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Every owner, agency lead, or sales manager has lived this scene: the end-of-month scramble. Timesheets arrive as 7:15, 3:45:30, or “4h 20m,” and someone has to turn that chaos into decimal hours so payroll, invoices, and campaign ROI actually add up.Decimal time solves the hidden friction. When 7:15 becomes 7.25 and 3:45:30 becomes 3.758, your spreadsheets can finally behave like a calculator instead of a puzzle. Summing hours, comparing project profitability, or forecasting staffing needs becomes a single formula, not a guessing game.For recurring workflows, delegating this conversion to an AI computer agent is where things get interesting. Instead of a coordinator copy-pasting into calculators or repairing broken formulas, the agent reads the raw entries, applies the correct hh:mm:ss → decimal rules, and writes clean numbers back into Google Sheets. It follows the same logic you’d use manually, but at machine speed and with production-grade consistency.That means your team can open a Sheet and instantly trust the totals, while the AI quietly handles every edge case in the background.
Converting time to decimal hours sounds trivial—until you’re doing it for every employee, project, and client across your business. Let’s walk through the most practical ways to do it, from quick manual tricks to fully automated AI-agent workflows that run at scale.### 1. Manual methods inside Google SheetsThese are perfect when you’re experimenting or handling a small volume of rows.**Method 1: Basic time formula (HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND)**1. Enter your times in column A as hh:mm or hh:mm:ss (e.g., `7:15`, `3:45:30`).2. In column B, use: `=HOUR(A2) + MINUTE(A2)/60 + SECOND(A2)/3600`3. Drag the formula down to apply it to all rows.Google’s time-function reference: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3094139**Method 2: Multiply the time value by 24**Google Sheets stores time as a fraction of a day. Multiply by 24 to turn it into hours:1. Time in A2.2. In B2, enter: `=A2*24`3. Format B2 as a Number with 2–3 decimal places: **Format → Number → Number**.See number formatting docs: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/56470**Method 3: Use TIMEVALUE when time is text**If your time is imported as text (e.g., `"7:15"`), Sheets won’t treat it as time.1. Text time in A2.2. In B2, convert to time serial: `=TIMEVALUE(A2)`.3. In C2, turn it into decimal hours: `=B2*24`.4. Format C2 as Number.**Method 4: Clean inconsistent inputs with SUBSTITUTE**For strings like `"7h 15m"`:1. In A2 you have `7h 15m`.2. Turn it into `7:15`: `=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"h",""),"m","")`.3. Wrap with TIMEVALUE and `*24`: `=TIMEVALUE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"h",""),"m","") )*24`**Method 5: Apply to whole columns with ARRAYFORMULA**Once the formula is right, scale it down a column:1. Put raw times in column A from A2 down.2. In B2, use: `=ARRAYFORMULA(IF(A2:A="","",A2:A*24))`3. Set column B to Number format.ARRAYFORMULA docs: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093275This gives you a live, auto-expanding decimal-hours column.### 2. No-code automation methodsWhen you have recurring uploads—weekly timesheets, exported logs from a CRM, or project tools—no-code automations can keep everything in sync without touching code.**Method 1: Google Forms + response Sheet**1. Create a Google Form where staff log start/end times or daily hours in hh:mm format.2. Link responses to a Sheet (Form → Responses → Select destination).3. In the response Sheet, add a formulas column that turns the time into decimal using `=*24` or the HOUR/MINUTE/SECOND method.4. Use ARRAYFORMULA so every new response is converted automatically.**Method 2: Zapier or Make to normalize time fields**You might be pulling time data from tools like your CRM, helpdesk, or time tracker, each with their own format.1. In Zapier or Make, set a trigger on “new row” or “new record” from the source app.2. Add steps to transform the time string into a standard `HH:MM:SS` format.3. Send the cleaned value into Google Sheets in a dedicated “Raw Time” column.4. Let an in-Sheets formula convert that raw time to decimals.Pros: No coding, easy to maintain. Cons: You still maintain formulas and integrations separately, and error handling is limited.**Method 3: External decimal calculators in your workflow**For one-off corrections or training materials, tools like CalculatorSoup’s Time to Decimal Calculator (https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/time/time-to-decimal-calculator.php) or Clockify’s Decimal Hours Converter (https://clockify.me/decimal-hours-converter) can be handy.You can spot check your Google Sheets output against these calculators when setting up your formulas.### 3. Scaling with AI agents (Simular) at production levelWhen you’re a growing agency or business, time conversion becomes part of a larger workflow: ingesting exports, cleaning formats, validating totals, and posting numbers into finance tools. This is where AI computer agents like Simular’s agents shine.**Agent Method 1: Robot assistant for your timesheet pipeline**Imagine your team drops CSV exports from a time tracker into a folder each Friday.1. A Simular agent watches that folder on your desktop or cloud drive.2. When a file appears, it opens it, inspects the time columns, and detects formats (hh:mm, text like “7h 15m,” etc.).3. The agent opens the master Google Sheet in Simular’s browser environment.4. It pastes or uploads the data, inserts the correct decimal conversion formulas, and fills down or wraps in ARRAYFORMULA.5. It cross-checks a sample of rows against an independent calculator (like CalculatorSoup) for sanity.6. Once validated, it triggers a webhook to your downstream payroll or invoicing pipeline.Pros: End-to-end automation of a human-like workflow, no brittle API dependence, high transparency. Cons: Requires initial setup and testing of the agent’s steps.**Agent Method 2: Multi-system consolidation for agencies**For agencies juggling multiple clients and tools:1. The Simular agent logs into each client’s time-tracking or project system in the browser.2. It exports timesheets, cleans them, and converts hours to decimals in a client-specific Google Sheet.3. It then generates summaries: total billable hours, effective hourly rate per campaign, over-servicing alerts.4. Finally, it drafts an email or slide summary for your account managers.Pros: Massive time savings, consistent cross-client reporting, better billing accuracy. Cons: You must maintain clear instructions per client and occasionally adjust when UI changes.**Agent Method 3: Validation and exception handling layer**Even if your conversions start in Sheets formulas, a Simular agent can be the safety net:1. Periodically open key Google Sheets and scan for anomalies (e.g., decimal hours over 24, negative totals, rows missing decimals).2. Recalculate suspect rows using its own logic or an external calculator.3. Flag inconsistencies by adding comments, color-coding cells, or posting to Slack/email.This blends human oversight with machine endurance, ideal for finance, HR, and operations teams who cannot afford silent spreadsheet errors.By mixing manual formulas, no-code tools, and AI agents like Simular, you can start small, validate your approach, and then scale decimal time conversion into a reliable, invisible part of your business infrastructure.