Before you report
Earned Value Calculator
See where the budget and the schedule really stand, and every forecast of where they finish, with the assumption behind each one said plainly.
Type one status date in, or read a file of periods from a .xlsx or .csv inside your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
0.89
Cost index (CPI)
Each $1 spent bought $0.89 of planned work.
0.80
Schedule index (SPI)
80% of the work planned by now is done.
-$5,000
Cost variance (CV)
Over budget for the work done.
-$10,000
Schedule variance (SV)
Value of the planned work not yet done. In money, not days.
Where it finishes: every method, and when each applies
| Method | Estimate at completion | Still to spend | Variance at completion | Needed CPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost performance continues BAC / CPIThe cost efficiency so far is typical of the rest of the work: the same team, the same kind of work, no change coming. | $112,500 | $67,500 | -$12,500 | 0.89 |
| The rest goes to budget AC + (BAC - EV)The overrun so far came from something that will not recur, such as a one-off purchase or a problem already fixed. | $105,000 | $60,000 | -$5,000 | 1.00 |
| Cost and schedule both weigh on the rest AC + (BAC - EV) / (CPI x SPI)The project is behind and has to catch up, and catching up costs money: overtime, extra people, expediting. | $129,375 | $84,375 | -$29,375 | 0.71 |
The needed CPI is the cost efficiency the rest of the work must achieve for that forecast to come true. A forecast whose needed CPI is far from the CPI so far is a forecast the project has not yet earned.
To finish on the original budget
The to-complete index is 1.09. Every $1 still to be spent would have to buy $1.09 of planned work, 23% better than the 0.89 achieved so far, on everything that is left.
What this assumed, and how
- Planned value, earned value and actual cost are cumulative to the same status date and measured in the same currency.
- Earned value is the budgeted cost of the work finished, however it was measured (milestones, percent complete, units done). The method used decides how much the figures can be trusted, and it is not visible here.
- Schedule variance and the schedule index are measured in money. Near the end of a late project they drift back toward zero and 1.0 however late it is; the period-by-period tab adds earned schedule, which measures in time.
- No method is chosen for you. The one that fits depends on whether the causes of the variance so far will continue, which is a judgment about the project.
Three numbers, and what they say
Planned value is the budget for the work that should be done by now. Earned value is the budget for the work that is actually done. Actual cost is what that work cost. The cost index divides earned value by actual cost: 0.89 means every dollar spent bought 89 cents of planned work. The schedule index divides earned value by planned value: 0.80 means four fifths of the planned work is done.
There is no single estimate at completion
Most calculators print one EAC, usually the budget divided by the cost index, and move on. That formula assumes the cost efficiency so far will hold for everything that is left. Sometimes it will. Sometimes the overrun came from a one-off that is behind you, and the rest will go to budget. Sometimes the project is behind and catching up will cost more. Each of those is a different formula, and choosing between them is a judgment about the project, so all of them are shown with the situation each fits, and the cost efficiency the rest of the work would need for each to come true.
The schedule index that recovers on its own
The classic schedule index measures the schedule in money, and money runs out. Once the planned finish has passed, planned value stops growing at the full budget, so as the late work is finally earned the index climbs back to 1.0, however late the project is. Earned schedule measures the same thing in time: the point in the plan at which the value earned so far was supposed to be earned. It does not recover on its own, which is why the period-by-period tab shows both, and says so when they part company.
Impossible inputs
Earned value above the budget, planned value above the budget, work earned with no cost recorded: these come from spreadsheets, not projects. The tool refuses to compute from them and says why, rather than printing indexes that look precise and mean nothing. A cost index far from 1 is flagged as well, because it more often means the three figures were measured differently than that the project really is that far out.
What this does not do
It takes earned value as given. How it was measured (milestones, percent complete, units finished) decides how much it can be trusted, and a percent complete that somebody estimated by eye can make every index here look better than the project is. It does not know about approved changes that should have moved the budget, and it does not choose a forecast for you.