Decimal time converter
Convert a duration such as 7 hours 45 minutes into decimal hours, or reverse the calculation.
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Minutes are sixtieths, not hundredths
Forty-five minutes is 45 divided by 60, so 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours, not 7.45. The reverse conversion multiplies the decimal fraction by 60.
The reverse result rounds to a minute
A decimal value can represent a fraction of a minute. This page rounds the converted duration to the nearest whole minute; payroll systems may apply their own rounding policy.
The conversions worth memorising
Six minutes is 0.1 hours, and every tenth follows from there: 12 minutes is 0.2, 18 is 0.3, 24 is 0.4, 30 is 0.5. The quarter hours are the other set worth knowing, 15 minutes as 0.25, 30 as 0.5 and 45 as 0.75.
The awkward ones are the thirds. Twenty minutes is 0.3333 and forty is 0.6667, so a timesheet that only accepts two decimal places is twelve seconds out on every such entry. Across a month of daily entries that adds up to a few minutes, which is why payroll systems live with it and why the rounding rule belongs to the employer rather than to the arithmetic.
Frequently asked questions
Why does payroll ask for decimal hours at all?
Because pay is a multiplication, and 7:45 is not a number you can multiply. Decimal hours turn the duration into a plain quantity, so 7.75 hours at $22 is $170.50 in one step. Timesheet software, invoicing tools and spreadsheets all expect the decimal form for the same reason.
What is 7 hours 45 minutes in decimal?
7.75 hours. Divide the minutes by 60 and add them to the hours: 45 ÷ 60 = 0.75. Writing it as 7.45 is the classic error and it understates the shift by 18 minutes, because 0.45 hours is 27 minutes rather than 45.
Why is 0.1 hours not 10 minutes?
Because an hour has 60 minutes, not 100. A tenth of 60 is 6, so 0.1 hours is six minutes, and 0.5 is thirty. The confusion is easy to spot once you notice that decimal hours and clock minutes only agree at the half hour.
How precise should I be for an invoice?
Two decimal places is the practical standard and matches what most billing systems accept. Beyond that you are describing fractions of a second. If a client bills in six-minute units, which is common in legal and consulting work, round to the nearest 0.1 before you send the invoice rather than after.
Does this apply to decimal time on a clock?
No, and the two ideas are worth keeping apart. This page converts durations. Decimal clock time, the French revolutionary idea of a ten-hour day, is a different scheme entirely and has not been in official use since 1795. Nothing here changes how a clock reads.
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