How to convert hours and minutes to decimal hours
Invoices and pay use decimal hours. Divide the minutes by 60 and add them to the hours.
Why decimal hours
Your time on a job is written as hours and minutes, like 7 hours 45 minutes. A rate is a dollar amount per hour, and a calculator cannot multiply by 45 minutes. So you change the minutes into a part of an hour.
The method
- Write the hours and the minutes separately.
- Divide the minutes by 60.
- Add the answer to the hours.
- Round to two decimal places, and use the same rounding every time.
Common minutes
These are worth remembering. Some are rounded.
- 15 minutes is 0.25 hours.
- 30 minutes is 0.50 hours.
- 45 minutes is 0.75 hours.
- 10 minutes is about 0.17 hours.
- 20 minutes is about 0.33 hours.
- 40 minutes is about 0.67 hours.
Worked example: a full shift on site (made-up figures)
You worked 7 hours 45 minutes. 45 divided by 60 is 0.75. So the time is 7.75 hours.
At $45 an hour, 7.75 hours is $348.75 before Tax A and Tax B. Add the tax lines you take from the official source on top.
If you add up several shifts, convert each entry first and then add. Adding the minutes first and converting once also works, as long as you do it the same way each time. Check the total against your notebook before it goes on an invoice. A slip of one minute is small, but a slip of one whole hour is not, and it is easy to make when you carry numbers by hand. Writing the decimal beside the hours and minutes on the page makes the check quick.
Keep your rounding the same
Some people round to the nearest quarter hour and some to the nearest tenth. Either is fine on your own invoices. Write your method on the quote, so the customer is not surprised. If you pay staff by the hour, check your provincial rules and the CRA guidance before you round their time.
Check your figures with the decimal hours converter
Type the same figures into the decimal hours converter if you want a second check. It is free to start, you type every figure yourself, and nothing is sent. It is useful when a paper timesheet needs to become an invoice line.
Built in Canada for Canadian rules.
- How to track billable hours and turn them into a fee
- How to work out your hourly rate
- Guides for Canadian small business
Estimate, not tax or legal advice. General information for planning. All figures are made-up examples. You type every figure, and you take every tax name and rate from the official source. Nothing is sent.