Synchronizing Jira Work Logs to PSA Timecards

After you have enabled the Sync Work Logs from Jira to Timecards in PSA workflow via the Integration Hub Connector: Jira - PSA feature, Jira work logs are automatically synced with PSA timecards. This ensures that the time your users log against issues in Jira is propagated to PSA.

For a work log to be synced to a timecard, all of the following must be true:

  • The Jira user logging time must have a linked resource in PSA.
  • The Jira issue that the time is logged against must belong to a project that has a linked project in PSA. If you are syncing projects to issues, the issue that the time is logged against must be linked to the PSA project or against a child issue of the linked issue.
  • The resource and project in PSA must be linked via only one assignment with the Use for Syncing Time from Jira field selected for the given time frame, or the project must have the Allow Timecards Without Assignment field selected.
Note:

If you are upgrading from a version of PSA prior to Fall 2019, all existing assignments in your org have the Use for Syncing Time from Jira field deselected. In that case, you must perform the Select default assignments for syncing time from Jira step in the Feature Console to automatically select this field for eligible assignments.

When a user logs time against a Jira issue, a new timecard is created in PSA for the week of the Date Started value in Jira. The timecard's start date is calculated from the Week Start Day field of the work calendar linked to the resource. Similarly, the end date is set to the last day of the week. For example, if a user logs work on Monday, January 2, and their work calendar's week start day is Sunday, the timecard created in PSA has January 1 set as the start date and January 7 as the end date. If a timecard already exists for the week, it is updated accordingly.

Note: A user can log time against a Jira issue and have multiple timecards created in PSA each day until the last day of that week. For example, a user logs work on Monday, May 31, which is the last day of the month, and their timecard is approved. If they enter a new work log for Tuesday a new timecard is created.
Note:

If a work calendar isn't specified for the resource linked to the user who logs time, the connector uses the value defined in the Week Start Day field on the Timecard Entry UI Global custom setting to calculate the timecard's start date.

Time is logged for the day specified in the Date Started field on the work log, up to the maximum hours for that day as defined in the resource's work calendar. If a user logs excessive hours for a single day, the work log is not synced. In that case, the user must change the work log in Jira.

The connector only allows logging hours for working days, as defined in the resource's work calendar. Days that have zero hours defined in the work calendar are considered non-working. If a user logs time for a non-working day, the work log is not synced. In that case, the user must change the work log in Jira.

Notes:
  • If a work calendar isn't specified for the resource linked to the user who logs time, the connector uses the value of the Max Resource Hours Per Day field to log hours for each day. Similarly, the value of the Max Resource Days Per Week field is used to determine which days are considered as non-working and are ignored. Both fields are defined on the Integration Hub Connector: Jira - PSA custom setting.
  • Only the date of the Jira work log Date Started value is used for syncing. The time from the Date Started value is ignored.

The Work Description from Jira is added as a note for each day the time is logged for, along with the key of the Jira issue that the work was logged against and the ID of the work log.

Notes:
  • The daily note fields, for example Monday Notes, have a limit of 255 characters. If a work log description results in a daily note being longer than the limit, time is not logged in PSA. To prevent this, you can map the description to custom long text fields for each day. For more information, see Example 2 - Map Work Log Description to Custom Notes.
  • If the work log description in Jira contains formatted text, it is stored in Markdown format in Jira. When this is synced with PSA, the Markdown syntax is retained. As a result, you might see plain text with Markdown syntax characters in PSA.

If the assignment time is being logged against is linked to a milestone in PSA, the timecard is automatically linked to that milestone.

If a work log that is already synced to a timecard is updated or deleted in Jira, the changes are automatically propagated to PSA. This only applies if all of the following are true:

  • The timecard is editable, for example, its related project or milestone is not closed for time entry.
  • The timecard is in one of the statuses defined in the Timecard Edit Status Values field in the Timecard Entry UI Global custom setting.

When a work log is updated, time is distributed in the timecard in the same way as described above. Changes to the description of the work log are also reflected in PSA.

If a work log's Date Started is changed in Jira to another week, the relevant time and note are removed from the original timecard in PSA and moved to a new one. After a work log is updated or deleted, if a timecard no longer contains any logged hours, it is automatically deleted from PSA.

Note:

To keep timecards up to date, the Integration Hub Connector: Jira - PSA creates and maintains a copy of each synced Jira work log in PSA as a record of the Jira Work Log object. You must not manually create, edit, or delete these records.

If you have mapped PSA projects with Jira issues, the following also applies:

  • Work logged for the PSA project issue, its child issues and all sub-tasks is synced to PSA timecards.
  • A child issue of the type Epic or higher must be linked to the parent issue using the custom field defined in the Parent Link Field in the Integration Hub Connector: Jira - PSA custom setting. All issues below the epic level are automatically included in the hierarchy.

If an error occurs when syncing work logs to timecards, an email notification is sent to the PSA resource linked to the Jira user who logged the time. If the Email field for the resource is blank in PSA, the notification is sent to the user specified in the Integration Hub Connector: Jira - PSA custom setting. Email notifications are also sent if a work log exceeds the daily or weekly time limit.