# What are decimal hours?

> Decimal hours express time as a number: 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75. How to convert minutes to decimals and why payroll uses them.

URL: https://timetracking.tech/glossary/decimal-hours
Language: en
Last updated: 2026-10-24

**Definition:** Decimal hours express a duration as a single number of hours, with minutes as a fraction of 60. Seven hours and 45 minutes is 7.75 decimal hours, because 45 minutes is three quarters of an hour.

## How to convert

Divide the minutes by 60 and add them to the whole hours. 15 minutes is 0.25, 30 minutes is 0.5, 45 minutes is 0.75 and 20 minutes is about 0.33. To go back, multiply the decimal part by 60: 8.6 hours is 8 hours and 36 minutes.

A common mistake is reading 7.30 as seven and a half hours. In decimal hours, 7.30 is 7 hours and 18 minutes; seven and a half hours is 7.50.

- 0:15 = 0.25
- 0:30 = 0.50
- 0:45 = 0.75
- 7:45 = 7.75

## Why payroll uses decimal hours

Multiplying 7:45 by an hourly rate is awkward; multiplying 7.75 is not. That is why payroll systems and invoices usually work with decimal hours, or with whole minutes. TimeTracking stores every duration as whole minutes and converts to decimal hours only in the export, so rounding never adds up across a period.

- [Minutes to decimal converter](https://timetracking.tech/tools/minutes-to-decimal)
- [Payroll export](https://timetracking.tech/glossary/payroll-export)
- [Hours calculator](https://timetracking.tech/tools/hours-calculator)