Converting Minutes to Decimal Hours for Timesheets and Pay
Clocks count in sixties, while pay rates, invoices and spreadsheets work in tens. To multiply a worked time by an hourly rate you first have to express it in decimal hours, where 7 hours 30 minutes becomes 7.5, not 7.30. Mixing up the two notations is the single most common timesheet error.
This article gives the conversion in both directions, a reference table, a worked example with real numbers, and the one habit that keeps rounding errors out of your totals.
The conversion
There are 60 minutes in an hour, so the minutes part is divided by 60 to give a fraction of an hour. Add it to the whole hours.
decimal hours = hours + minutes ÷ 60To go back: minutes = decimal part × 60.
| Minutes | Decimal hours | Minutes | Decimal hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0.0833 | 30 | 0.5 |
| 6 | 0.1 | 40 | 0.6667 |
| 10 | 0.1667 | 45 | 0.75 |
| 12 | 0.2 | 50 | 0.8333 |
| 15 | 0.25 | 54 | 0.9 |
| 20 | 0.3333 | 60 | 1 |
Several of these never end: 20 minutes is 0.3333... of an hour, so any decimal figure for it is already rounded. That is the root of most disagreements between two timesheets.
A mental shortcut: 6 minutes is exactly one tenth of an hour, so dividing the minutes by 6 gives tenths. 42 minutes ÷ 6 = 7 tenths, so 42 minutes is 0.7 hours. When the minutes do not divide evenly by 6 the result is approximate: 50 ÷ 6 is 8.33 tenths, which is 0.8333 hours.
Worked example: 7 hours 50 minutes
50 ÷ 60 = 0.8333, so 7 hours 50 minutes is 7.8333 decimal hours, usually shown as 7.83. At an hourly rate of 20.00:
- Using the unrounded time: 7.8333 × 20 = 156.67.
- Using the rounded 7.83: 7.83 × 20 = 156.60.
The gap is only 7 cents for one shift, but it repeats on every shift, so the choice of rounding matters over a pay period.
Add the minutes first, convert last
Rounding each shift to two decimals and then adding them loses a little each time. Instead, total the hours and minutes, and convert once at the end.
Worked example: five shifts of 7:50, 8:10, 6:35, 7:20 and 8:05.
- In minutes: 470 + 490 + 395 + 440 + 485 = 2,280 minutes.
- 2,280 ÷ 60 = 38.00 hours, or 38 hours 0 minutes.
- If you convert each shift first and round to two decimals, you get 7.83 + 8.17 + 6.58 + 7.33 + 8.08 = 37.99 hours.
At 20.00 an hour, that is 760.00 against 759.80, a 20-cent difference that comes only from rounding. Add the minutes first and the error does not arise.
Going back from decimals
To turn decimal hours back into hours and minutes, keep the whole number as the hours and multiply the decimal part by 60.
- 0.4 hours: 0.4 × 60 = 24 minutes.
- 3.75 hours: 3 hours and 0.75 × 60 = 45 minutes, so 3 hours 45 minutes.
- 2.35 hours: 2 hours and 0.35 × 60 = 21 minutes, so 2 hours 21 minutes.
Remember that 7.30 hours is not 7 hours 30 minutes. It is 7 hours and 0.30 × 60 = 18 minutes. Writing times with a colon and decimals with a point keeps the two apart.
Rounding conventions
Many time-tracking systems record in fixed steps instead of exact minutes: tenths of an hour (6 minutes), quarter hours (15 minutes) or five-minute blocks. Rounding 7 hours 50 minutes to the nearest quarter hour gives 7.75 (7:45), because 50 minutes is closer to 45 than to 60.
Whether a rounding rule is allowed, and which direction it must go, is set by contract, employer policy or local employment law, and it varies. When you can, keep exact minutes, apply any rounding once on the final total, and use the same rule for every entry.
Use the time to decimal converter to go from hours and minutes to decimals, the decimal to time converter for the reverse, and the time card calculator to total a week of shifts.
This article explains arithmetic only. It is general information, not payroll, tax or legal advice. For how your own hours must be recorded or rounded, check your contract, employer policy or local rules.
- Time to Decimal Converter: Enter hours and minutes and the converter returns the total as decimal hours or as minutes. Empty boxes count as zero, and the answer is rounded to two decimal places.
- Decimal to Time Converter: Enter a decimal number of hours or minutes, choose which one it is, and the converter splits it into whole hours and minutes. It also shows the total in minutes.
- Time Card Calculator: Pick a period of one to 31 days, enter when you clocked in, clocked out and how long you took for breaks, and the calculator totals your hours. Add an hourly rate and an overtime rule to see regular, overtime and gross pay.
This article is general information, not professional advice. See our Disclaimer and Editorial Policy.
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