However, some surveyors have realized that calculating the direction of a line is much easier when using azimuths and then converting the azimuths to bearings for representation on documents.

Figure 1 Let’s assume that line AB in Figure 1 has a bearing of N 60° 50’23” E. This converts to an azimuth of (60 + 50/60 + 23/3600) = 60.839722°. I like to use six digits for all angles.