Free Hours Calculator
Hours and minutes between a start and end time, minus break.
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Inputs
Result
Hours worked (decimal)
8.00 hr
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Short answer
Hours worked equal end time minus start time minus break duration, expressed in decimal hours and hours-and-minutes.
What is the Hours Calculator?
The hours calculator turns clock-in and clock-out times into a decimal hours figure suitable for payroll and time-tracking.
How does the Hours Calculator work?
Convert both times to minutes-of-day. Subtract start from end (add 1,440 for overnight). Subtract the break. Convert back to hours.
Formula
Variables
startClock-in timeendClock-out timebreakBreak duration in minutes
Explanation
Overnight shifts add 24 hours when the end appears before the start.
Examples
Example 1: 9:00 to 17:30, 30 min break
8.00 hours worked (8 h 0 m).
Applications
- Timesheets
- Freelance billing
- Payroll verification
Advantages
- Handles overnight shifts automatically
- Decimal output for payroll systems
Limitations
- 15-minute time granularity in this simplified UI
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to subtract unpaid breaks from billable hours
Tips
- Round to the nearest 6 minutes (0.1 hour) for common payroll systems
Related concepts
The Hours Calculator sits inside the Date & Time Calculators hub, in the time tracking & conversion cluster. Hours, timesheets and unit conversion. Understanding the terms below makes the output easier to interpret and easier to compare against neighbouring measures.
Practical use cases and industry applications
Understanding Hours
The hours calculator turns clock-in and clock-out times into a decimal hours figure suitable for payroll and time-tracking. Within date & time calculators, hours belongs to the time tracking & conversion cluster, where it shares terminology and assumptions with closely related tools.
Learning how hours is calculated
Overnight shifts add 24 hours when the end appears before the start. Working through the variables one at a time — start, end, break — makes the result reproducible by hand and easier to sanity-check.
Using hours to make a decision
Timesheets Freelance billing Payroll verification Because outputs depend on the assumptions you enter, run more than one scenario before committing to a figure.
How hours compares with related measures
timesheet, decimal hour, shift, rounding rule all describe adjacent aspects of time tracking & conversion. Comparing this calculator's output against those measures — using the related tools listed on this page — prevents a single metric from being read in isolation.
Frequently asked questions
Are breaks always unpaid?
Depends on jurisdiction and employer policy. In the US, breaks under 20 minutes are typically paid.
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