Cost performance index
Measure the budgeted value earned per unit of actual cost.
Formula · Guide · Applied
Interpret progress and forecasts
Use a common baseline, measurement boundary and status date.
Understand
Cost variance
Compare the budgeted value of completed work with what that work actually cost.
Formula · Guide · Applied
Estimate at completion
Forecast final cost assuming the cost efficiency observed so far continues.
Formula · Guide · Applied
Estimate to complete
Separate forecast spending still to come from money already spent.
Formula · Guide · Applied
Measuring physical completion
Define observable evidence for crediting completed work.
Reference · Guide · Foundation
Schedule performance index
Measure the amount of budgeted work earned relative to what was planned by the status date.
Formula · Guide · Applied
Schedule variance
Compare completed work with the work planned by a status date, expressed in budget units.
Formula · Guide · Applied
Variance at completion
Show the difference between the work budget and the forecast final cost.
Formula · Guide · Applied
Build and challenge an earned-value forecast
First validate the baseline and actual costs. Then choose the forecast assumption that fits the remaining work, rather than the number that best fits the budget.
Method · Calculator + guide · Applied
Control cycle
Compare progress and the forecast with the baseline, then correct the work or change the plan.
Model · Study sheet · Foundation
Earned value forecasting
Earned-value forecasts estimate final cost under stated assumptions about the efficiency of remaining work. Several forecasts can be useful precisely because their assumptions differ.
Model · Guide · Foundation
Earned value: progress and cost
Earned value compares the budgeted value of completed work with planned work and actual cost at the same status date.
Model · Guide · Foundation
Status report and RAG
Tell each level where the project stands, where it is heading and what to decide, in colours read the same way.
Model · Study sheet · Foundation
To-complete performance index
Calculate the cost efficiency required on the remaining work to finish within the original work budget.
Formula · Guide · Applied
Variance thresholds and trends
Set explicit triggers for investigating a departure from an agreed baseline.
Reference · Guide · Foundation
Calculate
Earned schedule
Translate earned value into equivalent baseline time.
Tool · Calculator + guide · Advanced