I’m dealing with tons of different work assignments and I need to show my boss exactly what I’m working on. My current problem is that all my work is scattered and it’s really tough to demonstrate everything I do.
I want to use Jira for time tracking but I have some specific needs:
Recording Start and Stop Times
I need to capture when I begin work and when I finish. Most of my work sessions are pretty short, usually just a couple hours at most.
Structure with Stories and Subtasks
I want to organize things where the main topic becomes a Story. Like “Marketing Campaign” would be the story, and “Write email copy” would be a subtask where I log my actual hours.
Time Summary Reports
I need reports that add up all the time from subtasks and show totals for each story. So if “Marketing Campaign” has “Write email copy” (2 hours) and “Design banner” (3 hours), the report should show 5 hours total for “Marketing Campaign”.
Ideally this would export to a spreadsheet or similar format.
Easy Logging Tool
I’m looking for a simple browser extension or plugin where I can just type the subtask name, pick the story from a dropdown, then click start and stop buttons.
Does anyone know if there’s already a setup in Jira that handles all this?
Check out Tempo Timesheets - it’s perfect for this. I’ve been using it for two years and it does exactly what you need. It plugs right into Jira and handles the story/subtask thing flawlessly. Log time on subtasks and it rolls up to the parent story automatically. You can start timers from the issue view or log time manually later. The Excel exports are solid too - they break down time by story with all the subtask details. Honestly, it fixed the exact same scattered tracking mess I had and now saves me hours every week when I’m putting together status reports.
Jira’s built-in time tracking handles most of what you need - no plugins required. Just log work on subtasks and use JQL filters to pull reports that roll up hours by epic or story. The trick is structuring your project right from day one. I use epics as main categories and stories for actual work items. Way better for reporting. For browser extensions, try Jira Assistant - it’s free and plays nice with native time tracking. Export everything as CSV and it opens in Excel no problem. Just make sure your team sticks to consistent naming conventions or your reports turn into a mess.
i’ve tried the clockwise ext too! it helps with start/stop times. for reports, the timesheet reports addon is worth checking out. it organizes everything under stories. may not be perfect, but def makes things simpler!
Manual time tracking becomes a maintenance nightmare fast. I’ve been there managing multiple projects across different teams.
The real problem isn’t finding the right Jira plugin - you’re trying to solve an automation problem manually. Forget to start the timer or log hours late? Your data’s already a mess.
Automated workflows work way better. They capture everything without you thinking about it. I built something that watches when I move tickets to “In Progress” and starts tracking automatically. Move to “Done” or switch tasks? It logs the time and updates parent story totals.
Reporting happens automatically too. No more CSV exports and spreadsheet math. The system generates rollup reports and emails stakeholders on whatever schedule they need.
You can build this workflow pretty easily. It hooks into Jira’s API for ticket movements and time logging, then pulls data for reports. Takes about an hour to set up and kills all that manual clicking.