Loading calculator...
- Turns minutes or clock times into tenths of an hour (6-minute units).
- Rounds to the nearest tenth, always up (legal billing) or always down.
- Handles unpaid breaks and overnight shifts.
- Shows the full minutes-to-tenths chart for timesheets.
How to use the tenth of an hour calculator
Choose your input
Use start and end times for a shift, or hours and minutes if you already know the total.
Add any unpaid break
Break minutes are taken off before rounding. An end time earlier than the start counts as an overnight shift.
Pick the rounding rule
Nearest tenth matches most payroll charts. Always round up matches law firm and consultant billing.
Copy the tenths
The result is ready for a timesheet or invoice, with the exact decimal hours shown next to it.
How tenths of an hour are calculated
An hour has 60 minutes, so one tenth of an hour is 6 minutes. To convert, divide the minutes by 6 to get the number of tenths, round it, then divide by 10 to get hours.
Tenths of an hour
Tenths = total minutes ÷ 6, rounded
Hours = tenths ÷ 10
Nearest tenth: 1–2 extra minutes round down, 3–5 round up
Example: 37 minutes ÷ 6 = 6.17, which rounds to 6 tenths = 0.6 hour.
Minutes to tenths chart
The standard payroll chart for the nearest-tenth rule.
- 0–2 minutes 0.0
- 3–8 minutes 0.1
- 9–14 minutes 0.2
- 15–20 minutes 0.3
- 21–26 minutes 0.4
- 27–32 minutes 0.5
- 33–38 minutes 0.6
- 39–44 minutes 0.7
- 45–50 minutes 0.8
- 51–56 minutes 0.9
- 57–60 minutes 1.0
Add the whole hours in front, so 2 hours 37 minutes is 2.6 hours.
Example: a shift with a lunch break
8:52 AM to 5:14 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch.
- Time between start and end 8 hours 22 minutes
- Minus break 7 hours 52 minutes = 472 minutes
- 472 ÷ 6 78.67 tenths
- Nearest tenth 79 tenths = 7.9 hours
- Exact decimal hours 7.8667
Rounding added 2 minutes to this shift.
Example: billing 2 hours 37 minutes
The rounding rule changes the bill.
- Nearest tenth 2.6 hours
- Always round up 2.7 hours
- Always round down 2.6 hours
Law firms usually round each task up, so 1 minute of work bills as 0.1 hour.
Where tenths of an hour are used
Payroll timesheets
Many US employers record hours in tenths so they can multiply easily by the hourly rate.
Legal billing
Lawyers bill in 0.1-hour units, so a 4-minute phone call is billed as 0.1.
Consulting and agencies
Billable hours in tenths are simple to total and invoice.
Aviation and maintenance
Flight and engine hours are logged in tenths on many aircraft and logbooks.
In the US, rounding to the nearest tenth is allowed if it averages out fairly so workers are fully paid over time (29 CFR 785.48). Always-round-down rules for employee pay can break that. For other time math use the time to decimal calculator, the time card calculator or the overtime pay calculator.
Tenth of an hour FAQ
How many minutes is a tenth of an hour?
6 minutes. Ten tenths make one hour of 60 minutes.
What is 15 minutes in tenths of an hour?
15 ÷ 6 = 2.5 tenths, which rounds to 3 tenths, or 0.3 hour, under the nearest-tenth rule.
What is 45 minutes in tenths?
45 ÷ 6 = 7.5 tenths, which rounds to 0.8 hour on the standard chart.
Is a tenth of an hour the same as decimal hours?
It is decimal hours rounded to one decimal place. 7 hours 52 minutes is 7.87 in hundredths but 7.9 in tenths.
Why do lawyers bill in tenths of an hour?
It is a long-standing billing convention: small tasks round up to 0.1 hour so short calls and emails are still billed.
Does the calculator handle night shifts?
Yes. If the end time is earlier than the start time, it counts the shift as running past midnight.