Point Location:

The position of the decimal point is the other characteristic which can be specified in the case of the numeric data items. If the position is not specified, then the item is considered to be an integer that means that the decimal point is positioned instantly after the rightmost digit. It may be noted that in the COBOL the decimal point is not explicitly involved in the data. The position of the decimal point is just an assumed position.

The compiler at the time of compilation makes only a note of this assumed decimal point. It makes the object code in such a way that the data items before taking part in the operations are aligned according to their assumed decimal points.