Epics in Jira help teams organize large amounts of work. At the same time, tracking their progress can still be difficult. The native Jira epic report shows whether issues are complete, in progress, or still in the to-do state. However, it doesn’t explain where the time actually goes.
This is where an epic time in status report becomes useful. It helps teams understand how long tasks within an epic spend in each workflow status: To Do, In Progress, Code Review, QA Review, Done, or any other status your team uses.
This report gives a clearer picture of epic progress, delays, and bottlenecks.
Time in Status by SaaSJet allows teams to generate different types of time in status reports, including ones grouped by epic.
Let’s take a closer look at the differences between the native Jira epic report and the epic time in status report, why they matter, and how to interpret them.
What is a Jira Epic Report?
A Jira epic report is a way to track progress across a larger initiative in Jira. Since an epic usually contains multiple stories, tasks, bugs, or subtasks, teams need a report that shows how the whole initiative is moving forward.
A native epic report in Jira may help you answer questions like:
- How many issues are completed within the epic?
- How many issues are still in progress?
- Is the epic likely to be finished on time?
- Which work items are blocking progress?
- How much scope has been completed compared to the total planned work?
This is useful for high-level tracking. However, a standard Jira epic progress report usually focuses on completion status, story points, or issue count. It may not clearly show how long work stays in each workflow stage.
Why Jira Epic Report Data is Not Enough
A Jira epic progress report tells what is completed. A time in status report helps explain why progress is slow.
For example, imagine your team is working on a product launch epic. Jira shows that 60% of the issues are complete. At first glance, everything seems fine, but when you analyze the time in the status, you can see:
- Issues spend 2 days in development.
- Issues spend 5 days waiting for review.
- QA tasks are blocked because review is delayed.
- Several stories move back and forth between QA and In Progress.
This gives a much more accurate picture of the delivery process.
An epic time in status report helps teams identify whether delays are caused by development, review, testing, approvals, dependencies, or unclear requirements.
What Is an Epic Time in Status Report?
An epic time in status report shows how much time Jira issues spend in each workflow status within an epic.
Instead of only showing whether an issue is open or closed, it breaks down the time spent across the workflow. For example:
Example of an epic time in status report in Time in Status app by SaaSJet.
This type of report helps answer questions like:
- Which status takes the most time within an epic?
- Are issues waiting too long before development starts?
- Is review or QA becoming a bottleneck?
- Which epic has the slowest delivery flow?
- Are teams spending more time working or waiting?
An epic time in status report makes bottlenecks easier to spot without manually checking every Jira issue.
Common Use Cases for Epic Time in Status Reporting
1. Finding Bottlenecks Across Epics
If several epics are moving slowly, time in status data can show whether the delay happens in the same workflow stage. For example, if most epics spend too much time in “Ready for QA,” the team may need more QA capacity or clearer acceptance criteria.
2. Improving Sprint and Release Planning
Epic-level time data helps teams understand how long large initiatives usually take. This can improve estimates for future releases and help teams avoid overcommitting.
3. Tracking Working Time vs Waiting Time
An epic may look active, but many issues can actually be waiting for review, approval, or deployment. Time in status report helps separate active work from waiting time.
4. Supporting Executive Reporting
Senior stakeholders care about outcomes and timelines, not ticket counts. A clear jira epic status report showing time distribution across workflow stages lands far better in a quarterly business review than a raw backlog screenshot. The summary view covered later in this article is particularly well suited for that audience.
5. Comparing Epic Delivery Performance
A time in status by epic report helps compare delivery flow across different epics. This can reveal whether one type of work consistently takes longer or whether certain workflows need optimization.
How Time in Status by SaaSJet Helps Generate Reports by Epic
The Time in Status app by SaaSJet allows teams to generate time in status reports by epic, sprint, assignee, etc.
It helps to analyze how long issues spend in specific statuses, visualize the data with charts and graphs, work with pivot tables, and track key metrics using Jira dashboard gadgets.
The app can help teams:
- Group time in status data by epic.
- See how long issues spend in each status.
- Compare time across different epics.
- Identify workflow bottlenecks.
- Export reports for deeper analysis.
- Use dashboard gadgets for ongoing visibility.
Time in Status also has a Summary Report feature, which can be useful when you need a higher-level view instead of reviewing every issue separately. For example, teams can summarize time spent across statuses and better understand the overall performance of an epic.
Jira Epic Status Report vs Time in Status Report
A Jira epic status report usually focuses on the current state of an epic and its issues. It can show what is open, in progress, or completed.
A time in status report goes deeper. It shows how long work has spent in every stage before reaching its current state.
| Native Jira Epic Report | Epic Time in Status Report |
| Shows whether issues are open, in progress, or completed | Shows how long issues spend in each workflow status |
| Helps track epic progress | Helps explain delivery delays |
| Focuses on issue count, story points, and completion | Focuses on workflow time, waiting time, and bottlenecks |
| Useful for high-level progress visibility | Useful for process improvement and deeper analysis |
For best results, teams can use both: native Jira epic reporting for progress visibility and time in status reporting for workflow analysis.
Final Thoughts
A native Jira epic report is helpful for understanding progress, but it does not always explain why an epic is delayed. To improve delivery, teams need to see how work moves through each workflow stage.
Want to get deeper insights from your Jira epic report? Try Time in Status app by SaaSJet to generate time in status reports by epic and understand epic performance at both detailed and high-level views.
FAQ
What is a Jira epic report?
A Jira epic report shows progress across a large body of work grouped under an epic. It usually helps teams understand how many issues are completed, in progress, or still open.
What is an epic time in status report?
An epic time in status report shows how much time issues within an epic spend in each Jira workflow status. It helps teams identify bottlenecks and understand why an epic may be moving slowly.
Can I create a time in status report by epic in Jira?
Yes. With Time in Status by SaaSJet, you can generate time in status data grouped by epic. This app allows you to analyze how long issues within each epic spend in different statuses.
What is the difference between an epic progress report and a time in status report?
An epic progress report shows how much work is completed. A time in status report shows how long work spends in each stage of the workflow. The first shows progress; the second explains delays.
Can I add an epic time in status chart to a Jira dashboard?
Yes, Time in Status supports charts and Jira dashboard gadgets, which can help teams visualize status time and track workflow metrics directly from dashboards.
Why is time in status important for epics?
Epics are large and often involve many workflow stages. Time in status data helps teams see whether delays happen during development, review, QA, approval, or waiting stages.