Time to Decimal Calculator
A time to decimal calculator converts clock time into decimal hours: decimal = hours + minutes / 60 + seconds / 3600. For example, 7:45 is 7 + 45 / 60 = 7.75 hours. Payroll and invoicing forms ask for this format because an hourly rate multiplies a number, not a clock reading.
Duration hours = hours + minutes/60 + seconds/3600. These are durations, not clock times or dates; no time zone or daylight-saving conversion applies. Display uses two decimal places; decimal hours convert to the nearest second. Optional 5/6/15-minute rounding applies to each duration before summing; exact halves round upward. This is a calculation convention, not a payroll compliance rule.
Common minute values
Timesheet: add or paste several entries
Add shifts one by one, or paste a whole week straight out of a spreadsheet column. H:MM, HH:MM:SS and plain decimals are all accepted.
29 CFR 785.48(b) allows 5-minute, tenth-of-an-hour and quarter-hour rounding, provided it does not underpay over time.
| Entry | Decimal hours | Rounded hours | Remove this entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total |
Minutes to decimal hours chart (1 to 60 minutes)
Every minute of an hour as decimal hours, rounded to two places. 45 minutes = 0.75, 20 minutes = 0.33.
| Min | Decimal | Min | Decimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.02 | 31 | 0.52 |
| 2 | 0.03 | 32 | 0.53 |
| 3 | 0.05 | 33 | 0.55 |
| 4 | 0.07 | 34 | 0.57 |
| 5 | 0.08 | 35 | 0.58 |
| 6 | 0.10 | 36 | 0.60 |
| 7 | 0.12 | 37 | 0.62 |
| 8 | 0.13 | 38 | 0.63 |
| 9 | 0.15 | 39 | 0.65 |
| 10 | 0.17 | 40 | 0.67 |
| 11 | 0.18 | 41 | 0.68 |
| 12 | 0.20 | 42 | 0.70 |
| 13 | 0.22 | 43 | 0.72 |
| 14 | 0.23 | 44 | 0.73 |
| 15 | 0.25 | 45 | 0.75 |
| 16 | 0.27 | 46 | 0.77 |
| 17 | 0.28 | 47 | 0.78 |
| 18 | 0.30 | 48 | 0.80 |
| 19 | 0.32 | 49 | 0.82 |
| 20 | 0.33 | 50 | 0.83 |
| 21 | 0.35 | 51 | 0.85 |
| 22 | 0.37 | 52 | 0.87 |
| 23 | 0.38 | 53 | 0.88 |
| 24 | 0.40 | 54 | 0.90 |
| 25 | 0.42 | 55 | 0.92 |
| 26 | 0.43 | 56 | 0.93 |
| 27 | 0.45 | 57 | 0.95 |
| 28 | 0.47 | 58 | 0.97 |
| 29 | 0.48 | 59 | 0.98 |
| 30 | 0.50 | 60 | 1.00 |
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How do you convert time to decimal hours?
Divide the minutes by 60 and the seconds by 3,600, then add them to the whole hours: decimal hours = h + m / 60 + s / 3600. There is no separate payroll rule; it is the same arithmetic everywhere. Two worked examples: 8:20 is 8 + 20 / 60 = 8.33 hours, and 2:07:30 is 2 + 7 / 60 + 30 / 3600 = 2.125, shown as 2.13 on a two-decimal timesheet.
What is 7:45 in decimal hours?
7:45 is 7.75 decimal hours, because 45 / 60 = 0.75. At $22 an hour that shift pays 7.75 x 22 = $170.50, while typing 7.45 by mistake would pay $163.90 - a $6.60 error on a single day, or $33.00 over a five-day week. The same shift is 465 total minutes and 465.00 decimal minutes.
How do you convert decimal hours back to hours and minutes?
Keep the whole number as hours and multiply what is left by 60. So 3.4 hours is 3 hours plus 0.4 x 60 = 24 minutes, which is 3:24 - not 3:40. If a remainder is still left, multiply it by 60 again for seconds: 2.125 hours is 2:07:30. The Decimal to Time tab above does both steps and writes the answer out in words so the reading is unambiguous.
How do you convert time to decimal in Excel or Google Sheets?
Both store a time as a fraction of a day, so 7:45 is really 0.322916... internally. Multiply by 24 to get decimal hours with =A1*24, then format that cell as Number rather than Time, or the sheet will display 7:45 again. For decimal minutes use =A1*1440. Going back, =B1/24 formatted as [h]:mm returns clock time, and the square brackets let a total run past 24 hours instead of wrapping to zero.
How does payroll rounding to the nearest quarter hour work?
Quarter-hour rounding snaps each punch to :00, :15, :30 or :45, which is where the seven-minute rule comes from: a punch at 8:07 rounds down to 8:00, one at 8:08 rounds up to 8:15. US regulation 29 CFR 785.48(b) also accepts rounding to the nearest 5 minutes or nearest tenth of an hour, provided the practice averages out and never systematically underpays. Use the rounding selector in the timesheet panel to compare all three rounding rules against the exact total before you submit the sheet.
Is decimal time the same as decimal hours?
No. Decimal hours keep the ordinary 60-minute hour and only change how the fraction is written, which is why 7:45 becomes 7.75. Decimal time was a different idea altogether: the French Republican day of 10 hours of 100 minutes, made compulsory in 1794 and dropped in 1795 because every clock, timetable and contract already ran on the sexagesimal system. The SI second is still defined without any decimal day, so timesheets convert hours rather than replace them.
Sources and further reading
- eCFR - 29 CFR 785.48, rounding practices for recorded working time (US Department of Labor)
- Microsoft Excel documentation, TIME function - a time is stored as a decimal number, and 12:00 PM is 0.5 because it is half of a day
- Microsoft Excel - Format numbers as dates or times: time format codes, including elapsed time in square brackets ([h]:mm)
- BIPM - definition of the second, the SI base unit of time
- NIST Time and Frequency Division - how civil time is realised and distributed
Method and limits
Duration hours = hours + minutes/60 + seconds/3600. These are durations, not clock times or dates; no time zone or daylight-saving conversion applies.
Display uses two decimal places; decimal hours convert to the nearest second. Optional 5/6/15-minute rounding applies to each duration before summing; exact halves round upward. This is a calculation convention, not a payroll compliance rule.
About Time to Decimal Calculator
Duration hours = hours + minutes/60 + seconds/3600. These are durations, not clock times or dates; no time zone or daylight-saving conversion applies.
1 h 30 min = 1.50 h = 90 min. 1.25 h = 1:15:00. Entries 1:30 and 0:30 total 2.00 h.
Display uses two decimal places; decimal hours convert to the nearest second. Optional 5/6/15-minute rounding applies to each duration before summing; exact halves round upward. This is a calculation convention, not a payroll compliance rule.
Use Cases
How to use
Enter whole hours (0–1,000,000), minutes and seconds (0–59), or decimal hours with up to six places (point or comma). Zero is valid; negative values, exponents and incomplete values are rejected. Bulk import is all or nothing; correct invalid lines before adding. Maximum 1,000 entries.
Display uses two decimal places; decimal hours convert to the nearest second. Optional 5/6/15-minute rounding applies to each duration before summing; exact halves round upward. This is a calculation convention, not a payroll compliance rule.
Pro Tips
- Each duration is rounded independently to the selected minute step; the rounded total adds those rows. Exact totals remain available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Each duration is rounded independently to the selected minute step; the rounded total adds those rows. Exact totals remain available.
No. Minutes and seconds must be 0–59. Zero durations are accepted. Invalid bulk input is retained without adding any rows.