Decimal hours calculator
Convert time to decimal hours for payroll
Type hours and minutes to get decimal hours, or type a decimal figure to get hours and minutes. Two decimal places is the payroll default. It runs in your browser and keeps nothing.
Common minutes, in decimal hours
- 5 min 0.08
- 10 min 0.17
- 15 min 0.25
- 20 min 0.33
- 30 min 0.50
- 40 min 0.67
- 45 min 0.75
- 50 min 0.83
Need every minute from 1 to 60? See the full time clock conversion chart.
Why payroll wants the decimal
Pay is worked time multiplied by a rate, and that multiplication is clean only in decimal hours. Eight hours and fifteen minutes at twenty dollars an hour is hard to do in your head, but 8.25 times 20 is exactly $165. So time clocks record and export worked time as decimal hours, and payroll systems expect it that way.
To convert a whole day or week, the time card calculator shows every total in decimal alongside hours and minutes. For the pay itself, including overtime and tax, hand the decimal hours to Plain Paycheck.
The rule, and the rounding
The conversion is minutes divided by 60. Fifteen minutes is a quarter of an hour, 0.25; thirty minutes is 0.50; forty-five is 0.75. Odd minutes give repeating decimals, so payroll rounds to two places: seven minutes is 0.1166..., shown as 0.12.
Rounding the clock itself is a separate step from converting to decimal. If your employer rounds punches to the quarter hour, the rounding calculator shows the effect, and the 7-minute rule calculator shows exactly where each punch lands. The full minutes to decimal chart lists every value from 1 to 60.
Common questions
How do you convert minutes to decimal hours?
Divide the minutes by 60. 15 minutes is 15 divided by 60, which is 0.25 hours. 45 minutes is 0.75. Payroll rounds the result to two decimal places, so 7 minutes is 0.12 hours.
Why does payroll use decimal hours instead of hours and minutes?
Pay is hours times a rate, and multiplying is only clean in decimal. 8 hours 15 minutes times $20 is awkward, but 8.25 times $20 is exactly $165. Time clocks and payroll systems store worked time as decimal hours for that reason.
What is 8 hours and 15 minutes in decimal?
8.25 hours. The 15 minutes is 15 divided by 60, which is 0.25, added to the 8 whole hours. Enter it in the converter above to check, or read it off the conversion chart.
How many decimal places should I use?
Two is the payroll standard and the default here. Two places is accurate to the nearest hundredth of an hour, which is well under a minute. Switch to three places if you need to see the exact figure, for example 7 minutes is 0.117 hours at three places and 0.12 at two.