π°οΈ Hours Between Two Times
Decimal hours between any two times, overnight handled.
Decimal hours
How to Use This Calculator
Enter the start and end times in 12-hour or 24-hour format, optionally add unpaid break minutes and an hourly rate, then hit Calculate Hours. The headline is decimal hours, the format timesheets and invoices want. The details show hours and minutes, total minutes, paid hours after the break, and earnings if you entered a rate. Overnight spans are detected automatically: 10 PM to 6 AM correctly reads 8 hours.
Enter start and end times. "4:45 PM" and "16:45" both work.
Add unpaid break minutes if you want paid hours, not just gross time.
Optionally enter your hourly rate to see earnings for the span.
Hit Calculate Hours and copy the decimal into your timesheet.
The Method: Subtract, Then Divide by 60
Everything funnels through minutes: convert both times to minutes since midnight, subtract, add a full day if the result went negative (overnight), and divide by 60 for decimals. The worked example: 8:30 AM is 510 minutes, 4:45 PM is 1,005, the difference is 495, and 495/60 = 8.25 hours. Breaks subtract after conversion because breaks are durations, not clock times. Earnings multiply last, keeping the money math separate from the time math. Rounding, if your policy requires it, applies to the final decimal, never to the minutes mid-calculation, or rounding errors compound.
Worked Example
A freelancer works 9:15 AM to 1:45 PM with no break at $75 an hour. Start = 555 minutes, end = 825 minutes, difference = 270 minutes = 4.5 hours. Earnings = 4.5 x 75 = $337.50. Now a shift worker: 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM with a 30-minute unpaid break at $22 an hour. Overnight span = 510 minutes = 8.5 hours gross; paid = 8.5 - 0.5 = 8.0 hours; earnings = $176.00. Enter both scenarios above and the calculator reproduces the decimals, the paid hours, and the dollar figures exactly.
Decimal Hours Reference
Memorize the common ones and timesheets get painless: 15 minutes = 0.25, 30 = 0.5, 45 = 0.75. Then the six-minute tenths: 6 min = 0.1, 12 = 0.2, 18 = 0.3, 24 = 0.4, 36 = 0.6, 42 = 0.7, 48 = 0.8, 54 = 0.9. Everything else is division, but these cover 90 percent of real entries. The dangerous lookalikes: 20 minutes is 0.33, not 0.2; 40 minutes is 0.67, not 0.4. When in doubt, divide; the calculator is faster than your memory anyway.
Timesheet Habits That Prevent Disputes
Log start and end times daily, not hours from memory at week's end; memory rounds in your favor and gets challenged. Note breaks separately from gross time so the math is auditable. Keep the same rounding rule all week; mixing exact and rounded entries looks sloppy. For billing clients, record the task alongside the time; "4.5 hours" invites questions while "4.5 hours: database migration" answers them. Export or screenshot weekly totals before submitting, because payroll systems lose entries with impressive regularity.
Payroll Rounding Rules
Employers do not have to pay to the minute; federal rules allow rounding to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour, or quarter hour, with one iron condition: it must average out fairly and not systematically favor the employer. Always rounding down is wage theft; rounding to the nearest quarter with honest midpoints is legal. The common 7-minute rule rounds clock-ins to the nearest quarter: 8:07 becomes 8:00, 8:08 becomes 8:15. Know your employer's policy and check it against your own log from this calculator. If every rounding goes their way across a pay period, that is a red flag worth raising. Some states restrict rounding further, and a few employers have dropped it entirely under legal pressure. Your defense is records: log exact times daily, and the rounding math becomes checkable in seconds.
Shift Differentials and Premium Hours
Not all hours pay the same. Night shifts, weekends, and holidays often carry differentials: an extra $1 to $3 per hour, or a percentage bump. When computing pay for a differential shift, split the hours first, then apply rates: 8 regular hours plus 4 night hours at +$2 is not 12 hours at the average. Holiday pay rules vary: some employers pay 1.5x for hours worked on holidays, others give the day off with pay, and some do both. Overtime interacts with differentials in a specific legal way: the FLSA requires overtime on the weighted regular rate including most differentials, not the base rate. That raises the overtime premium slightly, and payroll systems handle it, but understanding it helps you verify the stub. Log differentials alongside hours; they are the most commonly underpaid component.
