Converting Minutes to Decimals

chart image

Are you searching for an easy way to calculate the total of your payroll time cards? Converting Minutes to Decimals is easy. Learn How To Convert Minutes to Decimal in a simple step by step tutorial. This site also has a printable chart that you can use to do the following:

  • Calculate time card totals for hours worked from your time card or time clock punches.
  • Chart rounds to two decimal places for consistent calculations.
  • A convenient tool for payroll administrators.
  • Military time conversion also included.
  • Reduce the number of calculations in order to total your time sheets.

Time Card Calculation

Payroll administration demands accuracy in time card calculations so that you are paying people correctly. You should always review and verify the addition of employee timecards. In order to correctly total your time card you need to add the minutes in decimal format. If you do not convert to decimal you will not get the correct totals. You cannot subtract times with the minutes as is, for instance if you work until 4:30 and try to do your math using 4.3 on your calculator, you will be shorted .20 minutes because 4 hours 30 minutes converts to 4.5 in decimal.

Minutes to Decimals Chart can be downloaded to the right in Adobe PDF, Microsoft Excel, or as a jpg image file and it is easy to print and post on your office wall. I also recommend using an adding machine when calculating payroll totals. As a payroll administrator, I’ve seen all kinds of errors in calculations on employee time sheets and in order to maintain accuracy, I have to check over all the timecard totals that I am processing for the week. I created this chart when I first started my position and I felt like it was a good resource to share.

Download the chart in the following formats:

Excel Format PDF Format JPG Image
chart excel pdf graphic chart image

Download Minutes to Decimals Converstion Chart

Printable chart you can hang up to reference

I hang this chart above my adding machine and reference the decimal totals in my calculations when adding up a time cards this way you don’t have to waste time doing the additional calculation to convert to decimal. You can enter the time as a decimal into your calculator instead of needing to convert it

How to Convert Minutes to Decimal

Do you have trouble adding your time card and totaling the amount of time that you worked each day? Quickly and easily learn how to convert minutes to decimal and how to add up your time card. Continue reading for tips and tricks that will help you through the process of calculating time totals.

To convert to decimal you must divide minutes by 60, so for example:

30 minutes / 60 = .50

So if you worked until 6:30 you would want to use 6.50 as 6 hours 30 minutes when doing your calculation, thirty minutes is 1/2 of an hour or .50

The quickest way of converting minutes to decimals is to divide the number of minutes by the number 60, which is the total number of minutes in an hour. Our system of time is based on the clock which has a total of sixty minutes in an hour, the decimal equivalents for minutes are the portion of one hour that the minutes represent.

clock pie chart

Imagine the face of the clock as a pie. When the hour hand is fixed at 12:00 o’clock and the minute hand of the clock moves to the corresponding minutes, it divides the clock into segments. Decimal equivalents for minutes are just the portion of the pie segment contained in those minutes. Think of the expressions we use “quarter of an hour” “half hour” and “three quarters of an hour” those give you clues to the decimals. Quarter of an hour is 1/4 which in decimal is .25, the same with 1/2 hour, which is .50 and three quarters of an hour or .75 – Easy right!

Conversion Tips:

  • Do you remember how to convert fractions to decimal? You are doing the same thing except that you will use the number of minutes as the numerator of the fraction and 60 as the denominator.
  • You can download one of the charts I have created which will tell you the decimal equivalents so you don’t have to do the math.
  • If your time is rounded to the quarter hour this means the only decimals you need to know are 15 minutes = .25, 30 minutes = .50 and 45 minutes = .75
  • You will need to decide on rounding rules, are you going to round up or down or not at all for the decimals with repeating digits?
  • Timecards are often reported to the nearest quarter hour, so if you work until 11:55 this would get rounded up to 12:00

Example Calculations

Here are some examples of minutes converted to decimal

If you do not add your time card totals correctly, it’s possible to short yourself minutes worked. And minutes = money! You don’t want to be paid incorrectly or short paid, so accuracy is important. Don’t take adding your time card lightly, you should always review your calculations and if your supervisor or someone else it totaling it for you, check over their numbers. One of the most common errors I see is people using .45 for 45 minutes instead of the correct decimal equivalent which is .75. You are shorting yourself 18 minutes of pay if you make this mistake on your calculation.

60 minutes is an hour so every 60 minutes would be 1 hour total. I’ve seen people write .90 down and mean an hour and a half (.60 for one hour and .30 for 30 minutes!)

So if you worked 8 hours 30 minutes + 8 hours 45 minutes the next day that would be added as 8.5 + 8.75 = 17.25 Hours
which is 17 hours and 15 minutes.

Every minute is approximately .02, but there is rounding involved with many of the decimal calculations.

Here are some random times in decimal:

7.08 hours (7hrs 05minutes)
2.75 hours (2hrs 45minutes)
7.25 hours (7hrs 15 minutes)
4.83 hours (4hrs 50minutes)

How to fill out a timecard

Complete all boxes with your time worked.

Another way to make it easier on a payroll processor to calculate your time worked is to properly complete all sections of a timecard. If you use a punch clock, always make sure that the punches come out clear and readable, if you notice a punch clock isn’t working correctly, notify a supervisor immediately, so they can correct any punches that are too light to read or missing from your card. Some jobs will not pay you if punches are missing from your card, so always remember to punch in and out correctly. Set up alerts on your phone to remind you or put a sticky on your locker or somewhere that you will see it when you are arriving and leaving a job.

If you have the type of time card that you fill out manually, then make sure you are writing clearly and not messy. You may feel like it is a hassle week after week to complete a time card, but taking the time to fill it in properly will benefit you in the end by making sure you are paid the time owed to you.

How to calculate paycheck total

After converting to decimal

Once you have your work hours converted to decimal, you just need to multiply your total hours worked x payrate to figure out the gross pay you will be owed for the week. So for example:

Pay rate $10 per hour
You worked 7 hours and 50 minutes per day for 5 days this week.

DAILY TOTAL:
7 hours and 50 minutes = 7.83 in decimal
(50 minutes / 60 minutes per hour = .83)

WEEKLY TOTAL:
7.83 x 5 days worked = 39.15 total hours

39.15 hours x $10 per hour pay = $391.50 total gross pay.

HOURS x PAY RATE = GROSS PAY (Total of paycheck before tax deductions)

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About the Author: karencookiejar