Billable hours calculator
Enter the minutes for each time entry. Each one is rounded to 6 minute increments and the day is totalled. The billable hours chart is below.
For estimates only. This is not legal or ethics advice. Follow your firm's policy and the fee agreement.
Enter the minutes for at least one entry to see the billable time.
The calculator runs in your browser, and the numbers you enter are never sent anywhere.
Billable hours chart: 6 minute increments
Each 6 minutes is one tenth of an hour. Find the minutes worked on the left and read the billable hours on the right. Past an hour, add 1.0 for each full hour.
| Minutes worked | Billable hours |
|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | 0.1 |
| 7 to 12 | 0.2 |
| 13 to 18 | 0.3 |
| 19 to 24 | 0.4 |
| 25 to 30 | 0.5 |
| 31 to 36 | 0.6 |
| 37 to 42 | 0.7 |
| 43 to 48 | 0.8 |
| 49 to 54 | 0.9 |
| 55 to 60 | 1.0 |
Some fee agreements use quarter hours instead.
| Minutes worked | Billable hours |
|---|---|
| 1 to 15 | 0.25 |
| 16 to 30 | 0.50 |
| 31 to 45 | 0.75 |
| 46 to 60 | 1.00 |
How the rounding works
Minutes divided by 6, rounded up to a whole number, times 0.1 hour. The calculator rounds each entry on its own and then adds the entries. With a rate, it multiplies the total hours by the rate.
Whether time is rounded up, rounded to the nearest increment, or not rounded at all is set by your fee agreement and your firm's policy. This page does the arithmetic and nothing more. For background on fees, see the rule below.
Common questions
- How do you convert minutes to billable hours?
- With 6 minute increments, divide the minutes by 6, round up to a whole number, and multiply by 0.1. Twenty minutes is 20 divided by 6, which rounds up to 4, so 0.4 hours.
- What is a 6 minute increment?
- One tenth of an hour. Time is recorded in steps of 0.1 hour, so 1 to 6 minutes is 0.1, 7 to 12 minutes is 0.2, and a full hour is 1.0.
- How many billable hours is 15 minutes?
- In 6 minute increments, 15 minutes rounds up to 0.3 hours. In 15 minute increments it is 0.25 hours.
- Does the calculator round each entry or the day's total?
- Each entry on its own, then it adds them up. When rounding up, rounding the total of the day instead gives the same number or a smaller one. When rounding to the nearest increment, it can come out higher or lower. Which one applies to you is set by your fee agreement and your firm's policy, not by this page.
- Does this page tell me what I may bill?
- No. It does arithmetic. It is not legal or ethics advice and does not check any bar rule. Whether and how time is rounded depends on your fee agreement, your firm's policy and the rules where you practise.
- Is anything I enter stored?
- No. The calculator runs in your browser, and the numbers you enter are never sent anywhere.
Also useful: dictation for lawyers.
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