Hours calculator
Type a start and end time for each shift. Breaks come off the total, and shifts past midnight are handled.
Runs in your browser. What you type is not sent to a server.
Time between two dates and times
How to enter times
Use whichever format you are used to: 9, 9:30, 0930, 9am or 9:30 pm. Times without am or pm are read as a 24-hour clock, so 17:30 is 5:30 pm.
If the end time is earlier than the start, the shift is treated as running past midnight: 10 pm to 6 am is 8 hours. The same start and end time counts as a full 24 hours.
How "9 to 5" is read
People often type a day shift the way they say it, 9 and 5, without am or pm. Read as a 24-hour clock that would be 9 am to 5 am the next day, 20 hours. So when both times are plain numbers from 1 to 12 and the end is earlier than the start, the calculator reads the end as afternoon and says so under the result, for example "Read 9–5 as 9:00 am – 5:00 pm."
| You type | Break | Read as | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 and 5 | none | 9:00 am to 5:00 pm | 8 h (8.0) |
| 8 and 4:30 | 30 min | 8:00 am to 4:30 pm | 8 h (8.0) |
| 9.30 and 5.45 | 30 min | 9:30 am to 5:45 pm | 7 h 45 min (7.75) |
| 7 and 11 | none | 7:00 to 11:00, no change needed | 4 h (4.0) |
| 22 and 6 | 30 min | 10 pm to 6 am, overnight | 7 h 30 min (7.5) |
| 9pm and 5am | none | Overnight, as typed | 8 h (8.0) |
The one case to watch is an evening shift typed without am or pm: 6 and 2 is read as 6 am to 2 pm. For a shift from 6 pm to 2 am, type 18 and 2, or 6pm and 2am. Anything with am, pm or an hour above 12 is taken exactly as typed.
Hours and minutes vs decimal hours
Payroll systems usually want decimal hours. 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours, because 45 minutes is three quarters of an hour. Decimal hours here are rounded to two places, and pay is worked out from the exact minutes, not the rounded figure.
Minutes to decimal hours
Divide the minutes by 60, so 45 minutes is 45/60 of an hour; the fraction to decimal converter turns any such fraction into a decimal. These come up most on timesheets:
| Minutes | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 45 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 0.08 | 0.17 | 0.25 | 0.33 | 0.5 | 0.67 | 0.75 | 0.83 |
So 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours, and 8 hours 20 minutes is 8.33 hours. Writing 7:45 as "7.45" on a timesheet is the most common payroll mistake: it underpays by 18 minutes.
Worked examples
| Shift | Break | Hours worked |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 am to 5:00 pm | 30 min | 8 h (8.0) |
| 10:00 pm to 6:30 am (overnight) | 30 min | 8 h (8.0) |
| 9 am to 5:45 pm | 45 min | 8 h (8.0) |
| 7:15 to 15:45 | none | 8 h 30 min (8.5) |
| Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:15 | 30 min a day | 38 h 45 min (38.75) · at $18.50 an hour, $716.88 |
For the last row, the pay line under the result shows the sum it used: "Pay: 716.88 (38.75 h × 18.50)". Pay is worked out from the exact 2,325 minutes, which gives $716.875 and rounds to $716.88. The hourly rate you type is remembered on this device, so it is filled in next time.
Rounding clock-in times
Many employers round punch times, often to the nearest 5, 6 or 15 minutes. Under the US rule known as the 7-minute rule, a quarter-hour system rounds 1 to 7 minutes down and 8 to 14 minutes up, so 8:07 counts as 8:00 and 8:08 as 8:15. US federal rules accept rounding only if, over time, it doesn't shortchange employees. This calculator counts exact minutes; round the times first if your workplace does.
Time duration across days
The timesheet above is for shifts measured by the clock. For a span that runs over several days, such as a trip, a rental, a project or the time since an event, use Time between two dates and times. It gives the result in days, hours, minutes and seconds, plus the total in hours and in minutes. To now fills in the current time, so you can see how long ago something started.
| From | To | Duration | Total hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Nov 5, 2026, 9:00 am | Thu, Nov 5, 2026, 5:30 pm | 8 hours 30 minutes | 8.5 |
| Thu, Nov 5, 2026, 10:40 pm | Fri, Nov 6, 2026, 7:15 am | 8 hours 35 minutes | 8.58 |
| Thu, Nov 5, 2026, 9:00:00 am | Sat, Nov 7, 2026, 5:30:15 pm | 2 days 8 hours 30 minutes 15 seconds | 56.5 |
| Sat, Oct 31, 2026, noon (New York) | Sun, Nov 1, 2026, noon (New York) | 1 day 1 hour | 25 |
The last row is the night the clocks go back in the United States: November 1, 2026 has 25 hours in New York, so noon to noon is 25 hours, not 24. The calculator uses your device's time zone and counts the time that really passes, so a span across a daylight saving change comes out an hour longer or shorter. Total hours are rounded to two decimals; the days, hours, minutes and seconds line is exact.
Overtime
The calculator adds up hours; it doesn't apply overtime rules, because they differ by country, state and contract. In the United States, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires time and a half for covered employees after 40 hours in a workweek, and some states also count daily overtime. To estimate it, total the week here, then multiply the hours above your threshold by 1.5 and add them to the regular pay.
Questions
Does it round to the nearest 15 minutes?
No. It counts exact minutes. If your employer rounds clock-in times, round the times before you type them.
Can I type 7.5 hours instead of times?
Not as a shift length. The boxes take clock times, so enter a start and end such as 9:00 and 16:30. A dot is read as a time separator, so "9.30" means 9:30.
Is my timesheet saved?
The shift times stay only in this browser tab. The hourly rate is kept on this device once you type it, so you don't have to enter it again, and it is never sent anywhere. Use "Copy timesheet" to paste the week into an email or a spreadsheet.