Plans 💳 : Premium, Unlimited, Unlimited+
User Permissions 👥: Admins, Employees*, Managers*
Optional Add-ons: Tasks*
🧐📺 Looking for a visual deep dive of the new Asana Sync Integration? Check out our handy walkthrough video for a complete visual deep dive.
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
🙋 FAQs
✨ What’s New in the Enhanced Asana Sync (2026)
We’ve given our Asana integration a serious upgrade—more control, more context, and way less manual effort.
Here’s what’s fresh in the new experience:
⚡ Real-time updates: Keep projects and tasks in sync so progress is always up to date.
🔄 Users, projects & tasks synced: Automatically bring Asana users, projects, tasks, sub-tasks, and tags into Timely.
🏷️ Tags, organized: Asana tags appear in Timely as individual tags for easy filtering and reporting.
🛜 Updated integration architecture: Built on OAuth with encrypted data transfer and enterprise-grade reliability.
⏱️ Time flows back to Asana: Log time in Timely and see it reflected on the linked Asana task.
That’s right....time logged in Timely can now sync back to Asana!
That means more accurate reporting across platforms—and no more hopping back and forth between tools to keep things aligned.
🔌 Connecting Timely to Asana - Workspace Admin
Head to Settings > Ecosystem in Timely
Choose the Asana option from the Next-Gen Integrations section
⚠️ Don't see a Next-Gen Integrations section? This feature is slowly rolling out, reach out to us via [email protected] and we'll help you get started!
Click the Connect workspace with Asana button, log into your Asana account if prompted, and then click Allow when prompted to connect
Next you'll want to select or confirm the Asana workspace you'd like to connect. You can click the Configure button if you'd like to review and click Next to proceed
Next you'll be prompted to confirm the sync configuration for this integration
The default and suggest settings are pre-set:
Create Memories from Asana activity
Create Projects from Asana projects
Log time against Asana tasks without task creation
Every workspace, every project selected for synchronization
Asana changes will be synced to Timely in real-time
If needed, you can click the Change Settings button to fine tune these options
Important additional options available include:
Create Tags from Asana Tags
Sync Team Members from Asana workspaces
Create Tasks from Asana Tasks
Sync time entries to Asana
If everything looks good, go ahead and click the Synchronize with Asana button to finalize
It may take a few minutes for the initial sync to complete, you can click the Continue while import runs in the background button and work normally while this completes
Otherwise, go ahead and click Complete Asana Setup button to wrap things up
You're all set! It's important to note that individuals on the workspace will still need to connect their own Asana account to Timely, in order to enjoy the full benefits of the integration and see their Asana activity populate their timeline.
🔌 Connecting Timely to Asana - Personal Integration (Employees, Managers)
Log into your Timely workspace and navigate to the Settings > Ecosystem area
In the Next-Gen Integrations category you'll see the Asana option
Click the "Authenticate with Asana" button to proceed
Next, you'll be prompted to approve the necessary permissions that allow your Asana activity to flow into Timely. Click the Allow button to confirm
✅ You're all set! It may take several minutes for the initial sync to take place, you can click the "Continue while import runs in the background" button to return to the Ecosystem tab and work normally while this process completes.
🔁 Items synced in from the Asana integration
Once the integration has been configured, you can expect the following items to be imported into Timely from your Asana account:
Asana Item | Appears in Timely as | Details / Behavior |
Clients | Clients | Imported as active Timely clients. |
Projects | Projects | Imported as active Timely projects. Archived projects are skipped. |
*Tasks | Tasks or Linked Work references | Tasks appear as references to Linked Work by default. You can optionally import them as real Timely tasks (requires start & end date). |
*Subtasks | Tasks | Up to 5 levels deep supported. Treated as flat tasks in Timely (not visually nested).
|
Tags | Tags | Imported as a flat list. Optional—must be enabled in sync settings. |
Users* | Users or Unassigned Users* | Auto-matched by email. If unmatched, they appear as “Unassigned Users” until invited. |
Task Activity | Memories | Includes events like task creation, completion, reassignment, commenting, etc.
|
Logged Time ← | Time entry sync back to Asana | Optional. Logged time in Timely appears as comments in Asana if all criteria are met. |
*👥 Admin Note: If user import is enabled, Asana users will be added to Timely as Unassigned Users—they won’t be invited automatically. You’ll need to review and manually invite them from the Unassigned Users section. Once invited, they’ll occupy a paid seat on your subscription.
🧠 Memories created from your Asana activity
Whenever you take action in Linear, Timely can turn that activity into a Memory, helping you accurately recall how your day was spent and making time logging a breeze.
Here’s what generates a Memory in Timely:
Create or complete tasks
Move tasks between projects
Reassign or rename tasks
Add comments
Visit app.asana.com in your browser
This gives you a clean, accurate record of what you worked on, without lifting a finger!
📌 Each user must connect their own Asana account for their activity to generate memories.
📋 Logging time against Asana tasks
Once connected, Asana tasks are available when logging time in Timely:
Search for tasks directly in the time entry form
Select the issue you worked on
Log your time as usual
With the default configuration, you can assign time towards a task in Asana by linking the work, without importing the task itself—perfect for teams who want accurate time tracking without cluttering Timely with hundreds of tasks. However, you do have the option to import the Tasks directly, configurable during initial setup.
With the default configuration, these references appear as the Linked Work option in AutoSheet or the Attach a Task option when logging on the Classic timeline.
🗑️ Removing the Asana Sync integration
Moving away from Asana as your source of truth? No problem, disconnecting the integration just takes a few clicks.
The admin who originally set up the connection can head to Settings > Ecosystem in Timely, select Asana, then click Settings followed by Disconnect. You’ll be asked to confirm—just click Disconnect again to finalize.
Heads up: any imported objects will remain in Timely after disconnection. They won’t be automatically deleted.
🙋 FAQs
Do I need the Tasks add-on to use the Asana integration?
Nope! You can still log time to Asana tasks using Linked Work references without the add-on. The Tasks add-on is only required if you want to import Asana tasks as full Timely Tasks (with due dates and all), and sync time back to Asana.
Do I need to connect my personal Asana account?
Yes—each user needs to connect their own Asana account in Timely to:
See Asana memories on their timeline
Trigger project/user matching
Sync time entries back to Asana
Why do I see “Unassigned Users” in Timely after syncing?
Users imported via the Asana integration will appear in this section, allowing admins to review and invite them to Timely as they would like. These users won't count towards your total paid seats until, or unless, you'd explicitly invite them.
Can time logged in Timely show up in Asana?
Yes! If task creation is enabled and the task has start/end dates, time entries from Timely can be pushed back to Asana as comments on the original task. Each user must have their Asana account connected for this to work.
What if I want to add additional projects or switch accounts after the initial set up?
You would need to disconnect the Asana integration and then reconnect it to make any changes to it's configuration.
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?
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.
Need more help?
Click the chat icon at the bottom of your screen
or send an email to [email protected]