How to Calculate Hours Worked and Pay

To calculate hours worked, open the Hours Calculator, enter a Start time and End time, subtract your Break (minutes), and read the result — hours and minutes worked, the same span as decimal hours, and (if you enter an Hourly rate) the pay for that shift.

What the Hours Calculator does

Timesheets ask for hours worked, but clocks give you two times and a break length, and converting that into a decimal number — the kind payroll systems actually want — means doing minute math by hand. The Hours Calculator takes a start time, an end time, and a break length in minutes, and returns the worked time as both "Xh Ym" and a decimal number of hours, plus the total minutes. Add an hourly rate and it multiplies that out to a pay figure for the shift.

How to calculate hours worked with Toolbench

1. Open the Hours Calculator.
2. Enter the Start time (defaults to 09:00).
3. Enter the End time (defaults to 17:30).
4. Enter the Break (minutes) taken during the shift (defaults to 30).
5. Optionally enter an Hourly rate to see what the shift paid.
6. Read Hours worked at the top, then check Decimal hours and Minutes below for the same span in other formats.

If the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator assumes the shift crossed midnight — it adds 24 hours before subtracting the break, and adds a "Shift crosses midnight" note to the result so you know why.

A real worked example

With Start time 09:00, End time 17:30 and Break (minutes) 30:

Metric	Result
Hours worked	8h 00m
Decimal hours	8
Minutes	480

That's a standard 8.5-hour shift minus a 30-minute break, leaving exactly 8 hours — 480 minutes — of worked time.

Example: an overnight shift with pay

Say a shift runs from 22:00 to 06:00 with no break, at an hourly rate of 20:

Metric	Result
Hours worked	8h 00m
Decimal hours	8
Minutes	480
Note	Shift crosses midnight
Pay	160.00

The end time (06:00) is earlier than the start time (22:00), so the calculator adds 24 hours before subtracting the break — 8 hours worked, same as the first example, just spanning midnight. Pay is decimal hours times the hourly rate (8 × 20 = 160.00); the result is a plain number, so treat it as being in your own currency.

Tips and common mistakes

• The break comes out after the overnight adjustment. If your break is longer than the remaining shift, the calculator shows "Break is longer than the shift." instead of a negative number — check your break length if you see that.
• Decimal hours is what most payroll and invoicing tools want. "8h 00m" is easy to read, but "8" (decimal hours) is the number to type into a timesheet field that expects hours as a decimal.
• Leaving Hourly rate at 0 hides the Pay row. Pay only appears once you enter a rate above zero — if you don't see it, check that the rate field actually has a number in it.
• Both times are required. If either field doesn't parse as a valid time, the tool shows "Enter both times." instead of a result.
• This is a single shift, not a weekly timesheet. For multiple days or shifts, run each one through separately and add the decimal hours together.

Related tools

• Days Calculator — days, weeks and business days between two dates.
• Month Calculator — months between two dates, or a date plus or minus N months.
• Age Calculator — exact age in years, months and days from a date of birth.
• Loan Calculator — monthly payment, total interest and payoff date for a loan.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate hours worked from a start and end time?

Enter the start time and end time in the Hours Calculator, along with any break in minutes. It subtracts the break from the time between the two clock times and shows the result as both "Xh Ym" and a decimal number of hours.

How do I turn hours worked into decimal hours for a timesheet?

Use the Decimal hours row in the result. For an 8-hour shift it reads "8"; for a shift like 7 hours 15 minutes it would read as a number like 7.25, which is the format most payroll and invoicing systems expect instead of "7h 15m".

What happens if my shift crosses midnight?

Enter the start and end times as normal — if the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator assumes the shift ran past midnight, adds 24 hours before subtracting your break, and labels the result with a "Shift crosses midnight" note.

Does the Hourly rate field add a currency symbol to the Pay result?

No. Pay is shown as a plain number (hours × rate), with no currency symbol attached, so you should read it in whatever currency you entered the rate in.

Is my data sent to a server?

No. The calculation runs in your browser as you type. If you're signed in, your inputs sync privately to your account; if you're signed out, nothing is saved anywhere.