Date & Time
Convert decimal hours, minutes, or seconds to spreadsheet time (and back)
Divide decimal hours by 24, minutes by 1440, or seconds by 86400 to build valid time values—and multiply by 24 for payroll.
One day = 1.0: the three magic divisors (24, 1440, 86400)
Because spreadsheets store 1 full day as 1.0, converting numeric durations into spreadsheet time values requires dividing by the number of units per day: Hours / 24, Minutes / 1440 (24 * 60), or Seconds / 86400 (24 * 60 * 60).
Conversely, multiplying any spreadsheet time fraction by 24 converts 07:45 back into 7.75 decimal hours so multiplying by an hourly pay rate gives the right wage.
| DecimalHrs (A) | DecimalMin (B) | DecimalSec (C) | Converted H:M / M:S |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.75 | 150 | 90 | 7:45 | 2:30 | 1:30 |
Verify hour, minute, and second conversions
7.75 / 24 produces clock hour 7 and minute 45; 150 / 1440 produces 2 hours 30 minutes; 90 / 86400 produces 1 minute 30 seconds.
=HOUR(A2 / 24) & ":" & MINUTE(A2 / 24)Convert clock time back to billable decimal hours
Multiplying TIME(8, 15, 0) by 24 yields 8.25 decimal hours ($25/hr * 8.25 = $206.25).
=ROUND(TIME(8, 15, 0) * 24, 2)Try the example
Use the original values or change them to test your understanding.