The Burndown Chart is a graphical representation and projection of remaining unfinished work over time. It is available on the Iteration pages.
- The Iteration Burndown Chart correlates to the start and end dates of the Iteration.
Chart Mechanics
Actual Remaining
Actual Remaining is the amount of unfinished work. This work can be in any Started or Unstarted workflow state.
The dots represent total remaining work at the end of each day. Each data point demonstrates the net change in remaining work from the end of the previous day to the end of the next day.
➡ For example, if a team completes 5 stories, but also adds 5 stories, the line will remain flat.
Ideal Remaining
Ideal Remaining is a calculated line that progresses linearly from the starting amount of Stories or Points down to zero on the last day. This line is not meant to be followed precisely, but acts as a pacing barometer. If the ideal line is way above or below remaining work, this is an indication work may be ahead or behind schedule.
The ideal line flattens across non-working days to indicate work is not expected to progress on these days. Working days can be adjusted in your General Settings.
Ideal Line Starts Today is a toggle in the legend to show the ideal pace to finish starting from the remaining work “today”. This setting is useful for teams who add work throughout an iteration, making the first day an inaccurate starting point for the ideal line.
Tooltips
Tooltips show counts of work Added, Completed or Removed each day. This breakdown helps understand the net change for a day. For example, the line might be flat because work was both completed and added.
Stories vs. Points
The chart defaults to Stories (total count) or Points, depending on your Estimate Scale settings. There is a toggle to quickly switch between the two on the report.
Non-Working Days
Non-working days are noted on the chart with hatched bars. All calculations, metrics, and lines on the Burndown Chart take Working Days into account. The default Working Days are Monday through Friday, inclusive.
Note
An Iteration’s Burndown Chart will “freeze” once its end date has passed. Changes to Story points or Iteration membership after the Iteration has ended will not be reflected in the Burndown Chart.
Using the Burndown Chart
The Burndown Report shows unfinished work remaining as time progresses. This is the Actual Remaining section of the chart. Remaining work decreases as work is finished or increases if work is added. Remaining work is shown alongside an Ideal Remaining line which charts a constant, “idealized” burndown of work from the start until the end.
Deviations from the expected burndown, such as a large difference in Remaining versus Ideal, are an opportunity to drill down to find the root cause and fix it before a sprint or product release is derailed.