If you have ever built a timesheet, you have probably run into the same problem twice: clock times are easy for humans to read, but payroll systems want durations as decimal hours.
A shift from 09:00 to 17:30 is not 9.5 on a timesheet. It is 8.00 hours if you subtract a 30-minute lunch, and payroll usually wants that written as 8.00, not 8:00.
In this article, we’ll walk through the Excel formulas, the edge cases, and the small time-math mistakes that cause real payroll problems.
1. Clock time and duration are not the same thing
Before touching Excel, separate two ideas:
