Work Hours & Timesheet Calculator
How to Calculate Your Work Hours Accurately
Calculating hours between two times is a fundamental task for employees, freelancers, and project managers. Whether you are filling out a weekly timesheet or calculating billable hours for a client, accuracy is vital for fair compensation and project tracking.
Understanding the Calculation Logic
The standard formula for calculating work duration is:
(End Time – Start Time) – Break Duration = Total Work Hours
To perform this manually, it is often easiest to convert everything into a 24-hour format (military time) to avoid confusion between AM and PM. For example, 5:00 PM becomes 17:00. Once you have the total minutes, you divide by 60 to get the decimal hours used for payroll.
Examples of Common Shift Calculations
- Standard 9-to-5: Start at 09:00, end at 17:00, with a 30-minute break. This equals 8 hours minus 0.5 hours, resulting in 7.5 total hours.
- The Overnight Shift: If you start at 10:00 PM (22:00) and end at 6:00 AM the next day, the total duration is 8 hours. Our calculator handles cross-midnight shifts automatically.
- Part-Time Shift: Start at 1:15 PM, end at 4:45 PM. Total duration is 3 hours and 30 minutes, or 3.5 decimal hours.
Converting Minutes to Decimal Hours
Payroll systems rarely use "hours and minutes" format. Instead, they use decimals. Here is a quick reference for common conversions:
- 15 minutes = 0.25 hours
- 30 minutes = 0.50 hours
- 45 minutes = 0.75 hours
Why Use an Hours Calculator?
Manually calculating time can lead to errors, especially when dealing with irregular start times like 8:37 AM or multiple break periods. Using a dedicated hours calculator ensures that you are paid for every minute worked and helps businesses maintain precise labor records for compliance and budgeting.