Business Hours Calculator

Enter your start time, end time, and break duration to instantly calculate total hours worked, net working time, and estimated earnings — useful for payroll, invoicing, and time tracking.

Time Details

Start Time

End Time

Break Time ? Total unpaid break time in minutes. This is subtracted from total hours to calculate net working time. Unpaid lunch, rest breaks

minutes

Hourly Rate ? Optional. Enter your hourly rate to calculate estimated earnings for the hours worked. Optional — for earnings estimate

Time Breakdown

Total Hours Worked (Net)

—

after break deduction

Total Time

—

start to end

Break Time

—

unpaid deduction

Hourly Rate

—

per hour

Day Visualisation

— —

Working Time

Why Accurate Time Tracking Matters

Payroll Accuracy

Payroll errors caused by inaccurate time tracking cost US businesses billions annually. Calculating hours worked precisely — including breaks — ensures employees are paid correctly and employers stay compliant with FLSA requirements.

Net Hours = (End − Start) − Break Minutes

Freelance & Contractor Billing

Freelancers and contractors need accurate hour counts for client invoices. Rounding to the nearest 15 minutes is common practice — this calculator helps you quickly determine billable time before sending an invoice.

Earnings = Net Hours × Hourly Rate

Overtime Monitoring

Under US federal law, non-exempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours over 40 per week. Tracking daily hours is the first step to identifying when overtime thresholds are approaching — before they hit your payroll unexpectedly.

OT Alert: daily hours > 8 hrs

Break Time Deductions

Unpaid breaks must be properly deducted from total time to calculate actual working hours. Paid breaks (typically under 20 minutes under FLSA) count as working time. Always know which applies to your business before running payroll.

Paid Break: ≤20 min | Unpaid: >30 min

Time tracking best practices for small businesses

Track time daily, not from memory. Employees who reconstruct hours at the end of the week routinely underestimate or misremember. Daily logging is more accurate, easier to audit, and reduces payroll disputes.
Distinguish paid from unpaid breaks. Under FLSA, rest breaks of 20 minutes or less must be paid. Meal breaks of 30+ minutes where the employee is fully relieved of duties are unpaid. Getting this wrong creates wage liability.
Set clear rounding policies. Many payroll systems round to the nearest 5, 6, or 15 minutes. Your rounding policy must be neutral — it cannot consistently favour the employer. Document the policy and apply it consistently.
Use this calculator for client invoices. When billing hourly, enter start and end times precisely and deduct any time spent not working on the client's project. Accurate billing protects client relationships and your revenue.
Keep records for at least 3 years. FLSA requires employers to retain time and payroll records for 3 years. For wage claims, records going back 2 years (3 for willful violations) can be audited. Digital time records are your best protection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — if the end time is earlier than the start time, the calculator automatically adds 24 hours to handle overnight shifts (e.g. 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM = 8 hours). This is correct for any shift that crosses midnight within a single working period.

Under FLSA, meal breaks of 30 minutes or more during which the employee is completely relieved of duties are not considered working time and should not be paid. Rest breaks of 20 minutes or less must be paid and count as working time. Enter only unpaid breaks in the Break Time field.

Run this calculator for each day of the week and sum the daily net hours. For overtime purposes, total all hours in the 7-day workweek — not a calendar week unless your workweek starts on Sunday. Your workweek start day is a fixed, recurring 7-day period defined by your business.

Common approaches are billing in 15-minute increments (round to nearest quarter hour), 6-minute increments (1/10 of an hour, common in legal and consulting), or exact decimal hours. Be consistent, document your billing policy in your contract, and state it clearly on every invoice to avoid disputes.

Hours worked are all compensable hours an employee is required to be on duty or at the employer's premises. Hours paid may include paid time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays) that employees receive but don't physically work. For overtime calculations, only actual hours worked count — not PTO or holiday pay, unless your company policy states otherwise.