Subtasks & Unallocated Scope

As larger stories and tasks are broken down into technical subtasks, Dual Point Estimation helps teams ensure that subtask scopes remain aligned with the parent commitment.

How Subtask Rollups Work

When an issue has child subtasks, Dual Point Estimation sums their estimates independently:

• Subtask Total (Low) = Sum of all child Low estimates
• Subtask Total (High) = Sum of all child High estimates

If a subtask has a Low estimate but no High estimate, its Low estimate is used for both bounds during summation.

Unallocated Scope vs. Over-Allocation

Comparing the sum of subtasks to the parent task's estimate yields one of two states:

1. Subtask Total is Within Estimate (Healthy Unallocated Buffer)

When subtask estimates sum to less than the parent's estimate, the panel displays a green confirmation:

Why this is healthy: In agile planning, having unallocated time on a parent ticket is normal. It represents buffer for emergent bugs, testing, integration friction, or tasks that have not yet been broken down.

2. Subtasks Estimate Too High (Over-Allocation Error)

If the sum of subtasks exceeds either the parent's Low or High estimate, the app flags an immediate error:

In this situation, the estimate diagram bar turns red, and the issue is tagged with the Subtasks Estimate Too High problem filter.

This alerts developers and project leads to one of two planning realities:

1. The parent estimate was too optimistic: You can click the parent estimate and use the Subtask Total quick set button to raise the parent to match reality.
2. The subtasks have suffered scope creep: The team should review the subtasks and trim non-essential work before starting the sprint.

Logging Work Across Hierarchies

Time tracked in Jira is aggregated across parent and child tickets:

• On Task: Work logged directly on the parent issue.
• On Subtasks: Work logged across all subtasks under the parent.
• Total Logged: The combined sum. This total is used when checking whether an issue is approaching or exceeding its High estimate.