Time Card Rounding Calculator

How Time Card Rounding Works

Some employers round each clock-in and clock-out time to a set interval. Instead of paying from 7:58 AM, the system treats it as 8:00 AM. The most common intervals are 5, 6 and 15 minutes.

Rounding is applied to each punch, not to the total. The calculator rounds the start time and the end time to the nearest interval, and then works out the day. Your unpaid break is taken off after that.

Pick the interval in Settings, under "Rounding". It is set to 15 minutes on this page. Choose "None" to see your hours to the exact minute.

Employers may round time to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth of an hour or quarter hour, if the rounding averages out over time. Employees must be fully paid for all the time they work. Source: US Dept. of Labor, 29 CFR 785.48. Checked November 2026. An estimate, not payroll, tax or legal advice.

Time Clock Rounding Chart: 5, 6 And 15 Minutes

All three round to the nearest interval, and the halfway point rounds up. The difference is the size of the interval.

Rounding to 5 minutes is close to the exact time. Rounding to 6 minutes works in tenths of an hour, so each rounded time lines up with a clean decimal such as 0.1 or 0.2. Rounding to 15 minutes works in quarters of an hour, such as 0.25 and 0.75.

Times are rounded to the nearest interval, with the halfway point rounded up.

What The 7 Minute Rule Means

The 7 minute rule is the name people give to rounding to the nearest quarter hour. If you clock in 1 to 7 minutes after a quarter hour, the time is rounded down to it. If you clock in 8 to 14 minutes after, it is rounded up to the next one.

So 8:07 counts as 8:00, and 8:08 counts as 8:15. The same goes for clock-out times. 4:52 PM counts as 4:45 PM, and 4:53 PM counts as 5:00 PM.

It is a way of rounding that is meant to even out. Some days it works for you and some days against you. Whether it evens out for you is what the next section shows.

Does Rounding Cost You Pay?

Here is a week of real-looking punches. The exact total is 41 h 4 m. Rounded to 5 minutes it is 41 h, to 6 minutes 41 h, and to 15 minutes 41 h.

At $20.00 an hour, the pay is $832.00 exact, and $830.00 at 15 minutes. The difference is $2.00.

Over a few days the effect can go either way. Over a year the sums matter, and they depend on how you happen to clock in. If you usually clock in early and out late by a few minutes, rounding down can cost you.

Rounding And Decimal Hours

Rounding to 6 minutes is popular because 6 minutes is one tenth of an hour. A time rounded to 6 minutes can always be written with one decimal place, such as 7.8 hours.

Rounding to 15 minutes gives quarters, so totals look like 7.75 or 8.25. Both make payroll maths easier, which is a big reason employers choose them.

To convert any time to a decimal, use the decimal hours converter.

How To Use The Rounding Calculator

1. Enter the exact times you clocked in and out for each day, and the unpaid break.
2. In Settings, set "Rounding" to match your employer: 5, 6 or 15 minutes.
3. Read the totals. The working line under each day shows the rounded times.
4. Set "Rounding" to none and compare. The difference is what rounding does to your week.
5. Keep your exact times. If you think rounding is costing you, you have a record to raise with your employer.

Questions To Ask Your Employer

Ask which interval your time system uses and whether it rounds each punch or each day. Ask whether it ever rounds only in the company's favour.

If you work in a state with its own rules, check them as well. Some states have stricter limits than the federal rule.

Questions People Ask