Epic burndown chart

Key features of Epic burndown chart

The Epic burndown chart gives you a clear view of progress toward completing one or more epics, while providing flexible forecasting tools to plan ahead. 

You can compare multiple delivery scenarios, refine how forecasts are calculated, and add milestone markers to track against release dates.

The Epic burndown chart is part of the Agile Burnup Burndown Charts app. You can place it directly on your Jira dashboard (like any other Broken Build gadget) and tailor it with flexible filters and breakdown options to align with your team’s workflow.

How different roles use Epic burndown chart

✅ Program Manager: I need to forecast completion for strategic epics tied to a Program Increment so I can adjust priorities and communicate realistic delivery dates to stakeholders.

✅ Release Train Engineer (RTE): I want to track multiple epics in one view to spot risks, manage dependencies, and keep the Agile Release Train aligned with PI objectives.

✅ Scrum Master: I use the chart to monitor whether sprint-level progress supports epic completion goals and to facilitate discussions when timelines are slipping.

✅ System Architect: I need to confirm that enabler epics are progressing on schedule so dependent feature work won’t be blocked in future increments.

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1. Key feature: Multiple forecasting views

The Epic burndown chart goes beyond Jira’s native report, which relies solely on an average past velocity. It automatically generates three projections using your team’s minimum, average, and maximum delivery pace, allowing you to compare optimistic, realistic, and conservative outcomes at a glance. 

For even more control, you can model custom scenarios:

• Enter a target velocity to see the expected completion date (1️⃣)
• Set a fixed date to calculate the pace needed to meet it (2️⃣)
• Use a velocity percentile from historical data for more conservative or optimistic projections (3️⃣)
• Run a Monte Carlo simulation to see the probability of completing the work by different dates (4️⃣)

✅ When to use it:

• Evaluating whether your current pace is enough to hit upcoming deadlines
• Preparing alternative delivery plans in case scope increases or velocity drops
• Comparing best- and worst-case timelines to guide stakeholder expectations

2. Key feature: Forecast inputs refinement

The Epic burndown chart lets you choose exactly how the forecast is built. You can define the number of past intervals that should influence the projection and add a scope growth factor.

✅ When to use it:

• Modeling delivery timelines when you know scope will keep growing
• Testing how far back in history gives the most reliable forecast
• Adapting projections for teams with changing workloads or seasonal peaks

3. Key feature: Multiple epic selection

With the Epic burndown graph, you can track progress across several epics in one view. Choose epics directly from a list or apply a custom JQL filter to include exactly the ones you need.

✅ When to use it:

• Tracking related epics that contribute to the same initiative or release
• Building a consolidated delivery view for stakeholder updates
• Including all workstreams tied to a high-priority business objective in a single forecast.

4. Key feature: Targets visualization

Add one or more target deadlines directly to the Epic burndown chart to see how your forecasted completion dates align with planned milestones:

✅ When to use it:

• Checking if the current progress supports hitting release or milestone dates
• Communicating timeline expectations to stakeholders in a clear visual format
• Prioritizing work when deadlines for multiple epics overlap

5. Key feature: Remaining work breakdown  

Click anywhere in the forecast area (1️⃣) to drill down into the epic’s remaining work. You can group the issues by release, issue type, project, or other fields to see how the outstanding scope is distributed (2️⃣). Clicking the row takes you directly to the issue list linked to Jira tickets (3️⃣) for further review or action.

✅ When to use it:

• Understanding how the remaining work is split across releases, teams, or work types.
• Spotting high-impact areas that may delay the epic’s completion.
• Quickly navigate to the underlying Jira issues for follow-up or reassignment.

Additional feature: Export

You can export the Epic burndown chart in CSV, PNG, or PDF format for deeper analysis outside Jira, or to share a snapshot of the chart with stakeholders or include it in reports and presentations:

✅ When to use it:

• Analyzing chart data in spreadsheets or BI tools (CSV export)
• Sharing visual snapshots with stakeholders in presentations or reports (PNG/PDF)
• Keeping a record of progress at specific project milestones

What about the native Jira Epic burndown chart

Jira’s built-in Epic burndown report can give you a basic sense of progress, but it’s not designed for advanced forecasting or multi-epic tracking. It only generates a forecast if the epic spans three or more active sprints, and it doesn’t allow you to model custom scenarios or fine-tune the data behind the projection.

You also can’t:

❌ View multiple epics in the same chart.

❌ Break down progress into remaining work vs scope changes.

❌ Configure estimation fields, Done statuses, or reporting intervals.

❌ Add the chart as a gadget to your Jira dashboard.

❌ Filter by individual team members to see personal contributions.

Advantages of using the Epic burndown chart

• Compare optimistic, realistic, and conservative delivery timelines, or create your own “what-if” scenarios.
• Choose the exact historical period for forecasts and factor in expected scope growth.
• Track several epics at once, even across different teams or projects.
• Overlay target dates to instantly spot risks to delivery commitments.
• Filter by assignee, component, or custom JQL for more granular insights.
• Export to CSV for analysis or PNG/PDF for stakeholder communication.

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Apps used in this Epic burndown chart example

Use these examples to create your own Epic burndown chart use cases on the Jira Dashboard.

Both Jira apps (plugins) featured here offer a 30-day free trial and are completely free for teams of up to 10 users:

Agile Burnup Burndown Charts Agile Reports and Gadgets

The Agile reports and Gadgets app includes Epic burndown functionality plus a wide range of additional charts and reports.