Decimal Hours vs. Hours:Minutes (hh:mm)
We talk with customers every day who are confused about decimal hours (i.e., 4.25) and hours:minutes (i.e., 4:15). Here, we go into the math on performing the decimal to hours:minutes conversion and the reasons why and when you may need to convert time in this manner.
It's kind of a big deal if your payroll utilizes employee hours!
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There is an awesome hours converter link located at the bottom of this page, or, to make it easy, just click here.
The big thing to look for is a decimal point (.) or colon (:)
Decimal hours can sometimes cause a bit of confusion for people who are used to looking at hours in the hh:mm format. Here are a few examples of decimal hours and how to interpret them…
- 8.00 hours - this is exactly 8 hours or 8:00 in the hh:mm format - note the use of a colon, not a decimal point.
- 8.25 hours - this is 8 and 1/4 hours, 8 hours and 15 minutes, or 8:15 (hh:mm), again, note the colon.
- 8.50 hours - here we have 8 and ½ hours, 8 hours and 30 minutes, or 8:30.
- 8.75 hours - 8 hours and 45 minutes or 8:45.
Here are a few examples that are commonly confused
- 8.20 hours - you may want to read this as 8 hours and 20 minutes, but it is actually 8 hours and 12 minutes (notice the decimal point).
- 8.45 hours - this one is 8 hours and 27 minutes.
Why Use Decimal Hours? We Use Decimal Hours for Two Reasons…
They are more precise - decimal hours are almost two times more precise than minute hours. Minute hours have a maximum of 1/60 resolution, while decimal hours have a 1/100 resolution. Decimal hours are easier to work with. Imagine trying to multiply 8:12 (which is 8 hours and 12 minutes) by an employee hourly rate. It’s much easier to multiply 8.20 (or 8 hours and 12 minutes) by an hourly rate to calculate payroll.
A Bit of Time Clock History
While we could not find a lot of data on why the hh:mm format has emerged as the preferred timekeeping method, we do have a few ideas.
- The very first time clocks were people. A person would simply write down when an employee got to work and when they left. What would they write down? Times such as 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. To calculate worked time, the person responsible for payroll would figure hours and minutes worked but would then convert to decimal hours to do the multiplication.
- The next time clocks were old-school, wall-mounted punch clocks. An employee would insert his or her punch card and time would be punched in the hh:mm format. Then, again, a payroll person would convert the hh:mm times to decimal hours.
- Computer-based punching came next. The early computer systems simply mimicked their predecessors. The hh:mm addition persisted, and, through the program, the hh:mm format would be converted to decimal hours for payroll purposes.
So, Why the Big Ole Hairy Article?
We wanted to tell you that we built a nice converter for you, here it is...
Minutes To Hours Calculator
