⏱️ How to turn off time tracking for specific Jira work items

[#1]

Some work items just shouldn't collect time — not because a period is closed, but because of what they are: their type, their status, the space they live in. Take an epic — it's a container, so time belongs on the tasks under it, not the epic itself. Fixed-price work isn't billed by the hour. Some spaces aren't tracked at all.

Jira and other time tracking apps have no real switch for this.

How JetTime does it

In JetTime, our time tracking app for Jira, the Log Work form is built per work item from rules you define. To turn logging off, you point an empty form at those work items. Nothing to fill in means nothing to log — saving is off, and a short Notes message explains why, so people see a clear reason instead of hitting a wall.

When it makes sense to turn time tracking off

• Invoiced work — move a work item to your Invoiced status and logging on it stops. Not the whole period frozen — just that item, by its state. Hours can't drift after the client's billed.
• Closed or done work — same idea on a Done/Closed status: no late entries on finished items to skew your reports.
• Epics and initiatives — switch it off for those work item types, so time lands on the tasks and sub-tasks underneath, not the container.
• Fixed-price work items — hours don't drive a fixed-price invoice, so logging them just muddies reports. Tag those items with your own custom select field (say a "Billing Type" of Fixed Price) and turn logging off there.
• A whole space — for a space where time simply isn't tracked, switch it off across the board.

Setting it up

It runs on Field Schemes. A Field Scheme is a set of fields to show on the Log Work form, plus rules for which work items it applies to. To turn logging off, you make a scheme with no fields — just a Notes block carrying your message — so its form has nothing to fill in.

Then you add the rules that decide where it applies. A rule matches on a work item's own fields — its status, its type, its space, an assignee, a custom select field, and more. Combine conditions in one rule, and stack several rules in one scheme: Epics, Initiatives, and Portfolio items in one, an Internal space in another, all disabling the same way.

One thing to know: this works only when JetTime is set as your Jira time tracking provider, so that people log through JetTime's form in the first place.

And like everything in JetTime, this Runs on Atlassian — your work log data stays inside Jira, never leaves Atlassian Cloud, and we have no access to it.

Try it on your own Jira

Give JetTime a try on your Jira, then switch logging off where you don't want time logged — an invoiced status, your epics, a service space.

Either way, I'd love your feedback — what worked, what didn't, a bug, a case we missed. I'm the founder, so it comes straight to me. Drop me a line at anton@jetheads.io.

And if you'd like a hand setting it up, or just have questions, we can hop on a quick call — happy to walk through it with you.

[Anton from JetHeads_io]

Worth adding: the same Field Schemes engine works the other way round too — shaping which fields appear and which are required per work item.

I covered that side separately here: 🎛️ Customize the Jira Log Work form per project, client, or work item.