diff --git a/tests/test_reports_balance.py b/tests/test_reports_balance.py
index 24c435e91cbc6fa91c0364717acf8a55a5dba8e8..ce81dce1e9e160b3a5eda0ff542be36cefb5d080 100644
--- a/tests/test_reports_balance.py
+++ b/tests/test_reports_balance.py
@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@ from conservancy_beancount.reports import core
 
 DEFAULT_STRINGS = [
     ({}, "Zero balance"),
-    ({'JPY': 0, 'BRL': 0}, "Zero balance"),
+    ({'JPY': 0, 'BRL': 0}, "0.00 BRL, 0 JPY"),
     ({'USD': '20.00'}, "20.00 USD"),
     ({'EUR': '50.00', 'GBP': '80.00'}, "80.00 GBP, 50.00 EUR"),
     ({'JPY': '-5500.00', 'BRL': '-8500.00'}, "-8,500.00 BRL, -5,500 JPY"),
     ({'USD': 10, 'EUR': '.00015'}, "10.00 USD"),
-    ({'JPY': '-.00015'}, "Zero balance"),
+    ({'JPY': '-.00015'}, "-0 JPY"),
 ]
 
 TOLERANCES = [Decimal(n) for n in ['.1', '.01', '.001', 0]]
@@ -385,9 +385,9 @@ def test_format_defaults(mapping, expected):
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('fmt,expected', [
     ('¤##0.0', '¥5000, -€1500.00'),
-    ('#,#00.0¤¤', '5,000JPY, -1,500.00EUR'),
+    ('#,##0.0¤¤', '5,000JPY, -1,500.00EUR'),
     ('¤+##0.0;¤-##0.0', '¥+5000, €-1500.00'),
-    ('#,#00.0 ¤¤;(#,#00.0 ¤¤)', '5,000 JPY, (1,500.00 EUR)'),
+    ('#,##0.0 ¤¤;(#,##0.0 ¤¤)', '5,000 JPY, (1,500.00 EUR)'),
 ])
 def test_format_fmt(fmt, expected):
     amounts = [testutil.Amount(5000, 'JPY'), testutil.Amount(-1500, 'EUR')]
@@ -420,20 +420,32 @@ def test_format_empty(empty):
     balance = core.Balance()
     assert balance.format(empty=empty) == empty
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize('tolerance', TOLERANCES)
-def test_str_tolerance(tolerance):
-    chf = testutil.Amount('.005', 'CHF')
-    actual = str(core.Balance([chf], tolerance))
-    if tolerance > chf.number:
-        assert actual == "Zero balance"
-    else:
-        assert actual == "00.00 CHF"
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('currency,fmt', itertools.product(
+    ['USD', 'JPY', 'BRL'],
+    [None, '¤#,##0.00', '###0.00 ¤¤'],
+))
+def test_format_zero_balance_fmt(currency, fmt):
+    zero_amt = testutil.Amount(0, currency)
+    nonzero_amt = testutil.Amount(9, currency)
+    zero_bal = core.Balance([zero_amt])
+    nonzero_bal = core.Balance([nonzero_amt])
+    expected = nonzero_bal.format(fmt).replace('9', '0')
+    assert zero_bal.format(fmt) == expected
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('currency,fmt', testutil.combine_values(
+    ['USD', 'JPY', 'BRL'],
+    ["N/A", "Zero", "ø"],
+))
+def test_format_zero_balance_zero_str(currency, fmt):
+    zero_amt = testutil.Amount(0, currency)
+    zero_bal = core.Balance([zero_amt])
+    assert zero_bal.format(zero=fmt) == fmt
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('tolerance', TOLERANCES)
-def test_format_tolerance(tolerance):
+def test_format_zero_balance_with_tolerance(tolerance):
     chf = testutil.Amount('.005', 'CHF')
-    actual = core.Balance([chf]).format(tolerance=tolerance)
+    actual = core.Balance([chf]).format(zero="ø", tolerance=tolerance)
     if tolerance > chf.number:
-        assert actual == "Zero balance"
+        assert actual == "ø"
     else:
-        assert actual == "00.00 CHF"
+        assert actual == "0.00 CHF"