How to work out a time duration
- Choose Two times for times on the same day or overnight, or Two dates and times for longer spans.
- Type the start and end times as 9:15, 21:15, 9:15 pm or with seconds, like 9:15:30.
- Read the duration in hours, minutes and seconds, and the total as decimal hours, minutes and seconds.
Worked examples
| Start | End | Duration | Decimal hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:15 | 17:40 | 8 h 25 min | 8.42 |
| 22:00 | 6:30 (next day) | 8 h 30 min | 8.5 |
| 7:05:20 | 7:48:05 | 42 min 45 s | 0.71 |
| Mon 9:00 | Wed 17:30 | 2 days 8 h 30 min | 56.5 |
Durations for timesheets and billing
Durations in hours and minutes are easy to read but awkward to multiply. For pay or billing, use the decimal hours figure: 8 hours 25 minutes is 8.42 hours, and 8.42 × your rate gives the amount. If you need to subtract breaks or add up a week of shifts, the hours calculator does that, and the time to decimal calculator converts single values.