeof prefix === 'undefined') { prefix = '$'; }
    if (typeof suffix === 'undefined') { suffix = ''; }
    var _localeBug = new RegExp((1).toLocaleString().replace(/^1/, '').replace(/\./, '\\.') + "$");
    return prefix + (~~this).toLocaleString().replace(_localeBug, '') + (this % 1).toFixed(2).toLocaleString().replace(/^[+-]?0+/,'') + suffix;
  }

Then you're done! Use (number).toCurrencyString() anywhere you need to output the number as currency.

var MyNumber = 123456789.125;
alert(MyNumber.toCurrencyString()); // alerts "$123,456,789.13"
MyNumber = -123.567;
alert(MyNumber.toCurrencyString()); // alerts "$-123.57"

Here are some solutions and all pass the test suite. The test suite and benchmark are included. If you want copy and paste to test, try this gist.

Method 0 (RegExp)

It is based on VisioN's answer, but it fixes if there isn't a decimal point.

if (typeof Number.prototype.format === 'undefined') {
    Number.prototype.format = function (precision) {
        if (!isFinite(this)) {
            return this.toString();
        }

        var a = this.toFixed(precision).split('.');
        a[0] = a[0].replace(/\d(?=(\d{3})+$)/g, '$&,');
        return a.join('.');
    }
}

Method 1

if (typeof Number.prototype.format === 'undefined') {
    Number.prototype.format = function (precision) {
        if (!isFinite(this)) {
            return this.toString();
        }

        var a = this.toFixed(precision).split('.'),
            // Skip the '-' sign
            head = Number(this < 0);

        // Skip the digits that's before the first thousands separator
        head += (a[0].length - head) % 3 || 3;

        a[0] = a[0].slice(0, head) + a[0].slice(head).replace(/\d{3}/g, ',$&');
        return a.join('.');
    };
}

Method 2 (Split to Array)

if (typeof Number.prototype.format === 'undefined') {
    Number.prototype.format = function (precision) {
        if (!isFinite(this)) {
            return this.toString();
        }

        var a = this.toFixed(precision).split('.');

        a[0] = a[0]
            .split('').reverse().join('')
            .replace(/\d{3}(?=\d)/g, '$&,')
            .split('').reverse().join('');

        return a.join('.');
    };
}

Method 3 (Loop)

if (typeof Number.prototype.format === 'undefined') {
    Number.prototype.format = function (precision) {
        if (!isFinite(this)) {
            return this.toString();
        }

        var a = this.toFixed(precision).split('');
        a.push('.');

        var i = a.indexOf('.') - 3;
        while (i > 0 && a[i-1] !== '-') {
            a.splice(i, 0, ',');
            i -= 3;
        }

        a.pop();
        return a.join('');
    };
}

Usage Example

console.log('======== Demo ========')
console.log(
    (1234567).format(0),
    (1234.56).format(2),
    (-1234.56).format(0)
);
var n = 0;
for (var i=1; i<20; i++) {
    n = (n * 10) + (i % 10)/100;
    console.log(n.format(2), (-n).format(2));
}

Separator

If we want custom a thousands separator or decimal separator, use replace():

123456.78.format(2).replace(',', ' ').replace('.', ' ');

Test suite

function assertEqual(a, b) {
    if (a !== b) {
        throw a + ' !== ' + b;
    }
}

function test(format_function) {
    console.log(format_function);
    assertEqual('NaN', format_function.call(NaN, 0))
    assertEqual('Infinity', format_function.call(Infinity, 0))
    assertEqual('-Infinity', format_function.call(-Infinity, 0))

    assertEqual('0', format_function.call(0, 0))
    assertEqual('0.00', format_function.call(0, 2))
    assertEqual('1', format_function.call(1, 0))
    assertEqual('-1', format_function.call(-1, 0))

    // Decimal padding
    assertEqual('1.00', format_function.call(1, 2))
    assertEqual('-1.00', format_function.call(-1, 2))

    // Decimal rounding
    assertEqual('0.12', format_function.call(0.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('0.1235', format_function.call(0.123456, 4))
    assertEqual('-0.12', format_function.call(-0.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('-0.1235', format_function.call(-0.123456, 4))

    // Thousands separator
    assertEqual('1,234', format_function.call(1234.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('12,345', format_function.call(12345.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('123,456', format_function.call(123456.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('1,234,567', format_function.call(1234567.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('12,345,678', format_function.call(12345678.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('123,456,789', format_function.call(123456789.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('-1,234', format_function.call(-1234.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('-12,345', format_function.call(-12345.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('-123,456', format_function.call(-123456.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('-1,234,567', format_function.call(-1234567.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('-12,345,678', format_function.call(-12345678.123456, 0))
    assertEqual('-123,456,789', format_function.call(-123456789.123456, 0))

    // Thousands separator and decimal
    assertEqual('1,234.12', format_function.call(1234.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('12,345.12', format_function.call(12345.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('123,456.12', format_function.call(123456.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('1,234,567.12', format_function.call(1234567.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('12,345,678.12', format_function.call(12345678.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('123,456,789.12', format_function.call(123456789.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('-1,234.12', format_function.call(-1234.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('-12,345.12', format_function.call(-12345.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('-123,456.12', format_function.call(-123456.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('-1,234,567.12', format_function.call(-1234567.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('-12,345,678.12', format_function.call(-12345678.123456, 2))
    assertEqual('-123,456,789.12', format_function.call(-123456789.123456, 2))
}

console.log('======== Testing ========');
test(Number.prototype.format);
test(Number.prototype.format1);
test(Number.prototype.format2);
test(Number.prototype.format3);

Benchmark

function benchmark(f) {
    var start = new Date().getTime();
    f();
    return new Date().getTime() - start;
}

function benchmark_format(f) {
    console.log(f);
    time = benchmark(function () {
        for (var i = 0; i < 100000; i++) {
            f.call(123456789, 0);
            f.call(123456789, 2);
        }
    });
    console.log(time.format(0) + 'ms');
}

// If not using async, the browser will stop responding while running.
// This will create a new thread to benchmark
async = [];
function next() {
    setTimeout(function () {
        f = async.shift();
        f && f();
        next();
    }, 10);
}

console.log('======== Benchmark ========');
async.push(function () { benchmark_format(Number.prototype.format); });
next();