Release burndown is adding 10 additional points that do not exist to every sprint

Question

We've started to notice that our Release burndown chart is adding 10 additional story points to every Sprint that do not exist in our backlog.  I'm unsure if it's always been this way or just started happening as we only really noticed as we're getting to the end of our planned story points for a specific release.

I have run queries, referred to the story point count on the backlog view, filtered by the correct release on the backlog view, and even manually counted up the story points in this release and come to the same number every time which is 10 points less than what the release burndown chart reads.

Is anyone else experiencing this?  Our executive team pays VERY close attention to our story points per sprint and our team velocity and this is definitely messing with that.  Help Jira!  Is this a bug?

Vasyl Krokha _Broken Build_ · Answer

Hi, @Carrie Pickering

It seems to be a bug in Jira.

You can run a zero-cost test and find out whether there is a problem with the Jira Release Burndown report or with some hidden story points in your release issue list.

To run this test, please follow the next steps:

1. Install the Agile Reports and Gadgets app from the marketplace. It's totally free for the first month. After the test, you can delete it.

2. Create a Burndown chart for Scrum boards with filter for the release:

3. Investigate weather the sum of story points "burnt" is different from what you see in Jira Burndown chart. You can do it sprint by sprint using sprint details:

4. If the issue lies with the Jira Burndown chart, you can continue using the app with confidence, knowing that it provides reliable data. However, if the problem involves phantom story points that do not appear in the issues list, it is likely a bug in Jira.

Please, share you investigation results, when you are ready. It's such an interesting case!

Vasyl

Danut M _StonikByte_ · Answer

Hi @Carrie Pickering,

Try to identify what issue(s) are causing the difference. Look at those issues specifically (check their history, status, story points, sprint) to see where the difference could come from. Look also at the Sprint Report, Velocity report and Burndown Report, which could help you identify the problem.

Also, be aware that there is a better alternative to the Jira's Release Burndown Chart report that you could try. Our Great Gadgets app offers a Release Burndown Burnup Chart gadget that works differently than Jira's report. It is based on a filter or JQL that contains the issues from your project, can include the sub-tasks in the calculation, supports any type of estimate and can make forecast.

You could give it a try by installing the 1-month free trial. Find more about this gadget in these articles:

* https://community.atlassian.com/t5/App-Central/8-gadgets-for-a-powerful-Scrum-dashboard-in-Jira/ba-p/1683063
* https://community.atlassian.com/t5/App-Central/Creating-a-cross-teams-release-burndown-chart-in-Jira-with-Great/ba-p/1803421

Hope this helps.

Danut.