Payroll multiplies hours by a rate, so it needs 7 h 30 m as 7.50, not 7.30. Convert either way, with the working shown and a printable minutes chart.
Tap a minute to load it into the converter. Quarter hours are highlighted: 15 min = 0.25 · 30 min = 0.50 · 45 min = 0.75. Other anchors: 6 min = 0.10 · 12 min = 0.20 · 20 min = 0.33 · 40 min = 0.67 · 48 min = 0.80.
Time clocks record hours and minutes. Payroll multiplies hours by a rate, so it needs the time as a decimal: 7 hours 30 minutes is 7.50 hours, not 7.30. Mixing the two is one of the most common timesheet mistakes, and it always costs somebody money. 7.30 paid as if it were "seven hours thirty" underpays by 12 minutes a day; read the other way it overpays.
This converter works in both directions. Enter hours and minutes to get decimal hours, or enter a decimal to get hours and minutes, and it shows the working each time so you can do the next one in your head. The rule is simple: divide the minutes by 60. Fifteen minutes is a quarter of an hour (0.25), thirty is a half (0.50), forty-five is three quarters (0.75), and anything in between is just minutes ÷ 60 rounded to two decimal places.
Below the converter there is a full minutes-to-decimal chart from 1 to 60 that you can print and pin up next to the clock. If you have a whole week of in and out times to add up, use the time card calculator instead; it converts as it goes.
Background reading: From paper timesheets to automatic payroll
Because pay is hours multiplied by a rate, and you cannot multiply "7:30" by $15.00 directly. 7.5 × 15.00 = 112.50 works. Decimal hours make the arithmetic correct and let spreadsheets and payroll software add columns up.
6.82 hours. 49 ÷ 60 = 0.8167, which rounds to 0.82, so 6 h 49 m = 6.82. At $12.00 an hour that is $81.84.
No. 7.30 decimal hours is 7 hours 18 minutes (0.30 × 60 = 18). Seven and a half hours is 7.50. This is the mix-up that causes most timesheet disputes, so always write decimals with two places and say which one you mean.
A tiny amount, at most half a minute a day (0.005 h). Some payrolls round to the nearest 6 minutes (0.1 h) or 15 minutes (0.25 h) instead; those rules should be written down and applied the same way to everyone. Rounding should never only go in the employer's favour.
Free to use, works in your browser, nothing is sent to our servers. Figures are for guidance only: pay rules are set by each country's law and by your contract, so check anything that matters with your labour department or payroll.
PunchClock records punches to the minute and does the decimal conversion for every hour on every payslip.