Issue Log Template

About this template

When to use it

An issue log with a service target per severity, so the sheet tells you which items are late rather than leaving you to compare dates by eye. Three sheets — Dashboard, Input data, Usage guide — and only Input data takes typing.

What the dashboard holds

Everything on the Dashboard is a formula. “Key metrics — summed automatically from the ‘Input data’ sheet” holds B7:E7 — Rows entered, Days elapsed total, Days elapsed average, Days elapsed max. Under it, Summary by severity (rows 12–15) splits the same days across the four severities in column B, and Issues raised by month (rows 19–22) is hand-typed for Mar to Jun with a total in B23 and an average in B24.

Filling order

1. Rows 2–21 of Input data take Issue No., Issue, Severity, Raised on, Action owner, Target days, Days elapsed, Delay check, Action taken, Status in columns A–J.
2. Number issues ISS-001 upward and write the issue as an observed symptom: “Order list takes 12 seconds to respond”.
3. Keep Severity to Critical, High, Medium, Low — those four strings are the criteria behind B12:B15.
4. Target days is the turnaround you have promised for that severity. The sheet ships with Critical 1 · High 3 · Medium 7 · Low 14; where a contract sets its own figure, use that.
5. Column G must hold plain numbers. Update it as the issue ages, and once more on the day you set the status to Done.
6. Keep Status to Logged, In progress, Verifying, Done, On hold. Column H reads this column by name.

How the formulas calculate

• Key metrics: =COUNT(‘Input data’!$G$2:$G$21), SUM, =IFERROR(AVERAGE(…),0), =IFERROR(MAX(…),0).
• Each severity row pairs =COUNTIF(‘Input data’!$C$2:$C$21,$B12) with SUMIF and AVERAGEIF over column G, and a share of =IFERROR(C12/COUNT(‘Input data’!$G$2:$G$21),0).
• Delay check is =IF(J2=”Done”,”Done in “&G2&” days”,IF(G2>F2,”Overdue “&(G2-F2)&” days”,”On time”)). It reads Status by exact text, so a status spelled any other way sends the row down the overdue branch.
• Under the monthly table, =SUM(C19:C22) and =AVERAGE(C19:C22) return 100 and 25.
• Nothing counts issues by status. Add =COUNTIF(‘Input data’!$J$2:$J$21,”Done”) in a spare cell if you want that on the front page.

Examples

• Row 2 — ISS-001 · Order list takes 12 seconds to respond · High · 2026-06-02 · Lee Su-min · 3 · 2 · Done in 2 days · Back to 1.4 seconds after rebuilding the index · Done.
• Row 4 — ISS-003 has run 9 days against a 7-day target and is still In progress, so Delay check reads Overdue 2 days.
• Row 9 — ISS-008 is Critical with a 1-day target, sitting at 2 days and On hold: the shortest target with the weakest status is the row to escalate.
• The eight sample issues total 36 days, average 4.5 and peak at 10.

Common mistakes

• Closing an issue without a final update to Days elapsed, so “Done in n days” reports a stale figure.
• Inventing a sixth status, which both empties the severity summary of context and pushes Delay check down the wrong branch.
• Reusing Target days as a due date. It is a duration in days, not a calendar entry.
• Typing over column H, which is a formula on every row.