In TimeControl 8 we introduced a dynamic bidirectional link with Atlassian’s JIRA^® which synchronizes task actuals bi-directionally between TimeControl and JIRA.

The link has incoming and outgoing components.  The incoming component works differently from any previous TimeControl link as it is expected to work multiple times per day or per timesheet period.  It brings into TimeControl not only the task, resource and assignment information but also the actual hours saved into JIRA by end users.  Since JIRA saves these entries as transactions, TimeControl brings in only the differential between what it has already and what has been posted in JIRA since.  The link can be called multiple times per day or as often as is convenient to populate the timesheet and from a performance perspective, because only the records that are new transactions in JIRA are transferred, the inbound link will be very quick.

The result of this process is that by the end of the timesheet period (for example weekly), TimeControl has created a timesheet for the user with all the time that has been posted in JIRA for tasks so far.  Then the user can go to TimeControl to fill in any non-JIRA or non-project time for example for meetings, travel or time-off in order to fill in a complete timesheet and then release the timesheet for approval.

TimeControl then has its usual timesheet approval mechanisms for approving the time both automatically through validation rules and manually both by supervisors and project managers.  Once all approvals are complete, TimeControl can use the outbound component of the link to send information back to JIRA so that both systems are kept synchronized.

The result is an auditable financial record of work that was originally recorded in JIRA for convenience but has become part of a corporate cost control system.

For more information on the TimeControl/JIRA integration, visit TimeControl.com/use-cases/jira.