YouTrack Server
 
2024.3

Burndown Chart

Last modified: 09 October 2024

A burndown chart is a visual representation used in Scrum to track the progress of work completed over time during a sprint. Its primary purpose is to provide a quick and easy-to-understand view of the amount of work remaining versus the time available. The chart shows the remaining effort on the vertical axis and the sprint schedule on the horizontal axis. The burndown lets you compare ideal versus real effort remaining and can help indicate whether the team is on track for completing a sprint.

The burndown chart for a sprint in YouTrack tracks values for the following data points.

  • Ideal burndown — a theoretical line that starts at the total estimated effort for all tasks at the start of the sprint and ends when the line reaches zero remaining effort at the end of the sprint.

  • Remaining effort — the amount of work that is still to be completed. Its value is calculated based on the total estimation for all tasks at the start of the sprint minus the amount of time spent as the sprint progresses.

  • Spent time — the cumulative amount of time or effort that the team has invested in completing tasks during the sprint. This line is shown when the chart is configured to calculate the burndown by work items.

    The option to calculate the burndown by work items is only shown when time tracking is enabled for at least one project that is tracked on the board. Otherwise, the burndown is calculated using the issue count or estimation.