Estimate/Effort:
Identify the amount of effort in story points, as provided by the team. Depending upon the level of this backlog item in the overall hierarchy, this would either be completed as a story point estimate by the team to measure velocity or estimated or remaining hours at the task level. For the levels of feature, epic, roadmap, etc., this would be a roll-up/accumulated value from the child tasks.
Reasoning: This allows for the team to get better at estimating work that is not fully described at any point in time. It is often likened to "t-shirt sizes." The accumulation to higher levels in the hierarchy supports portfolio and/or quarterly planning. At the story/team level, the item is "ready to work," when that estimate becomes part of the team's velocity. (Those story points should not correlate through any formula with hours spent. These are not hours at any level other than the team level as tasks. In all other cases, this is an estimation with points.)
Regulatory guidance: In the event that this is an epic, roadmap, or feature level item, after completion of the supporting child items, the hours at the task level can be accumulated to reflect the actual work effort that was expended. Depending upon that work's purpose, this information can be used to determine the value for software capitalization by the business' financial team(s).
IRS - Rev.. Proc.2000-50
Letter Ruling 200236028
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