A Second Worked Example: The Contractor's Day
A contractor works 7:30 AM to 3:15 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch, billing at $85 an hour. Start: 450 minutes. End: 915 minutes. Difference: 465 minutes, or 7.75 decimal hours. Minus the lunch: 7.25 paid hours. Earnings: 7.25 times 85 is $616.25. The half-hour lunch is worth $42.50 at this rate, which is why contractors track it honestly instead of rounding it away.
For client invoicing, show the math: "7.75 hours on site less 0.5 lunch = 7.25 billable." Clients dispute round numbers; they pay itemized ones. The decimal-hours line on the calculator exists for exactly this sentence.
Decimal Hours in Real Payroll Systems
Payroll software speaks decimal, and most of it accepts two decimal places. A week of 8.25, 8.50, 7.75, 8.00, and 8.25 totals 40.75 hours, which the system multiplies by the rate without a second thought. The mistakes happen at the human boundary: writing "8:25" on a paper timesheet when you mean 8.25 hours, which is actually 8:15. Payroll clerks see this weekly.
If your employer still uses paper, write both forms: "8:15 (8.25)." It takes two seconds and removes the translation step where errors breed. And keep your own copy. Payroll corrections are easy in the same pay period and miserable two periods later; the decimal you wrote down is your evidence.
Common Mistakes With Two Times
First: subtracting the break twice. Enter the break in the break field or subtract it yourself, not both. Double-subtracted breaks are the most common timesheet error after the 12 AM/PM mixup. Second: the overnight miss. A 10 PM to 6 AM shift entered without the overnight handling reads as negative 16 hours in a spreadsheet and as a very short day in a tired brain.
Third: rate applied to gross instead of paid hours. The $616.25 above used 7.25, not 7.75; billing the lunch hour is a fast way to lose a client's trust. Fourth: rounding the rate math early. Keep full precision through hours times rate and round the final dollars to cents. Fifth: forgetting that "hours between" is a duration, not a schedule. It tells you how long, not when; pair it with the actual clock times on any invoice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours is 9 AM to 5 PM?
8 hours. In decimal that is 8.0, the number timesheets want. If you take an unpaid lunch, subtract it separately: 9 to 5 with a 30-minute lunch is 7.5 paid hours. Enter both times above and the calculator gives decimal hours directly.
How do you calculate hours between two times?
Convert both times to 24-hour format, subtract the start from the end, and divide leftover minutes by 60. From 8:30 AM to 4:45 PM: 16:45 minus 8:30 is 8 hours 15 minutes, or 8.25 hours. The calculator does the conversion and division in one step.
What if the shift goes past midnight?
Add 24 hours to the end time. A 10 PM to 6 AM shift is 8 hours: treat 6 AM as 30:00 and subtract 22:00. The calculator detects when the end time is earlier than the start and applies the overnight rule automatically, labeling the result.
How do I convert time to decimal hours?
Divide the minutes by 60 and add to the hours: 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75, 2 hours 30 minutes is 2.5. Common trap: 5 hours 30 minutes is 5.5, not 5.3. The calculator shows the decimal under every result so you never hand-convert at timesheet time.
How do I calculate billable hours?
Measure the gross duration between start and end, subtract non-billable breaks, and round per your policy (many firms round to the tenth or quarter hour). At $150 an hour, 2.5 hours bills $375. The calculator's decimal output multiplies directly by your rate.
Should I round my timesheet hours?
Follow your employer's policy; the common ones are nearest tenth (6 minutes), nearest quarter hour (15 minutes), and exact. US Department of Labor rules allow rounding as long as it averages out fairly over time. The calculator gives exact decimals; apply your rounding rule after.
How many hours is 8:15 AM to 5:30 PM?
9 hours 15 minutes, or 9.25 decimal hours. Subtract a lunch break for paid hours: minus 30 minutes gives 8.75. Enter the times above to verify; the overnight logic stays out of the way for same-day spans. For payroll, use the decimal figure: 9.25 hours at your hourly rate gives gross pay directly.
What is the difference between elapsed time and clock time?
Clock time is a point (3:00 PM); elapsed time is a duration (3 hours). This calculator turns two clock times into one elapsed time. Mixing them up causes the classic error of adding 3 PM + 2 hours and writing "5 PM hours." Keep points and durations in their separate lanes.