The formula
How it works
Work out how many hours are between two times, minus any break — the sum behind a timesheet or shift. Enter a start and end time; if the end is earlier than the start, it is treated as running past midnight.
FAQ
What if my shift runs past midnight?
Just enter the times as normal. If the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator assumes the shift crosses midnight and adds the extra day automatically.
How do I convert the result to decimal hours?
The calculator shows both: the hours and minutes (like 8:00) and the decimal form (8.00), which is what most payroll systems use. Thirty minutes is 0.5 hours, fifteen is 0.25.
How is an unpaid break handled?
The break in minutes is subtracted from the total time between your start and end times before the hours worked are calculated. It only reduces the paid total — it does not change the clock-in or clock-out time itself.
What if I forget to enter a break?
Leave it at zero and the calculator simply reports the full span between start and end as hours worked. You can always come back and add the break minutes once you know them.
Can I use this to total up a full week of shifts?
This calculator handles one shift at a time, so add up each day’s result separately to get a weekly total. Doing that also makes it easy to spot which days ran long or short.
Why does payroll use decimal hours instead of hours and minutes?
Decimal hours multiply cleanly against an hourly wage, since 7.5 hours times a rate is a simple calculation, unlike 7 hours 30 minutes. That is why timesheets and pay stubs almost always show the decimal figure.
Does the calculator round the result?
No — it works out the exact minutes between your times and converts them precisely to hours and decimal form. Any rounding for pay purposes would need to be applied afterward by your payroll process.
About the hours calculator
This calculator adds up the hours between a start time and an end time, subtracting any unpaid break. It is the everyday sum behind a timesheet, a shift or a billable block of work. Doing it by hand means juggling a 60-minute hour and often a shift that runs past midnight, which is easy to get wrong — so a calculator that handles both saves time and avoids pay disputes.
How to use it
Enter the start time and the end time using the time pickers, then the length of any unpaid break in minutes. The calculator returns the time worked in hours and minutes, and as a decimal for payroll. For example, a shift from 9:00 to 17:30 with a 30-minute break is 8 hours exactly, or 8.00 in decimal. If the end time is before the start time, the shift is assumed to cross midnight.
The formula
The hours worked are . Both times are first converted to minutes from midnight; if the end is earlier than the start, a full day of 1,440 minutes is added so the shift spans midnight correctly. The break in minutes is subtracted, and dividing by 60 turns the total minutes into hours. The decimal figure is simply the minutes as a fraction of an hour.
Where it is used
Employees and employers use it to fill in timesheets and check pay, and freelancers use it to total billable hours for an invoice. Shift workers use it to add up a rota that runs overnight, and managers use it to schedule cover. Because payroll runs on decimal hours while clocks run on minutes, converting cleanly between the two is a small but constant need in any workplace.