2 x Free Technical Debt Register Template Google Sheets & Excel

Some teams develop and maintain a technical debt register where the design decisions that lead to the creation of debt are rationalized. A technical debt register details the technical effects of expeditionary actions on the product implementation quality, frequently in terms of impact, probability, and suggested remedy.

If the team has a well-ordered product backlog, recommending mitigation may be possible during some sprints. Also, dependencies and assumptions may be featured in the register, along with some risks that can turn into issues. A technical debt register helps teams understand how they should manage incurred risks. They can make informed and sensible decisions about whether to incur debt or not and when to pay it back.

The usage of a technical debt register is not part of Scrum, but it can help the team control the technical debt they decide to take on. For example, sometimes technical debt is paid off when implementing items in the product backlog. In other cases, it may not be possible, and the debt needs to be addressed separately.

Technical Debt Register Google Sheets

Developing an understanding of challenges and risks is not enough. Organizations must develop a means of the objective to track and recording it too. The creation of a technical debt register is one of the common approaches to documenting and listing that explains the problems and consequences, identifies the issues, and suggests resources, such as the cost and time to address the problem.

The technical debt register is sometimes tied to the project roadmap by some organizations to identify future functionalities and features that would facilitate the resolution of the issue.

Any technical debt registry or list will include categories. Some categories include issues in terms of complexity and type, such as architecture, code debt, design debt, test debt, or infrastructure debt. Others list issues in terms of severity as minor, low, critical, or major; and rank them in priority as medium, low, immediate, or high.

Technical Debt Challenges

Consider a software application that runs on a dedicated hardware platform, such as a server with a specified type of processor. The platform is essential to the business, yet businesses decide to skip upgrading software that will enable the workload to run on more VMs or hardware and add competitive features. One day, the server might fail.

The business may not have suitable hardware to deal with the workload and must spend money and time to develop a replacement application. This is an extreme example, but the impact of technical debt can be higher. But technical debt can be there in far more pervasive and subtle places. Consider the scenarios below:

• Poor Style: Lack of consistent coding standards, improper setup, or hardware installation without clear cable markings and port assignments leads to complications. These oversights make troubleshooting difficult, introduce avoidable risks, and create long-term challenges when modifications, scaling, or maintenance are required later in the project’s lifecycle.
• Unclear Requirements: When project requirements and definitions lack clarity, the finished deliverable often requires rework. Last-minute scope changes or additional demands force teams to modify solutions, increasing costs and extending timelines. This uncertainty becomes technical debt that drains productivity and undermines confidence in the final outcome.
• Inadequate Configuration: Failing to correctly configure hardware or software introduces vulnerabilities and performance problems. Overlooking essential settings increases the likelihood of security gaps, instability, or inefficiencies. Such missteps lead to costly fixes, disrupt smooth operation, and add technical debt that could have been avoided with upfront diligence.
• Omitted or Inadequate Testing: Skipping thorough testing leaves software riddled with hidden bugs and unaddressed flaws. Features may work under limited conditions but fail in real-world use. Incomplete testing creates recurring issues requiring patches, draining developer time and resources, and compounding technical debt with every unresolved defect.
• Poor Collaboration: Siloed teams working without proper communication create fragmented solutions. Parallel efforts often conflict, leading to duplicated work, misaligned priorities, or integration challenges. Reconciling these differences later demands additional effort, generating technical debt that slows delivery, reduces cohesion, and lowers the overall quality of outcomes.
• Inadequate Documentation: Projects with missing or insufficient documentation force teams to relearn processes or rediscover solutions. This slows down onboarding, problem-solving, and future improvements. Lack of clear records creates inefficiencies and builds technical debt, as every change requires extra effort that could have been prevented.
• Delayed Updates: Postponing code refactoring, patches, or hardware updates builds significant technical debt. Legacy systems become harder to integrate, less secure, and less efficient over time. Regular updates improve performance and interoperability, while delays accumulate risks and force bigger, costlier interventions to fix problems later.
• Business Pressure: External pressure to deliver quickly often leads to compromises in quality. Teams may cut corners, skip steps, or release incomplete features just to meet deadlines. These shortcuts create hidden flaws that require expensive rework, adding layers of technical debt to the project’s foundation.
• Bugs: Every defect represents unresolved technical debt. Even minor bugs consume time and resources when identified later, requiring patches or workarounds. Accumulated bugs degrade performance, frustrate users, and complicate maintenance. Addressing issues early prevents them from growing into larger, more disruptive liabilities over time.
• Non-Modular And Closely Coupled Code: Code lacking modularity and flexibility becomes brittle and resistant to change. When business needs shift, adapting such systems requires extensive rework. This rigidity accelerates technical debt, as developers struggle to modify or extend functionality without disrupting existing structures, delaying progress and innovation.

Technical Debt Template Excel

Tools to Manage Technical Debt

Help ticketing systems are a typical resource and indicator for potential issues identification. But several tools facilitate managing and measuring technical debt, especially in software development projects. Below are some examples of such tools:

Technical Debt in Jira

Technical debt accumulates when development teams prioritize speed over perfect code quality. Without proper tracking and management, this debt can severely impact project success and team productivity. Effective technical debt management requires structured documentation, clear prioritization, and the right tools to monitor and address issues systematically. Tools like Jira help monitor the backlog of workflow in project management.

Other Tech Debt Management Tools

• Stepsize tracks issues in the codebase.
• Teamscale improves and measures the quality of the code.
• Code Climate Velocity assigns resources and improves workflows.

Most of these tools can be integrated into the software development toolset and facilitate functions and features that are beyond the technical debt indications. Gain expertise and test prospective tools before you invest.

Technical Debt FAQs

What is a technical debt register?

A technical debt register is a document that identifies, documents, and lists issues and explains the resulting problems or consequences, and suggests resources, such as the cost and time to fix the problem.

What is an example of technical debt?

An example of a technical issue is an instance where teams drop the internal best practices and review standards when faced with a tight deadline. This leads to quality issues in the code, and the team may not be aware of it until they face issues in the product.

How do you document technical debt?

The common way to document technical debt is to create a technical debt register, document, or list that identifies the problem, explains the problems and consequences, and suggests resources, such as the cost and time to fix it.

What qualifies as technical debt?

Technical debt is also known as code debt or tech debt and describes the development team expediting the delivery of functionality or the project at hand, which needs to be refactored later. In other words, they are the result of preferring speedy delivery over code perfection.

Suggested articles:

• 79 Free Scope of Work Templates
• 11 x Executive Project Status Report Template – Word, Excel
• 7 X Free Cost Plus Contract Templates Google Docs & PDF