What is a burn-up chart?
A burn-up chart plots finished work against total scope over time, showing progress, pace and any change in scope on one chart.
How it works
Two lines rise across the chart: the work done and the total to do. Where they meet is the finish. Extend the pace of the done line and you see when that is likely to be.
Unlike a burn-down chart, which shows only what is left, a burn-up keeps scope visible: if the total line jumps, the team sees that the goal moved, not that the work slowed.
An example
Six weeks before a milestone, the burn-up shows 40 of 60 items done, at a pace that lands two weeks late. The team cuts eight items below the line and the projection meets the date.
Common mistakes
- Hiding scope changes by redrawing the total line from scratch.
- Counting items of very different sizes as equal without saying so.
- Reading a few days of pace as a trend.
In Nodary
Nodary’s progress view draws a live burn-up for a milestone from its documents: finished work against scope, the pace, the likely landing day and a verdict against your target date. A cut line shows what falls outside a budget in days or points.
What Nodary does not do: it counts documents and their properties, not hours: there is no time tracking, and estimates are what you enter.
Try it on your own documents. The Free plan needs no card.
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