Most payroll systems round clock punches to the nearest quarter hour. MROUND does it in one step — no nested IF ladder required.
"0:15" is fifteen minutes expressed as a time. MROUND snaps to the closest multiple.
The example
Raw clock-in times need to be rounded to the nearest quarter hour before pay is calculated.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Punch time | Rounded |
| 2 | 8:07 AM | 8:00 AM |
| 3 | 8:08 AM | 8:15 AM |
| 4 | 12:52 PM | 12:45 PM |
| 5 | 5:23 PM | 5:15 PM |
The formula
MROUND rounds a number to the nearest multiple. Time in Excel is a fraction of a day, and "0:15" is that multiple:
How it works
How the rounding decides up or down:
- Excel stores 8:07 AM as a fraction of a day; "0:15" is 15 minutes as that same fraction.
- MROUND finds the nearest multiple of 15 minutes — 8:07 is closer to 8:00, so it rounds down.
- 8:08 is past the halfway point, so it rounds up to 8:15.
- Format the result cell as a time (h:mm AM/PM) so it reads as a clock time.
The standard payroll convention is the 7-minute rule, which is exactly what nearest-15 rounding produces.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter minutes past the hour; see which quarter-hour the punch rounds to.
Variations
Always round up (round time clock policy)
Some employers round up to protect the employee. Use CEILING.
Round to the nearest 6 minutes (tenths of an hour)
Service businesses often bill in 0.1-hour increments.
Pitfalls & errors
If the cell shows a decimal like 0.34 instead of a time, apply a time number format.
To get paid hours as a decimal for multiplying by a wage, use =MROUND(A2,"0:15")*24.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
Is nearest-15 rounding legal for payroll?
Why use "0:15" instead of a decimal?
How do I round to the nearest half hour?
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