diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/report/GATKReportColumn.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/report/GATKReportColumn.java
index 347e870c8..6452c7b2b 100755
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/report/GATKReportColumn.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/report/GATKReportColumn.java
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@ import java.util.TreeMap;
  * Holds values for a column in a GATK report table
  */
 public class GATKReportColumn extends TreeMap<Object, Object> {
-    private String columnName;
-    private Object defaultValue;
-    private boolean display;
+    final private String columnName;
+    final private Object defaultValue;
+    final private String format;
+    final private boolean display;
 
     /**
      * Construct the column object, specifying the column name, default value, and whether or not the column should be displayed
@@ -18,11 +19,17 @@ public class GATKReportColumn extends TreeMap<Object, Object> {
      * @param display  if true, the column will be displayed in the final output
      */
     public GATKReportColumn(String columnName, Object defaultValue, boolean display) {
+        this(columnName, defaultValue, display, null);
+    }
+
+    public GATKReportColumn(String columnName, Object defaultValue, boolean display, String format) {
         this.columnName = columnName;
         this.defaultValue = defaultValue;
         this.display = display;
+        this.format = format == null ? null : (format.equals("") ? null : format);
     }
 
+
     /**
      * Initialize an element in the column with a default value
      *
@@ -55,7 +62,7 @@ public class GATKReportColumn extends TreeMap<Object, Object> {
      * @return  the string value at the specified position in the column, or the default value if the element is not set
      */
     public String getStringValue(Object primaryKey) {
-        return toString(getWithoutSideEffects(primaryKey));
+        return formatValue(getWithoutSideEffects(primaryKey));
     }
 
     /**
@@ -77,7 +84,7 @@ public class GATKReportColumn extends TreeMap<Object, Object> {
 
         for (Object obj : this.values()) {
             if (obj != null) {
-                int width = toString(obj).length();
+                int width = formatValue(obj).length();
 
                 if (width > maxWidth) {
                     maxWidth = width;
@@ -93,10 +100,12 @@ public class GATKReportColumn extends TreeMap<Object, Object> {
      * @param obj The object to convert to a string
      * @return The string representation of the column
      */
-    private static String toString(Object obj) {
+    private String formatValue(Object obj) {
         String value;
         if (obj == null) {
             value = "null";
+        } else if ( format != null ) {
+            value = String.format(format, obj);
         } else if (obj instanceof Float) {
             value = String.format("%.8f", (Float) obj);
         } else if (obj instanceof Double) {
diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/report/GATKReportTable.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/report/GATKReportTable.java
index 2fd5ad7e3..95c2a14fc 100755
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/report/GATKReportTable.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/report/GATKReportTable.java
@@ -250,13 +250,12 @@ public class GATKReportTable {
      * @param defaultValue  the default value for the column
      */
     public void addColumn(String columnName, Object defaultValue) {
-        if (!isValidName(columnName)) {
-            throw new ReviewedStingException("Attempted to set a GATKReportTable column name of '" + columnName + "'.  GATKReportTable column names must be purely alphanumeric - no spaces or special characters are allowed.");
-        }
-
-        addColumn(columnName, defaultValue, true);
+        addColumn(columnName, defaultValue, null);
     }
 
+    public void addColumn(String columnName, Object defaultValue, String format) {
+        addColumn(columnName, defaultValue, true, format);
+    }
     /**
      * Add a column to the report, specify the default column value, and specify whether the column should be displayed in the final output (useful when intermediate columns are necessary for later calculations, but are not required to be in the output file.
      *
@@ -265,7 +264,14 @@ public class GATKReportTable {
      * @param display  if true - the column will be displayed; if false - the column will be hidden
      */
     public void addColumn(String columnName, Object defaultValue, boolean display) {
-        columns.put(columnName, new GATKReportColumn(columnName, defaultValue, display));
+        addColumn(columnName, defaultValue, display, null);
+    }
+
+    public void addColumn(String columnName, Object defaultValue, boolean display, String format) {
+        if (!isValidName(columnName)) {
+            throw new ReviewedStingException("Attempted to set a GATKReportTable column name of '" + columnName + "'.  GATKReportTable column names must be purely alphanumeric - no spaces or special characters are allowed.");
+        }
+        columns.put(columnName, new GATKReportColumn(columnName, defaultValue, display, format));
     }
 
     /**