Backlog

The Backlog is where Tasks live before they are planned onto the schedule. A backlog Task has been created and described, but has no committed dates and is not yet ready to start. Backlog is an organization-wide feature: when it is turned on, a backlog appears across the Flow Board, the Timeline, and the Ledger. When it is off, every new Task starts in To-Do instead.

Where a Task sits

Every Task is in one of five states. The backlog is the first of them:

• Backlog — created but not yet planned.

• To-Do — planned and ready to start, with no time logged yet.

• Doing — at least one time entry has been logged.

• Done — marked complete.

• Archived — closed out and removed from the active board.

On the Flow Board

When Backlog is enabled, the leftmost column on the Flow Board is the Backlog column. It is drawn with a dashed border to set it apart from the planned columns to its right. The column also appears whenever any backlog Tasks already exist, even if the feature was later switched off, so that nothing is hidden. When there are no backlog Tasks, the column is hidden.

Cards do not drag between columns. To set a Task aside, open it and choose Move to Backlog from its three-dot menu; choose Move to To-Do to plan it.

On the Timeline

A backlog Task appears on the Timeline only once time has been logged against it, drawn as a dashed, semi-transparent bar rather than the solid bars used for scheduled work. Backlog Tasks with no time logged are not shown on the Timeline. A backlog bar is not draggable or resizable — because it has no committed dates, its position is derived from the time entries logged against it, not from the grid. The bar shows the backlog hours logged, and the dots icon on the bar opens the Task.

Once a Task has been moved out of the backlog and scheduled, any hours that were logged while it was still in the backlog remain visible as a separate dashed bar. This is a read-only marker of past backlog work and cannot be moved or edited from the grid.

In the Ledger

In the Ledger, a backlog Task shows Backlog in its state column alongside every other Task, so you can sort, filter, and open backlog items in the same table as scheduled work.

Moving Tasks in and out of the Backlog

Open a Task and use the three-dot menu in the Task panel. When a Task is in the backlog, the menu offers Move to To-Do; when it is in To-Do, the same menu offers Move to Backlog. You can move freely between these two states.

There is no manual step from To-Do to Doing. A Task moves to Doing on its own the first time you log a time entry against it.

When Backlog is enabled, the state dropdown on the new Task dialog offers Todo, Backlog, and any backlog stages, so you can place a Task in the Backlog as you create it. If the Task belongs to an Epic that is itself in the backlog, it is placed in the Backlog automatically.

Deleting a backlog Task

A Task can be deleted from the three-dot menu only while it has no time entries logged against it and has not reached Doing. Once any time has been logged — or once the Task has reached Doing — the delete option is no longer offered, and you archive the Task instead.

Stages within the Backlog

If your organization uses Stages, the Backlog can be broken into sub-stages. Click Spread stages on the tab beside the Backlog column and the single column expands into one column per backlog stage, with anything unassigned grouped under a plain Backlog column; Collapse stages folds them back into one. While collapsed, each card shows its stage name. Use the stage selector on a Task to move it between stages. Stages themselves are set up under Settings → Stages; each project chooses which of them it uses under Kanban Stages.

Backlog and billing

Time logged on backlog Tasks is handled separately from time on scheduled work, and you decide whether it ever reaches an invoice. Two organization settings work together to control this:

• Allow Backlog Hours (Time Flow settings) decides whether time can be logged against a backlog Task in the first place. It is off by default; until it is turned on, backlog Tasks do not appear in the time entry picker and no hours can be recorded against them. When it is on, the picker gains Active and Backlog tabs.

• Include backlog hours in billing (Billing settings) decides whether the hours that were logged while a Task sat in the Backlog are charged on an invoice. It is on by default.

AbleTime records the state a Task was in at the moment each time entry was made. Hours recorded while the Task was in the Backlog stay counted as backlog hours even after the Task moves on to To-Do or Doing — so promoting a Task later does not change how its earlier backlog time is billed.

When a time entry is linked to a backlog Task, the time entry form shows a Backlog / Doing switch. Leave it on Backlog to keep the hours as backlog time, or switch it to Doing to move the Task to Doing when you save. When Allow Backlog Hours is off, the switch is locked to Doing. A backlog Task's panel offers Enter Time but no Start Timer button.

On the Task panel, entries logged in the Backlog carry a Backlog tag in the work log, and the backlog total is shown alongside the Task's time figures. Backlog time can also be filtered on Summary Reports.

How backlog hours appear on an invoice

When you create or edit an invoice that covers backlog hours, a summary shows the total backlog time and its value, marked INCLUDED (green) or EXCLUDED (amber) to match the billing setting:

• When Include backlog hours in billing is on, backlog hours are added to the invoice like any other billable time — they count toward the subtotal, discount, tax, and total.

• When it is off, backlog hours are left out of the subtotal and every figure below it, but the backlog total is still shown in the invoice editor so you can see what was logged in the Backlog and why it is not being charged.

To change how backlog hours are billed, see your organization’s Billing Settings.