Hoursare

Hoursare is a data standard for representing work time as decimal hours, designed to improve consistency across time tracking, payroll, and project management systems. In hoursare, a duration is expressed as a floating-point number of hours (for example, 7.5 for seven hours and thirty minutes), rather than as clock time or minutes. The standard centers on a core hours field, complemented by metadata such as date, employee_id, project_code, and task_code. A typical hoursare payload uses ISO 8601 for the date and often UTC timing for time-bound entries.

Origins and development: Hoursare was proposed by the Open Temporal Association in the mid-2010s as a way to reduce ambiguity when converting between local clock time and durations across time zones. The specification outlines common rules for rounding, overtime, and threshold handling, with defaults toward standard increments (such as rounding to the nearest quarter-hour unless overridden).

Usage and implementations: Proponents argue that hoursare enables simpler payroll calculations, easier cross-system interoperability, and clearer analytics. Libraries implementing hoursare exist for several programming languages, and multiple HR and invoicing platforms offer hoursare-compatible APIs. Typical use cases include timesheets, project budgeting, contractor invoicing, and cross-border payroll.

Limitations and reception: Critics note that decimal-hour representations can obscure real-world clock times, which may complicate meeting planning and client communications. Some organizations complement hoursare with traditional clock-time data where necessary.

See also: decimal time, time tracking, payroll standardization, ISO 8601.