What Time to Decimal Converter does
To convert hours and minutes to decimal, keep the hours and divide the minutes by 60. 7 hours 30 minutes is 7 + 30 ÷ 60 = 7.5 hours, and 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75. This converter does that for any time written as hh:mm or hh:mm:ss, to 2, 3 or 4 decimal places, and shows the division it used. It also runs the other way: enter a decimal number of hours, such as 7.75, and it returns 7:45:00. Payroll and billing use decimal hours because a rate can only be multiplied by a plain number, which is why 7:30 has to become 7.5 and not 7.30 before it is multiplied.
Minutes to decimal hours chart (1 to 60 minutes)
Decimal hours to two places for every minute of the hour, as returned by the converter. Add the whole hours in front: 6 hours 37 minutes is 6.62.
| Minutes | Decimal | Minutes | Decimal | Minutes | Decimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.02 | 21 | 0.35 | 41 | 0.68 |
| 2 | 0.03 | 22 | 0.37 | 42 | 0.70 |
| 3 | 0.05 | 23 | 0.38 | 43 | 0.72 |
| 4 | 0.07 | 24 | 0.40 | 44 | 0.73 |
| 5 | 0.08 | 25 | 0.42 | 45 | 0.75 |
| 6 | 0.10 | 26 | 0.43 | 46 | 0.77 |
| 7 | 0.12 | 27 | 0.45 | 47 | 0.78 |
| 8 | 0.13 | 28 | 0.47 | 48 | 0.80 |
| 9 | 0.15 | 29 | 0.48 | 49 | 0.82 |
| 10 | 0.17 | 30 | 0.50 | 50 | 0.83 |
| 11 | 0.18 | 31 | 0.52 | 51 | 0.85 |
| 12 | 0.20 | 32 | 0.53 | 52 | 0.87 |
| 13 | 0.22 | 33 | 0.55 | 53 | 0.88 |
| 14 | 0.23 | 34 | 0.57 | 54 | 0.90 |
| 15 | 0.25 | 35 | 0.58 | 55 | 0.92 |
| 16 | 0.27 | 36 | 0.60 | 56 | 0.93 |
| 17 | 0.28 | 37 | 0.62 | 57 | 0.95 |
| 18 | 0.30 | 38 | 0.63 | 58 | 0.97 |
| 19 | 0.32 | 39 | 0.65 | 59 | 0.98 |
| 20 | 0.33 | 40 | 0.67 | 60 | 1.00 |
Values are minutes ÷ 60 rounded to the nearest hundredth. Only 3, 6, 9 and the other multiples of 3 minutes are exact at two places; the rest are rounded by up to a third of a hundredth of an hour, which is 12 seconds.
Time to decimal formula
Decimal hours = hours + (minutes ÷ 60) + (seconds ÷ 3,600)
An hour has 60 minutes and 3,600 seconds, so each part is divided by how many of it make one hour. For 1:15:36 the converter shows 1 whole hour, 15 ÷ 60 = 0.25 and 36 ÷ 3,600 = 0.01, which sum to 1.26 hours. For 8:20 it shows 20 ÷ 60 = 0.333333 and a sum of 8.333333, rounded to 8.33. Going back, hours = the whole part, minutes = the decimal part × 60, and seconds = whatever decimal is left of the minutes × 60.
Worked conversions in both directions
A standard day for payroll
Time 7:30, Decimal places 2
Decimal hours 7.50, Decimal minutes 450, Seconds 27,000
This is what the page shows when it loads.
A weekly total over 24 hours
Time 38:45
Decimal hours 38.75, Decimal minutes 2,325
Hours are not limited to 24, so timesheet totals can go straight in.
A time with seconds
Time 1:15:36
Decimal hours 1.26, Decimal minutes 75.6, Seconds 4,536
More decimal places
Time 8:20, Decimal places 4
Decimal hours 8.3333
Decimal hours to a time
Convert: Decimal to hours and minutes, Decimal value 7.75, in Hours
7:45:00, 7 hours 45 minutes, Total minutes 465
A rounded decimal that does not land on a whole minute
Decimal value 7.33, in Hours
7:19:48, 7 hours 19 minutes 48 seconds, Nearest minute 7:20
7.33 is 7:20 rounded to two places, so converting it back gives 12 seconds less than the original. Nearest minute recovers 7:20.
Decimal minutes to a time
Decimal value 90.5, in Minutes
1:30:30, 1 hour 30 minutes 30 seconds, Total seconds 5,430
Decimal hours to minutes chart
The reverse lookup for the decimals that appear most on timesheets and invoices.
| Decimal hours | Minutes | Decimal hours | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.05 | 3 | 0.50 | 30 |
| 0.10 | 6 | 0.60 | 36 |
| 0.15 | 9 | 0.70 | 42 |
| 0.20 | 12 | 0.75 | 45 |
| 0.25 | 15 | 0.80 | 48 |
| 0.30 | 18 | 0.90 | 54 |
| 0.40 | 24 | 1.00 | 60 |
0.33 converts to 19 minutes 48 seconds and 0.67 to 40 minutes 12 seconds; they are the rounded forms of 20 and 40 minutes.
Why payroll uses decimal hours, and where rounding matters
Pay is hours multiplied by a rate, and that only works when the hours are an ordinary number. Seven hours 30 minutes at 20 an hour is 7.5 × 20 = 150. Typing 7.30 instead gives 146, which underpays by 12 minutes.
Two decimal places divide the hour into hundredths, each worth 36 seconds, so a value rounded to two places can be up to 18 seconds away from the real time. On a single shift that is negligible. If you convert each day separately and then add the rounded decimals, the small differences can add up to a hundredth or two across a pay period, so it is more accurate to total the hours and minutes first and convert the total once. Choose 4 decimal places when the figure will be multiplied by a large rate.
Some employers round clock times to the nearest 5, 6 or 15 minutes before converting. This converter does not apply any such rule: it converts exactly the time you type. Apply your rounding policy first, then convert.
What the time and decimal fields accept
- hh:mm, such as 7:30 or 07:30. Minutes must be 00 to 59.
- hh:mm:ss, such as 7:30:15. Seconds may have decimals.
- Hours above 24, such as 38:45 or 160:00, for weekly or monthly totals.
- Unit forms: 7h 30m, 7 hours 30 minutes, 45 min, 90 sec.
- Not accepted in the time field: clock times with AM or PM, and bare numbers such as 7.5 or 90, since it is unclear whether they are hours or minutes.
- The decimal field takes any number from 0 upwards, read as hours or as minutes according to the setting beside it. The result is rounded to the nearest whole second, and a note appears when that rounding changed anything.
Using Time to Decimal Converter
- 1
Leave Convert on its first option to go from a time to a decimal, or choose Decimal to hours and minutes for the reverse.
- 2
For a time, type it in Time (hh:mm or hh:mm:ss), for example 7:30, 7:30:15 or 37:05. Forms like 7h 30m and 45 min are also read.
- 3
For a decimal, type it in Decimal value, for example 7.75, and set Decimal value is in to Hours or Minutes.
- 4
Pick 2, 3 or 4 under Decimal places. Two places, the hundredths of an hour, is what most payroll systems use.
- 5
Read Decimal hours (or Hours:minutes:seconds) under Result. The How it is worked out table lists each step of the division.