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New! Enhanced Asana Sync Integration

Bring your Asana projects into Timely—automatically! Tasks, users & updates sync like magic so you can focus on the doing, not the tracking.

Stephan avatar
Written by Stephan
Updated over a month ago

Plans 💳 : Premium, Unlimited, Unlimited+

User Permissions 👥: Admins

Optional Add-ons: Tasks*

For legacy plans, please refer to the article here.

Overview

In today’s lively work environment the seamless integration between your tools is key to staying on top of tasks and ensuring smooth collaboration with colleagues 💼. With Timely’s intuitive time tracking and Asana’s powerful task management - you can now enjoy a true two-way sync between these platforms.

This new integration offers capabilities beyond the existing Asana integration, which is specifically designed for tracking the time you spend on Asana items. The Asana Sync integration is a separate integration that complements that time tracking by allowing you to seamlessly manage projects, update tasks in real-time, and maintain full visibility over project progress in both tools.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the straightforward process of connecting Timely to Asana. Whether you're an experienced project manager or just getting started, you’ll be able to fully synchronize your workflows in a matter of minutes ⏱️🔗!

Table of Contents

🔌 Connecting Asana to Timely

Connecting Asana to Timely is a breeze - just takes a few, quick, clicks and you're ready to go.

  1. To start with, log into Timely using your admin level user account and head over to the Settings < Ecosystem area

  2. Scroll down to the Sync Integrations area and click the Asana Sync option

  3. Click the "Connect" button to authorize this integration

  4. A new window will open and you'll be prompted to sign into your Asana account, if you aren't already. Once signed in you'll be asked to review the permissions this integration needs to function. Click the "Allow" button to confirm and authorize the connection

  5. Once the connection has been established you'll be asked to select how you'd like to sync in those items from Asana. You can choose to:

    🛑 Important - when you choose if you'd like to sync everything, or sync just specific projects, that decision can't be changed once the integration is finalized. You would need to disconnect and reconnect the integration to make any changes, which may result in duplication. So choose this option carefully!
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    1. Sync everything - this will import all applicable objects within your Asana account to Timely, including Projects, Clients, and Tasks

    2. Sync from selected projects - this will reveal a prompt allowing you to review and select or deselect the specific projects from within Asana that you'd like to bring over to Timely
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  6. Once you've made your selection, click either the "Import and Sync everything" or "Import and Sync selected" button to finalize your configuration

  7. Success 🥳! You're all set. It may take just a few minutes or so for everything to be imported in, you can go ahead and close out the integration window and work normally in the meantime. You'll see a banner across the top of Timely, letting you know once everything has been imported
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👀 Here's what that process would look like from start to finish:
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🔁 Items synced in from the Asana Sync integration

Once the integration has been configured, you can expect the following items to be imported into Timely from your Asana account:
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Projects


Projects imported from Asana will automatically be associated with a dedicated "asana_sync" client in Timely and include the URL of the associated Asana project in the description field.


Those users associated with the project in Asana will also be imported, see below, and will be assigned to the project in Timely if they are already an active Timely user.
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It's important to note that the integration will only sync in active projects from Asana, archived projects aren't eligible.

Tasks & Sub-Tasks**


​Tasks created in Asana, including sub-tasks, will now sync to Timely as individual tasks. This ensures your full scope of work is reflected in your timeline—no extra steps required.

🔔 Heads up! To use this feature, you’ll need both the Tasks add-on in Timely and an Asana Advanced plan.

Tasks (or sub-tasks) created in Timely will not sync back to Asana. Timely only syncs logged time back to your original Asana tasks.
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Imported tasks will:

• Contain the original Asana task URL in their description field

• Be linked to the appropriate project as imported from Asana

• Reflect any assigned users, tags, or project data from Asana
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⏳‼️ Any time you log in Timely for imported tasks or sub-tasks will automatically sync back to Asana.

🔎 In Timely, there’s no difference between tasks and sub-tasks—both will appear as regular tasks in your workspace.

Tags


​Tags are automatically imported from Asana projects as part of the sync process. These will appear as individual tags in Timely, not part of a specific list.
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Users


Users will be imported via the Asana integration if they are attached to a Asana project and not already present within Timely. These new users will appear in the "Unassigned Users" section of the People Dashboard - they will not be automatically invited to Timely.

Workspace admins will need to review those users imported and click the "Send invite" button to ensure they are added to Timely moving forward. Subscription fees associated with additional seats/users will apply.

🆕 Enhanced Support for Asana Sub-Tasks

Sub-tasks in Asana are now fully supported in Timely! That means any sub-tasks you create in Asana will be automatically imported into Timely—just like your main tasks—making it easier to capture all the details of your workday without extra effort.

👉 Just a quick note: while Asana distinguishes between tasks and sub-tasks, Timely treats both as regular tasks. Once they’re imported, you’ll see sub-tasks listed alongside everything else in your workspace.

Any users, projects, or tags assigned in Asana will carry over automatically, and time logged against a sub-task in Timely will sync directly back to the original sub-task in Asana. No more duplicating work or manually re-entering details—just a smoother, more seamless connection between platforms.


✨ If a task or sub-task is linked to multiple projects in Asana, Timely will currently assign it to just one (the first one listed).


This update is available for all users on Premium plans and above with the Tasks add-on enabled.

🗑️ Removing the Asana Sync integration

We hope you'll love the Asana Sync integration but understand that not every feature or solution is a 100% fit for every time. With that in mind, we've made it very simple to disconnect. Simply head over to the Settings < Ecosystem area within Timely, scroll down to the Asana Sync integration, click it and then click the "Remove" button.
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If you would choose to remove the Asana Sync integration it will prevent further data from syncing between the two platforms. It will not remove or delete any imported objects or data.

🙋 FAQs

What data is synced to Asana FROM Timely after the integration is connected?

Any hours you log in Timely for tasks or sub-tasks imported from Asana will automatically sync back to Asana.

If I remove the Asana integration, will the items imported from monday.com be deleted as well?

No. After removal no further data will sync between the two platforms, but any objects previously imported will remain.

What happens if I delete a synced object, like a project or task?

Deleting those objects in Asana or Timely won't cause them to be deleted in the receiving platform, admin level users would need to manually do so.
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​How quickly do items sync between the two platforms?


Very quickly. While the exact time may vary, we use state of the art web technology to ensure that updates in either platform are reflected in the other - usually in just a matter of minutes.

What if I want to add additional projects or switch accounts after the initial set up?

You would need to disconnect the Asana Sync integration and then reconnect it to make any changes.

Can I filter or view sub-tasks separately in Timely?

Not directly—since sub-tasks become regular tasks in Timely, they’ll appear in your workspace alongside everything else. But you can use filters like project or assignee to narrow things down.

How can I tell if something is a sub-task once it’s in Timely?
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In Timely, sub-tasks and tasks are treated the same, so you won’t see a visual hierarchy like in Asana. But don’t worry—each sub-task will carry over its original name, project, and assignee so you can still track what’s what.
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