# Reports

> Velocity, burndown, sprint reports and dashboards — what they measure and how to read them without fooling yourself.

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/llms.txt).

Source: https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/agile/reports

---
> **Agile charts on Pro, advanced dashboards on Premium**
>
> Velocity and burndown come with the agile framework on Pro Unlimited. Advanced
> reports and dashboards are Premium.

## Velocity

How much the team actually completed per sprint, in whatever unit you estimate.

Its only legitimate use is **forecasting**: if you average 30 points a sprint
and the remaining work is 150 points, you have about five sprints left.

> **Never use velocity as a target**
>
> The moment it becomes a goal, estimates inflate. The number goes up, nothing
> more gets delivered, and you have destroyed your only forecasting tool. Never
> compare velocity between teams either — estimates are not calibrated across
> teams and never will be.

### Reading it

| Pattern | Likely meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Stable across sprints | Healthy. Forecast with confidence |
| Steadily rising | Either genuine improvement, or estimate inflation. Check throughput in task counts |
| Volatile | Inconsistent estimating, or interruptions |
| Falling | Technical debt, absence, or work getting harder |

> **Tip**
>
> Ignore the first three sprints of a new team entirely. There is no signal
> there.

## Burndown

Remaining work over the sprint. Its value is in-flight — it tells you on day
four whether you are in trouble.

- **Steady decline**: Healthy. Work is being finished throughout.

- **Flat then a cliff**: Everything completes on the last day. Usually means tasks are too big, or work is not being closed as it finishes.

- **Flat all sprint**: Something is stuck. Find it now, not at review.

- **Line goes up**: Scope was added mid-sprint. That is what breaks a time box.

## Sprint reports

A per-sprint summary: what was committed, what completed, what carried over.
Exportable to PDF for stakeholders.

The number worth watching over time is **committed versus completed**. A team
consistently completing 60% of its commitment does not have a productivity
problem — it has a planning problem.

## Advanced dashboards 

Cross-project views for people who do not work in a single project: portfolio
progress, resource utilisation, budget consumption, workload distribution.

> **Roll-ups inherit their inputs**
>
> A portfolio dashboard is only as good as the project data behind it. One team
> not maintaining statuses makes the whole view confidently wrong. Fix project
> hygiene before trusting the roll-up.

## Using reports honestly

**Measure the process, not the people**

    These charts describe how work flows. The moment they are used to rank
    individuals, people optimise the numbers instead of the work, and the data
    becomes worthless.

**Trends beat snapshots**

    One sprint is noise. Look at five before concluding anything.

**Ask why before acting**

    A dip might be two people on holiday. Investigate before responding.

**Pick a few metrics and stick to them**

    Watching twenty means watching none. Velocity, carryover and cycle time are
    enough for most teams.

## Getting data out

Sprint reports export to PDF; task lists export to CSV — see
[Import and export](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/tasks/import-and-export).

For anything ongoing, use the [Developer API](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/api/introduction) rather
than scheduled exports.

- [Sprints](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/agile/sprints): Where the numbers come from.

- [Resource management](https://helpdesk.orangescrum.com/guide/cloud/time/resource-management): Utilisation and workload reporting.