How to Create a Burndown Chart in Jira: Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

What is a Burndown Chart in Jira?

A Burndown Chart in Jira is a visual report that tracks the total amount of work remaining in a Sprint or Epic against the time available to complete it. Used primarily by Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Agile Business Analysts, the chart plots outstanding Story Points or estimation hours along the vertical (Y) axis and sprint time along the horizontal (X) axis.

Quick Step-by-Step: How to Generate a Burndown Chart in Jira

Generating a native Burndown Chart in Jira Software requires just 5 quick steps:

1. Navigate to Your Scrum Board: Open Jira and select your active Scrum project from the sidebar.

2. Click on Reports: On the left navigation panel, click Reports.

3. Select Burndown Chart: Under the Agile Reports section, click Burndown Chart.

4. Choose the Active Sprint: Select the specific Sprint and estimation statistic (Story Points, Issue Count, or Original Time Estimate) from the dropdown filters.

5. Analyze the Guidelines vs. Actual Progress:

   • Red Line: Actual work remaining in the sprint.

   • Grey Line: Ideal progress trajectory needed to reach zero by sprint end.

How to Read a Jira Burndown Chart

Understanding key visual indicators helps Business Analysts identify sprint bottlenecks early:

Real-Time Scenario: Tracking Sprint Progress in a Digital Banking Project

Context & Goal

A Business Analyst at a retail bank is working on a 2-week Sprint to launch an Instant Personal Loan Feature in the mobile banking app. The sprint has a total capacity of 40 Story Points across 8 User Stories.

How the Burndown Chart Unfolded

• Day 1–3 (Smooth Start): The development team completed 3 frontend user stories (Loan Eligibility Calculator, UI Form Validation). The red line dropped steadily from 40 to 28 Story Points, tracking closely with the ideal grey line.

• Day 4–6 (Mid-Sprint Bottleneck): The red line flattened at 28 points for three straight days. The BA checked the Jira Sprint Board and noticed that 3 major stories (Loan Disapproval Flow, Credit Score API Integration) were stuck in the “In QA / Code Review” column.

• Day 7 (Scope Creep Spike): The Compliance Team requested an emergency addition: adding a mandatory Terms & Conditions PDF Download feature. The BA added a new 3-point user story to the active sprint, causing the red actual line to spike upward from 28 to 31 points.

• Day 8–10 (Sprint Recovery): By reviewing the flat line during the daily standup, the Scrum Master reallocated QA testing resources to clear the API bottleneck. Developers resolved the remaining defects, and the team completed all 43 total points by the end of Day 10.

Key BA Takeaway from this Scenario

Without checking the Jira Burndown Chart on Day 5, the flat line bottleneck would have gone unnoticed until the final day of the sprint. Monitoring the burndown chart daily enabled the BA and Scrum Master to identify blocked QA testing, manage scope changes, and deliver the personal loan release on schedule.

Creating Burndown Charts for Kanban & Initiatives

While native Jira Burndown reports are optimized for Scrum Sprints, you can track non-sprint work using these approaches:

1. Kanban Board Burndown Tracking

Kanban boards do not have fixed timeboxes/sprints. To track burndown in Kanban:

• Use the Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) in Jira Reports to track work in progress (WIP) and throughput.

• Alternatively, configure a Release Burndown or Version Report if your Kanban team works toward fixed release dates.

2. Initiative & Epic-Level Burndown Charts

To view cross-team or high-level strategic progress:

• Go to Jira Plans / Advanced Roadmaps.

• Generate an Epic Burndown Report or Release Burndown Report.

• Filter by Initiative Parent Issue to track overall completion across multiple feature teams.

Common Reasons Why Jira Burndown Charts Are Inaccurate

1. Inconsistent Story Point Estimation: Unestimated user stories added to a sprint will distort the vertical baseline.

2. Delayed Status Transitions: If developers only drag issues to “Done” on the last day of the sprint, the chart will show a flat line followed by a massive drop.

3. Unchecked Scope Creep: Adding new user stories mid-sprint without removing equal story points distorts the ideal trend line.

