Time & dates
Convert a duration between hours-and-minutes notation and decimal hours. Choose the direction that matches the value you have, then use the result in a timesheet, estimate or hourly calculation.
Choose a conversion direction. To get decimal hours, divide the minute portion by 60 and add the whole hours. Decimal-to-duration conversion rounds to the nearest second. Decimal notation is different from hours-and-minutes notation.
Seven hours 30 minutes equals 7.5 decimal hours because 30 divided by 60 is 0.5. By contrast, 7.30 decimal hours equals 7 hours 18 minutes, not 7 hours 30 minutes.
To turn hours and minutes into decimal hours, keep the whole hours and divide the minutes by 60. For 6 hours 45 minutes, the fraction is 45 ÷ 60 = 0.75. Add it to the whole hours to obtain 6.75 hours. The digits after the decimal point represent a fraction of an hour, not a separate minute field.
To go the other way, take the whole-number hours, then multiply the remaining fraction by 60. For 2.25 hours, the whole part is 2 and the fraction becomes 15 minutes. The result is 2 hours 15 minutes. The reverse conversion preserves any remaining seconds and rounds the displayed duration to the nearest second.
The number 7.30 means seven hours plus three tenths of an hour. That is 7 hours 18 minutes. It does not mean 7 hours 30 minutes. Use a colon, separate fields or explicit unit labels when sharing clock-style durations, and use a decimal point only when the receiving system expects decimal hours.
An hourly charge is normally multiplied by decimal hours. At a rate of 20 per hour, 1 hour 30 minutes is 1.5 × 20 = 30. Multiplying 1.30 by 20 would produce 26 and understate that example. Confirm whether your timesheet accepts decimal hours or a duration format before pasting the result.
Some minute values have recurring decimal equivalents. Ten minutes is one sixth of an hour, so its decimal representation continues beyond the digits shown. For a set of shifts, add their original minutes first and convert the total once when practical. Do not invent a payroll rounding rule from the number of decimal places visible on a calculator.
Worked example
7 hours 30 minutes converts to 7.5 hours because 30 ÷ 60 = 0.5. Entering 7.5 in the reverse direction returns 7 hours 30 minutes.
No. A quarter of an hour is 15 minutes, so 8.25 hours is 8 hours 15 minutes.
Many fractions of an hour do not have a short decimal representation. The display rounds them to a practical precision.
Yes. Decimal hours describe a duration, so the total does not reset at midnight.