Bulk Editing the Tempo Account

Tempo Accounts can be linked to time-tracking data in two different places: the Account custom field on a Jira work item, and the Account work attribute on a logged worklog. Because these two live in different places and behave differently, "bulk editing the Account" can mean two different things depending on whether you're trying to fix data at the work item level or the worklog level. This article covers both, plus the conditions to check before you run either kind of bulk edit.

Background: Custom Field vs. Work Attribute

Editing one does not automatically update the other — they're independent settings, even though both pull from the same underlying pool of accounts linked to a project. For more background, see Account Field vs the Account Work Attribute and Best Practices for using the Account Custom Field and Account Work Attribute.

Part 1: Bulk Editing the Tempo Account Custom Field

The Account custom field is installed automatically with Tempo. Once added to Jira work item screens, it appears as a dropdown on the issue itself (see Adding the Account Field to Jira Work Item Screens). Because it's a standard Jira custom field, it's normally bulk-edited through Jira's own bulk change tooling rather than a Tempo-specific screen.

Typical use case

Work items created before an account was linked to their project don't automatically get that account set. You'll need to bulk edit those work items to backfill the value — for example, after setting a default account for a Jira project or after an account import.

General steps

On Forge instances, this only works through Jira's new bulk edit experience — the classic bulk change wizard will not work for this field. If you land on the classic "Bulk Change work items" flow, look for a banner offering Try new version and switch to it before continuing.

1. Confirm the account(s) you want to apply are already linked to the relevant Jira project(s) — an account only appears as a selectable value on work items in projects it's linked to.

2. Go to the list view containing the work items you want to update (e.g. results of a JQL search such as Account IS EMPTY, or on Forge instances, Account.name IS EMPTY) and select them.

3. Click Edit fields to open the bulk edit panel.

4. Search for the Account field and add it to the panel. Two fields may appear named "Account" — make sure to select the one with field type Forge object, which is the Tempo-managed field. Selecting the wrong one won't update the Tempo account.

5. Set the desired account value in the field.

6. Click Next to preview the change, then Confirm to apply it.

7. Re-run your original search to verify no work items were missed.

Conditions to check before bulk editing the custom field

• Use the new bulk edit experience, not the classic one. On Forge, the classic Jira bulk change wizard does not invoke the Tempo custom field editor, so it can't be used to set the Account field in bulk. Jira's newer Edit fields bulk panel does support it — that's the flow to use going forward.

• Watch for duplicate "Account" fields in the field picker. When adding the field in the bulk edit panel, you may see more than one field named "Account." Only the one typed as Forge object is the Tempo-managed Account field; picking the wrong one will silently fail to update the value Tempo actually reports on.

• Retroactive reporting impact. Because the Account value lives on the work item, changing it changes how all historical time already logged against that work item is reported going forward — not just future time. Confirm that's actually what you want before making the change at scale.

• Project linkage required. An account must be linked to a work item's project before it can be selected in that field — either individually or in bulk.

• Subtasks don't inherit the account. If you're bulk editing parent issues, remember subtasks won't automatically pick up the same Account value; they need to be included in the edit separately, or handled via automation (see the JSON-based "copy from parent" workaround in Expected Changes in Timesheets on Forge).

• JQL syntax changed on Forge. Saved filters using the old Account = "X" syntax will break and need to be updated to Account.name = "X". The =/!= operators are also no longer available in Basic Mode — only ~ (contains) and !~ (not contains) are supported there.

• Moving work items between Jira spaces. If a work item with an empty Account/Tempo Team field is moved to a space that requires those fields, they'll render as plain text boxes post-move. Set the value via bulk edit before moving the work item to avoid this.

• Permissions. You'll need Jira Administrator, Tempo Account Administrator, or Tempo Administrator permissions to manage account linkage and defaults, plus whatever Jira permission your instance requires to run bulk edit operations on work items.

Part 2: Bulk Editing the Account Work Attribute

The Account work attribute is a different mechanism: it's a dropdown that appears on the Log Time form, configured in Tempo Settings rather than on the Jira issue screen (see Creating an Account Work Attribute). Because the value is attached to the worklog rather than the issue, bulk-fixing it requires Tempo's Bulk Worklog Editor, not Jira's issue bulk-edit wizard.

Required permissions

• Jira Space Permission: Delete All Worklogs OR Edit All Worklogs

• Tempo Team Permission (for at least one relevant team): Manage Worklogs

Steps

1. Open the Bulk Worklog Editor from the Logged Time report, the Team Timesheet, or the Account Timesheet. Only the worklogs visible in that report/timesheet are available to edit — so filter the report first to the worklogs you actually want to touch.

2. Select the worklogs you want to modify.

3. From the Select Bulk Action dropdown, choose Edit.

4. Update the Account field:

   • Select a new account from the list (this shows all accounts linked to the related Jira spaces, including global accounts), or

   • Choose Set value to 'None' to clear the account — only available if the Account work attribute isn't marked as required.

5. Click Next, review, and confirm. A success message appears once complete; any failures are listed with error messages.

Full steps: Editing Worklogs in Bulk.

Conditions to check before bulk editing the work attribute

• 5,000 worklog limit. Only 5,000 worklogs can be edited in a single bulk action — large backfills may need to be run in batches (e.g., by date range or account).

• Scope is worklogs, not issues. This only changes the value stored on the selected worklogs. It does not touch the Account custom field on the underlying work item — if both are out of sync, you may need to address both separately (see Part 1).

• "Set to None" isn't always available. If the Account work attribute is configured as required, you won't be able to clear it — you can only reassign it to a different account.

• Only one Account-type work attribute is allowed. An instance can only have a single work attribute configured with the Account type, so there's no ambiguity about which dropdown you're bulk-editing — but confirm your team is actually using this feature (some instances rely solely on the custom field, and vice versa).

• Report source matters. Because the Bulk Worklog Editor only operates on worklogs already surfaced in the report/timesheet you launched it from, make sure your report filters (date range, project, team, etc.) actually capture every worklog you intend to change before you start selecting.

• Permissions gate the whole action, not just visibility — a person can view a timesheet without necessarily having the Edit/Delete All Worklogs or Manage Worklogs permission needed to actually run the bulk edit.

If your team uses both the custom field and the work attribute, plan to check both after a bulk edit; updating one does not update the other, and reports can look inconsistent until both are aligned.