 			arguments.distinct = true;
 		else
 			arguments.distinct = false;
-	</cfscript>
-	<cfreturn $calculate(argumentCollection=arguments)>
-</cffunction>
-
-<cffunction name="maximum" returntype="any" access="public" output="false" hint="Calculates the maximum value for a given property. Uses the SQL function `MAX`. If no records can be found to perform the calculation on, a blank string is returned."
+		returnValue = $calculate(argumentCollection=arguments);
+		if (IsNumeric(returnValue))
+			return returnValue;
+		else
+			return 0;
+	</cfscript>
+</cffunction>
+
+<cffunction name="maximum" returntype="any" access="public" output="false" hint="Calculates the maximum value for a given property. Uses the SQL function `MAX`. If no records can be found to perform the calculation on you can use the `ifNull` argument to decide what should be returned."
 	examples=
 	'
 		<!--- Get the amount of the highest salary for all employees --->

	<cfreturn $calculate(argumentCollection=arguments)>
</cffunction>

<cffunction name="sum" returntype="any" access="public" output="false" hint="Calculates the sum of values for a given property. Uses the SQL function `SUM`. If no records can be found to perform the calculation on, `0` is returned."
	examples=
	'
		<!--- Get the sum of all salaries --->

<!--- PUBLIC MODEL CLASS METHODS --->

<cffunction name="average" returntype="any" access="public" output="false" hint="Calculates the average value for a given property. Uses the SQL function `AVG`. If no records can be found to perform the calculation on you can use the `ifNull` argument to decide what should be returned."
	examples=
	'
		<!--- Get the average salary for all employees --->
