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Adding up a week of clock-in and clock-out times by hand is where most timesheet mistakes happen — a missed lunch break here, a bit of forgotten overtime there, and the paycheck comes out wrong. This free time card calculator does the arithmetic for you: enter each day’s start and end times, subtract unpaid breaks, and it returns your daily and weekly hours in both decimal and hours:minutes, plus any overtime and gross pay.
Time Card Calculator
Enter clock-in and clock-out times for each day. Add unpaid break minutes (like lunch) and, optionally, your hourly rate.
| Day | Time In | Time Out | Break (min) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | — | |||
| Tuesday | — | |||
| Wednesday | — | |||
| Thursday | — | |||
| Friday | — | |||
| Saturday | — | |||
| Sunday | — |
Overtime here uses the federal rule of 1.5× for hours over 40 in a workweek. Some states also require daily overtime — see the state guide linked below. This tool is for estimates, not payroll or legal advice.
How to calculate hours worked
The math behind any time card is short. You are turning a pair of clock times into a length of time, then trimming the parts you were not paid for.
- Subtract the start time from the end time. Clock in at 8:00 AM, clock out at 5:00 PM, and the raw span is 9 hours.
- Subtract unpaid breaks. A 30-minute unpaid lunch turns that 9-hour span into 8.5 net hours.
- Convert leftover minutes to decimals if you are multiplying by a pay rate. 8 hours 30 minutes becomes 8.5 because 30 ÷ 60 = 0.5.
- Add the days together for a weekly total, and split anything over 40 hours into overtime.
That is exactly what the time card calculator above automates. The one part people trip on is crossing midnight: if the clock-out time is earlier than the clock-in time — say a shift from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM — you add 24 hours before subtracting, giving 8 hours rather than a negative number. The tool handles that overnight case for you.
Handling lunch and unpaid breaks
Whether a break comes out of your paid hours depends on its length and your employer’s policy. Under federal rules, short rest breaks of roughly 5 to 20 minutes are usually counted as paid work time, while a genuine meal period of 30 minutes or more — where you are fully relieved of duties — is typically unpaid.
In the calculator, only enter the minutes that are unpaid in the break column. If your 15-minute coffee breaks are paid, leave them out; they are already inside your clock-in-to-clock-out span. A common weekday looks like this:
| Clock in | Clock out | Unpaid lunch | Hours worked |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | 5:30 PM | 30 min | 8.00 |
| 8:00 AM | 4:00 PM | 0 min | 8.00 |
| 7:30 AM | 6:00 PM | 60 min | 9.50 |
Converting minutes to decimal hours
Payroll systems multiply decimal hours by your rate, not hours and minutes — so 7 hours 45 minutes is entered as 7.75, not 7.45. The rule is simply minutes ÷ 60. Keep this quick-reference chart handy for the common marks:
| Min | Dec | Min | Dec | Min | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0.08 | 25 | 0.42 | 45 | 0.75 |
| 10 | 0.17 | 30 | 0.50 | 50 | 0.83 |
| 15 | 0.25 | 35 | 0.58 | 55 | 0.92 |
| 20 | 0.33 | 40 | 0.67 | 60 | 1.00 |
This is the single most common timesheet error: writing 8.30 for eight and a half hours. Eight and a half hours is 8.50. The calculator shows both formats side by side so you never have to guess which one payroll wants.
Weekly totals and overtime
Once the days are added up, federal law (the Fair Labor Standards Act) requires most hourly employees to be paid one-and-a-half times their regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. Forty hours at $20 plus six overtime hours would be paid as 40 × $20 + 6 × $30 = $980.
Two things the weekly total alone will not tell you:
- Daily overtime. A handful of states — California most notably — also owe overtime after 8 hours in a single day, and double time after 12. If that is you, our overtime pay calculator by state applies the correct daily and seventh-day rules.
- Take-home vs. gross. The pay figure here is gross, before taxes and deductions. To see what actually lands in your account, run the number through the take-home pay calculator.
If you are checking whether your hours line up with a salary rather than an hourly wage, the salary calculator and our guide to gross vs. net salary connect the two.
Time clock rounding (the 7-minute rule)
Many employers round clock punches to the nearest quarter-hour. The long-standing “7-minute rule” says that within a 15-minute block, punches in the first 7 minutes round down and punches at 8 minutes or more round up. Clock in at 8:07 and it becomes 8:00; clock in at 8:08 and it becomes 8:15.
Rounding is only lawful when it is neutral — it must not systematically favor the employer over time. The rounding selector in this time card calculator lets you preview the effect of nearest-15, nearest-6 (tenth-of-an-hour), or nearest-5 rounding on your own week so you can compare it against the exact minutes.
Doing it by hand vs. a time card calculator
Doing it by hand is fine for a single day. The friction shows up across a full week, where you are juggling AM/PM spans, midnight crossovers, mixed break lengths, and a decimal conversion at the end — four separate places to slip. The time card calculator collapses all of that into one weekly figure and keeps the two formats (decimal and h:mm) in sync.
If your real question is less “how many hours” and more “is that time worth it,” the how much is my time worth guide reframes the same numbers around your effective hourly value, and per-day salary breaks a monthly figure back down to the day.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate hours worked with a lunch break?
Subtract your clock-in time from your clock-out time to get the raw span, then subtract the unpaid lunch minutes. Clocking in at 9:00 AM and out at 5:30 PM is an 8.5-hour span; take off a 30-minute unpaid lunch and you have 8.0 net hours. Enter the times in the calculator and it does this instantly.
How do I add up time that crosses midnight?
When the clock-out time is earlier than the clock-in time, add 24 hours to the clock-out before subtracting. A 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM shift is 8 hours. The calculator detects overnight shifts automatically, so you can enter the times as they appear on the card.
What is 7 hours and 45 minutes in decimal?
It is 7.75 hours. Divide the minutes by 60 (45 ÷ 60 = 0.75) and add them to the whole hours. This decimal form is what payroll multiplies by your pay rate.
When does overtime start?
Under federal law, overtime begins after 40 hours in a workweek and is paid at 1.5× your regular rate. Some states add daily overtime after 8 or 12 hours — the state overtime calculator covers those rules.
Is it legal for my employer to round my time?
Yes, if the rounding is neutral and does not consistently shortchange you. The common practice rounds punches to the nearest quarter-hour using the 7-minute rule. Rounding that always favors the employer is not permitted.
Does the calculator store my times?
No. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is saved or sent anywhere. Refreshing the page clears the card.
Sources & method
Hours are calculated as (clock-out − clock-in) − unpaid breaks, with overnight shifts wrapped across midnight, then summed for the week; hours beyond 40 are treated as overtime at 1.5× under the federal standard. Overtime, break, and rounding rules follow U.S. Department of Labor guidance. Individual state laws and employer policies can differ, so treat the results as estimates.
- U.S. Department of Labor — Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime
- U.S. Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked
- Wikipedia — Working time
Reviewed by the CalcRange editorial team. CalcRange builds free, no-signup calculators and plain-English guides. This page is informational and is not payroll, tax, or legal advice; for decisions about pay, confirm with your employer or a qualified professional.