Payroll hours calculator

How to use the payroll hours calculator

• Enter the period: Weekly or Biweekly. Set the first date so the PDF shows real dates.
• Type each day's in and out times, and the unpaid break in minutes. Use lunch punches if the employee clocks out for lunch.
• Leave rounding on None for exact minutes, or match your company's rounding policy.
• Choose the overtime rule and type the hourly rate.
• Copy the decimal total into your payroll system, or export the CSV, which has both hh:mm and decimal hours for every day.
• Add the employee's name and download the PDF for your records. It has lines for both signatures.

Minutes to decimal hours table

To turn minutes into decimal hours, divide by 60. Here are the common values, rounded to two places.

Tenths of an hour

If your company records time in tenths, each tenth is 6 minutes. This is also what the calculator's 6-minute rounding uses.

Worked example: 39 hours 20 minutes at $22.50

An employee earns $22.50 an hour. Here is the week. Each day is out minus in, minus the unpaid break.

Monday is 8:12 AM to 4:47 PM, 8 hours 35 minutes, minus 30 minutes = 8:05. Tuesday is 8:05 AM to 5:20 PM, 9:15, minus 45 = 8:30. Wednesday is 7:58 AM to 4:31 PM, 8:33, minus 30 = 8:03. Thursday is 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, 8:00, minus 30 = 7:30. Friday is 8:10 AM to 3:52 PM, 7:42, minus 30 = 7:12.

Total: the minutes are 5 + 30 + 3 + 30 + 12 = 80, which is 1 hour 20 minutes. The hours are 8 + 8 + 8 + 7 + 7 = 38. So the week is 39:20.

In decimal: 20 ÷ 60 = 0.333, so 39.33 hours. Pay is 39 1/3 × $22.50 = $885.00. No overtime, because the week is under 40. The calculator shows 39:20, 39.33 and $885.00.

If you typed 39.20 into payroll instead, you would pay 39.20 × $22.50 = $882.00, which is $3.00 short.

How the calculation works

Hours and minutes to decimal: decimal = hours + minutes ÷ 60. Decimal to minutes: minutes = the decimal part × 60, so 0.45 hours is 27 minutes.

Each day: out time minus in time, minus unpaid breaks. If the out time is at or before the in time, the shift crossed midnight and 24 hours are added. 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM is 8:00.

Totals: the calculator adds the exact minutes for the period and converts once at the end. Adding rounded daily decimals can be off by a hundredth or two.

Overtime: with the federal rule, hours over 40 in each workweek are overtime. California adds daily rules, and 8 and 80 uses a 14-day period.

Gross pay: regular hours × rate + overtime hours × rate × 1.5 + double-time hours × rate × 2. Each part is worked out from exact minutes and rounded to the cent. Taxes and deductions are not included.

Decimal hours back to hours and minutes

Sometimes you need to go the other way, for example to check a pay stub that lists 38.75 hours. Keep the whole hours. Multiply the decimal part by 60 to get minutes, and round to the nearest minute.

Because two-place decimals are rounded, a converted value can be a fraction of a minute off. 8.08 × 60 gives 4.8 minutes, which is really 5. That is why the calculator keeps exact minutes and only converts at the end.

Getting the hours into payroll

Most payroll software asks for decimal hours, split into regular and overtime. The results panel shows exactly those: total decimal hours, then Regular, Overtime (1.5x) and Double time (2x).

The CSV export has one row per day with the times, the unpaid break, hours in hh:mm, decimal hours and the regular, overtime and double-time split. A total row and a pay row follow. It opens in Excel and Google Sheets, so you can paste the totals into your payroll system or keep them on file.

The calculator works on one time card at a time. For several employees, add the name, download the PDF and CSV, then press Clear and start the next card.

Common payroll hours mistakes

• Typing hh:mm as a decimal. 39:20 is 39.33, not 39.20. This is the most common payroll error.
• Rounding each day, then adding. Small errors add up over a biweekly period. Convert the total.
• Wrong AM or PM. Check the read-back under each time box, especially on shifts over 12 hours and night shifts.
• Deducting paid breaks. Rest breaks of 5 to 20 minutes are hours worked.
• Overtime by pay period. On a biweekly payroll, check each workweek for hours over 40. See the biweekly time card calculator.
• Rounding that only goes one way. See the 7-minute rule calculator.

Records employers must keep

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. The calculator gives an estimate.

Under the FLSA, employers must keep records that include hours worked each day, total hours worked each workweek, the regular hourly rate, total overtime earnings for the workweek and total wages paid each pay period (Fact Sheet #21).

Payroll records must be kept for at least three years. Records used to compute wages, such as time cards, should be kept for two years. Employers may use any timekeeping method, as long as it is complete and accurate. The PDF and CSV from this calculator can be part of that record.

Overtime under federal law is at least 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek (DOL overtime).