How to Calculate Hours Worked in Excel?

Calculating hours worked in Excel enhances accuracy, efficiency, scalability, flexibility, and analysis capabilities. It is a reliable and accessible tool for managing and tracking employee hours, and supporting the payroll processes.

To ensure that work hours are tracked accurately, you will need to follow a set of steps, and some formulas. We will provide all the details you need to master how to calculate hours worked accurately.

Why it is important to calculate hours worked in Excel?

Calculating hours worked in Excel offers several benefits and advantages:

  • Accuracy: Excel provides a reliable and consistent platform for performing calculations, reducing errors, and ensuring accurate results. It minimizes manual calculations, which are prone to mistakes, and helps maintain data integrity.
  • Efficiency: Excel's built-in functions and formulas streamline the process of calculating hours worked. Once the formulas are set up, you can easily apply them to multiple rows or columns, saving time and effort compared to manual calculations.
  • Scalability: Excel can handle large datasets and accommodate the tracking of hours worked for numerous employees. It allows you to expand and adapt the calculations as your organization grows, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.


How to Calculate Total Hours Worked in Excel?

To calculate hours worked in Excel, you can use formulas and functions to perform the necessary calculations. Here's a step-by-step guide.

You can download the Excel file to review how we implemented the following steps.

Step 1: Enter the Start Time and End Time

In a column, enter the start time in one cell and the end time in another cell. Ensure that the time values are entered in a recognizable format, such as "9:00 AM" or "17:30" (if using military time).

Step 2: Calculate the Difference in Hours

In a new cell, subtract the start and end times to calculate the time difference. Use the following formula:

=end time cell - start time cell

For example, if the start time is in cell A2 and the end time is in cell B2, the formula for calculating the hours worked on that day would be:

=B2 - A2

To handle overnight hours, i.e., from 7:25 PM to 5:00 AM, then use this formula =IF(A2>B2;B2+1;B2)-A2 

Step 3: Format the Cells as Time

Format the cell containing the calculated difference in a time format. Right-click on the cell, select "Format Cells," choose the appropriate time format (e.g., "hh:mm" for hours and minutes), and click "OK."

Step 4: Calculate the Total Hours Worked weekly

Once you have added the time entries for each day and calculated the total daily hours worked, you need to add the total hours to know the weekly total. In our example, we used =SUM(D2:D6), Where D2 to D6 was the total hours worked daily from Monday to Friday.

You will get the correct answer if the total hours are less than 20. However, your sum will probably have > 30 hours, and it is necessary to format the cell as Custom [h]:mm to get the correct answer.


Optional steps:

Calculate Total Regular Hours Worked

If you want to deduct break times from the total hours worked to calculate regular hours, use the subtraction formula. For example, if the break time is 30 minutes, subtract it from the total hours worked:

=(B2+1) - A2 - TIME(0,30,0)

Calculate Overtime Hours (if applicable)

To calculate overtime hours, you can use an IF statement to check if the total hours worked exceed the regular hours threshold. If it does, subtract the regular hours from the total hours to get the overtime hours. For example, if the regular hours threshold is 40, and the total hours worked are in cell C2:

=IF(C2>40, C2-40, 0)

Tip: Adjust the cell references and formulas according to your specific data layout and requirements. Excel provides various functions and operators to manipulate time values, such as SUM, HOUR, MINUTE, TIME, and IF, which can be utilized based on your specific calculations and needs.