Add up working hours and minutes
For timesheets, billable hours and payroll: add the days, subtract the breaks, and get the total in hours and minutes and in decimal hours. Right here online — and on a printable tape in DeskCalc for Windows.
Hours calculator
One line per day or job. Use − for breaks. 90 minutes count as 1:30.
Please use whole numbers in the marked line.
Decimal hours and the amount are rounded to two places. Nothing you type leaves this page.
Doing this every week?
In DeskCalc for Windows the same sum stays on a tape: label each line with the day, the job or the name, correct any entry later and the total follows, then print it or save it as a PDF for the timesheet. Free to try for 31 days.
The time calculator on the tape
With the time calculator switched on, DeskCalc reads every entry as a time with two parts — 07:45 — and counts the second part to 60 before it carries into the first. Everything else stays as you know it: the tape, comments, editing lines, totals, printing and PDF.
Switching the time calculator on and off
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1
Choose Functions ▸ Time calculator — or press Ctrl + F9. The tape and the display now show times as hh:mm.
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2
Calculate with + and − as usual and take the total.
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3
Switch it off with the same command before you go back to money or other ordinary figures.
Entering times
Type the first part, the decimal key, then the second part as two digits. The decimal key is only a separator here — the digits after it are minutes (or seconds), not a fraction.
| You type | DeskCalc shows | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 7.45 | 07:45 | 7 hours 45 minutes |
| 12 | 12:00 | 12 hours |
| 0.30 | 00:30 | 30 minutes — start with the zero |
| 0.05 | 00:05 | 5 minutes — always two digits |
| 1.5 | 01:50 | 1 hour 50 minutes — for an hour and a half type 1.30 |
| .30 | 00:00 | not recognised — type 0.30 |
Clock times: use the 24-hour clock, so 5:15 pm is 17.15. The second part runs from 00 to 59.
Adding, subtracting and correcting
- Totals do not roll over. Past 24 hours the total keeps counting — 39:00 for a week, 162:30 for a month. Nothing jumps to a new day.
- Subtracting works the same way. End time minus start time minus break: 17:15 − 08:30 − 00:30 = 08:15.
- Negative results show with a minus sign, for example −00:15 when fewer hours were worked than planned.
- Correcting a line: click the value on the tape and type the new time with a colon — 8:45, not 8.45. Everything below recalculates.
- Comments work as on any tape: label each line with the day, the job or the name, and the printed tape or PDF reads like a timesheet.
Minutes and seconds
The time calculator does not care what the two parts stand for — it only counts the second part to 60. So the same mode adds minutes and seconds: the length of a playlist, the running time of video clips, lap times. Read the result as mm:ss.
There are always exactly two parts. A total of 75 minutes 30 seconds shows as 75:30, not as 1:15:30.
Common questions
My hours add up to 37.80 instead of 39:00.
The time calculator is off, so DeskCalc adds the figures as ordinary decimals. Switch it on (Ctrl + F9) — the tape is then read as times.
I typed .30 and got 00:00.
Start with the zero: 0.30.
1.5 shows as 01:50, not an hour and a half.
The digits after the decimal key are minutes. An hour and a half is 1.30.
A line I corrected turned into 00:00.
When you edit a value on the tape, type it with a colon: 8:45.
How do I get decimal hours for payroll?
Divide the minutes by 60: 38:45 is 38.75 hours. A conversion table and a worked example are on the page Hours calculator with a tape. Multiply by the hourly rate with the time calculator switched off — while it is on, every result is shown as a time.
Questions about the time calculator?
Drop us a line — we usually reply within one business day.
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