diff --git a/tailbone/templates/receiving/view.mako b/tailbone/templates/receiving/view.mako
index f6b3205a..30bfd3a9 100644
--- a/tailbone/templates/receiving/view.mako
+++ b/tailbone/templates/receiving/view.mako
@@ -199,7 +199,9 @@
                 },
 
                 startEdit() {
-                    this.inputValue = this.value
+                    // nb. must strip $ sign etc. to get the real value
+                    let value = this.value.replace(/[^\-\d\.]/g, '')
+                    this.inputValue = parseFloat(value) || null
                     this.editing = true
                     this.$nextTick(() => {
                         this.$refs.input.focus()
diff --git a/tailbone/views/purchasing/receiving.py b/tailbone/views/purchasing/receiving.py
index 23bb27fe..0cef3a37 100644
--- a/tailbone/views/purchasing/receiving.py
+++ b/tailbone/views/purchasing/receiving.py
@@ -989,12 +989,14 @@ class ReceivingBatchView(PurchasingBatchView):
         g.filters['vendor_code'].default_verb = 'contains'
 
         # catalog_unit_cost
+        g.set_renderer('catalog_unit_cost', self.render_simple_unit_cost)
         if self.allow_edit_catalog_unit_cost(batch):
             g.set_raw_renderer('catalog_unit_cost', self.render_catalog_unit_cost)
             g.set_click_handler('catalog_unit_cost',
                                 'this.catalogUnitCostClicked')
 
         # invoice_unit_cost
+        g.set_renderer('invoice_unit_cost', self.render_simple_unit_cost)
         if self.allow_edit_invoice_unit_cost(batch):
             g.set_raw_renderer('invoice_unit_cost', self.render_invoice_unit_cost)
             g.set_click_handler('invoice_unit_cost',
@@ -1049,6 +1051,19 @@ class ReceivingBatchView(PurchasingBatchView):
         else:
             g.set_enum('truck_dump_status', model.PurchaseBatchRow.STATUS)
 
+    def render_simple_unit_cost(self, row, field):
+        value = getattr(row, field)
+        if value is None:
+            return
+
+        # TODO: if anyone ever wants to see "raw" costs displayed,
+        # should make this configurable, b/c some folks already wanted
+        # the shorter 2-decimal display
+        #return str(value)
+
+        app = self.get_rattail_app()
+        return app.render_currency(value)
+
     def render_catalog_unit_cost(self):
         return HTML.tag('receiving-cost-editor', **{
             'field': 'catalog_unit_cost',
@@ -1871,11 +1886,13 @@ class ReceivingBatchView(PurchasingBatchView):
         # okay, update our row
         self.handler.update_row_cost(row, **data)
 
+        self.Session.flush()
+        self.Session.refresh(row)
         return {
             'row': {
-                'catalog_unit_cost': '{:0.3f}'.format(row.catalog_unit_cost),
+                'catalog_unit_cost': self.render_simple_unit_cost(row, 'catalog_unit_cost'),
                 'catalog_cost_confirmed': row.catalog_cost_confirmed,
-                'invoice_unit_cost': '{:0.3f}'.format(row.invoice_unit_cost),
+                'invoice_unit_cost': self.render_simple_unit_cost(row, 'invoice_unit_cost'),
                 'invoice_cost_confirmed': row.invoice_cost_confirmed,
                 'invoice_total_calculated': '{:0.2f}'.format(row.invoice_total_calculated),
             },