🔗 Business Analysis Resource Hub (Internal Links)

• 📘 Agile BA Role: Role of Business Analyst in Agile Scrum Projects — Learn how BAs facilitate Sprint Planning and Backlog Refinement.

• 🛠️ Agile BA Tools: Agile BA Tools: Essential Tools with Real-Time Scenarios — Master Jira, Confluence, Miro, and Balsamiq.

• ✍️ User Story Guide: How to Write User Stories with Examples — Write clear user stories and acceptance criteria for accurate estimations.

Prerequisites for Creating a Burndown Chart in Jira

Before Jira can generate an accurate Burndown Chart, your project board and backlog must satisfy three core configuration settings:

1. Scrum Board Setup: Burndown charts are natively available for Scrum boards (Kanban boards track lead and cycle time via Cumulative Flow Diagrams instead).

2. Estimation Metric Configured: Your board settings must define an estimation statistic (e.g., Story Points, Original Time Estimate, or Issue Count).

3. Active Sprint: A sprint must be formally started with committed backlog items assigned to it.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Generate a Burndown Chart in Jira

Step 1: Set Up Estimation Statistics in Board Settings

1. Navigate to your Jira Scrum Project.

2. In the top-right corner, click Board Settings (or the ... menu –> Board settings).

3. Select Estimation from the left navigation panel.

4. Set the Estimation Statistic field:

   • Select Story Points (most common for Agile teams) or Original Time Estimate / Issue Count.

5. Save changes.

Step 2: Estimate Backlog Items & Start the Sprint

1. Go to the Backlog view.

2. Ensure every user story pulled into the upcoming sprint has an estimated value in the Story Points field.

3. Click Start Sprint, set the Sprint Name, Duration (e.g., 2 weeks), and Sprint Goal.

4. Confirm to make the sprint active.

Step 3: Access the Burndown Chart Report

1. On the left sidebar menu of your Jira project, click on Reports.

2. Select Burndown Chart from the Agile reports section.

3. Use the Sprint dropdown menu at the top of the report screen to select your current active sprint (or a past completed sprint for retro analysis).

How to Read Jira’s Burndown Chart Elements

Jira uses specific color codes and visual indicators to represent work progress:

• Red Line (Guideline): Shows the ideal linear progress needed to complete all committed work by the end of the sprint.

• Red Line (Actual): Represents the actual total remaining story points or estimated hours remaining.

• Grey Vertical Area / Line: Indicates scope changes—when issues are added to or removed from the active sprint after it has started.

• Burndown Table (Below Chart): Details every event log entry, including issue keys, event types (Issue Added, Status Changed, Estimation Updated), and exact timestamps.

Common Scenarios & Troubleshooting Jira Burndown Charts

Real-World Scenario: Catching Scope Creep in Jira

Context: A team is building an E-Commerce Checkout Service with a 40-Story-Point sprint commitment.

• Day 3: The Product Owner adds two new payment validation stories (8 Story Points total) directly into the active sprint board.

• Jira Impact: The Burndown Chart displays a grey vertical line and a sharp upward spike in remaining story points to 48.

• Resolution: The BA opens the Jira Burndown event table below the chart, identifies the added issue IDs (PAY-104 and PAY-105), and coordinates a backlog swap during the daily standup to keep sprint commitments realistic.

Creating a Burndown Chart in Jira allows Agile teams to visually monitor remaining sprint work, track daily progress against an ideal velocity baseline, and manage scope creep in real time.

By properly configuring Estimation Statistics (such as Story Points or Original Time Estimates) in Jira Scrum board settings, Business Analysts and Scrum Masters can automatically generate burndown reports for active sprints.

📄 Business Analysis Documentation Hub

Explore where Jira Burndown Charts fit into the complete software delivery lifecycle:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

🎁 Become a Better Business Analyst

Join 1,200+ Business Analysts learning every week.

Get instant access to:

📘 FREE Business Analyst Templates
🎯 Interview Preparation Guides
🚀 Agile & Scrum Tutorials
🤖 AI for Business Analysts
📈 Career Growth Tips

Enter your best Email ID*

I agree to the terms and conditions

100% Free • No Spam • Unsubscribe Anytime