Find the hours between two times, add or subtract time from a clock time, or add up several durations.
If the end time is earlier than the start time, the end is assumed to fall on the next day. Equal times count as zero.
This tool covers the three things people most often work out by hand with clock times. The first is the gap between two times, such as a shift from clock-in to clock-out. The second is what time it will be after adding or subtracting a length of time. The third is adding up several durations, such as a week of shifts. Each one comes down to converting everything to minutes, doing the arithmetic, and converting back to a readable answer. Everything runs in your browser.
In the time difference mode, enter a start and end time. You can also enter an unpaid break in minutes and an hourly rate. The calculator shows the time worked after the break, the same figure in decimal hours, which is what most payroll systems use, and the earnings for the shift. For example, a shift from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch is 8 hours 30 minutes on the clock, and 8 hours of paid time, or 8.00 decimal hours. At $18.50 an hour that is $148.00. With no break, the same shift is 8.5 hours and $157.25.
If the end time is earlier on the clock than the start time, for example starting at 10:30 PM and finishing at 6:15 AM, the calculator assumes the end falls on the next day and adds 24 hours before subtracting. That shift is 7 hours 45 minutes. The same rule works in reverse when subtracting a duration pushes the result past midnight into the previous day. If the two times are exactly the same, the result is zero rather than 24 hours. For a full 24-hour period, use the two dates in the date calculator.
Payroll and billing often need hours as decimals. Divide the minutes by 60 and add them to the hours. A quarter of an hour is 0.25, so 15 minutes is 0.25 hours, 30 minutes is 0.50, and 45 minutes is 0.75. Other values do not come out evenly: 10 minutes is 0.17 hours, 20 minutes is 0.33 and 40 minutes is 0.67. So 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours, and 8 hours 20 minutes is 8.33. A very common mistake is reading 8.5 hours as 8 hours 50 minutes. It is 8 hours 30 minutes, because half an hour is 30 minutes, not 50.
Use this mode when you have a starting time and a duration. If you begin driving at 2:20 PM and the trip takes 3 hours 50 minutes, you arrive at 6:10 PM. If a meeting ends at 8:15 AM and you need to subtract 9 hours 30 minutes, the result is 10:45 PM the previous day, and the calculator says so. The result also shows the 24-hour form, which is 18:10 in the first example. You can enter any number of hours, even hundreds, and the result shows the time of day plus how many days forward or back it lands.
The third mode adds hours and minutes together, which is handy for timesheets, workouts, recipes, or video runtimes. Take a work week of 8h 30m, 7h 45m, 8h 0m, 8h 15m and 6h 30m. Together that is exactly 39 hours, or 2,340 minutes, and at $18.50 an hour it would be $721.50. Adding minutes carries over to hours automatically, so 3h 45m plus 2h 30m plus 1h 15m is 7h 30m, not 6h 90m. You can add as many rows as you need. If the total is 24 hours or more, the calculator also shows it in days and hours.
The time inputs use your device's settings, and results are shown with AM and PM. Midnight is 12:00 AM and noon is 12:00 PM, and mixing them up is one of the most common time errors. 12:30 AM is half an hour after midnight, while 12:30 PM is half an hour after noon. On a 24-hour clock, midnight is 00:00 and noon is 12:00.
In the US, federal law generally requires overtime pay of at least one and a half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek for covered employees, and some states have daily overtime rules as well. If you worked 46 hours at $18.50, the first 40 hours pay $740.00 and the extra 6 hours at $27.75 pay $166.50, for $906.50. Use the paycheck and overtime calculator for that, and the salary calculator to convert between hourly, weekly and yearly pay. The guide on hourly to salary with overtime shows how the pieces fit together.
How do I calculate hours worked between a start and end time?
Use the time difference mode and enter your clock-in time as the start and your clock-out time as the end. Add any unpaid break in minutes. The calculator returns the hours and minutes worked, the decimal hours, and the earnings if you enter a rate. Overnight shifts are handled automatically.
What happens if my end time is earlier than my start time?
The end time is assumed to be on the next day, and the difference is calculated accordingly, rather than showing a negative number. This is the normal case for overnight shifts.
Can I add or subtract more than 24 hours?
Yes. Enter any number of hours, even hundreds. The result shows the correct time of day and notes how many days forward or back it lands.
How do I add up several shifts or durations?
Choose the mode for adding up several durations, then enter the hours and minutes for each row and add rows as needed. The total is shown in hours and minutes, in decimal hours, and in total minutes.
How do I convert minutes to decimal hours?
Divide the minutes by 60. For example, 45 minutes is 45 / 60 = 0.75 hours, and 20 minutes is 0.33 hours. Add the result to the whole hours, so 6 hours 20 minutes is 6.33 hours.
Does this handle AM and PM automatically?
Yes. Enter times with your device's time picker, and results are shown with AM or PM. The add and subtract mode also shows the 24-hour time for reference.
Can I use this for payroll or timesheets?
It works well for the hours and pay on individual shifts and for adding up a week of durations. Check your employer's rounding rules, for example rounding to the nearest quarter hour, and any overtime rules that apply to you.
Why does the result say "next day" or "previous day"?
Clock times alone do not say which calendar day they fall on. When a calculation crosses midnight, the calculator notes the shift so you do not read the result as the same day.