Earned Value Management (EVM) Cheat Sheet

Earned Value Management — Quick Reference

Core Variables

Term	Definition	Formula
PV (Planned Value)	Budgeted cost of work scheduled	From baseline
EV (Earned Value)	Budgeted cost of work performed	% Complete × BAC
AC (Actual Cost)	Actual cost of work performed	From accounting
BAC (Budget at Completion)	Total planned budget	From baseline

Variance Formulas

Formula	Meaning	Good	Bad
CV = EV − AC	Cost variance	Positive (under budget)	Negative (over budget)
SV = EV − PV	Schedule variance	Positive (ahead)	Negative (behind)

Performance Indices

Formula	Meaning	Good	Bad
CPI = EV / AC	Cost efficiency	> 1.0	< 1.0
SPI = EV / PV	Schedule efficiency	> 1.0	< 1.0

Forecasting

Formula	When to Use
EAC = BAC / CPI	Past performance will continue (most common)
EAC = AC + (BAC − EV)	Past variance was atypical (won't continue)
EAC = AC + [(BAC − EV) / (CPI × SPI)]	Both cost and schedule affect remaining work
ETC = EAC − AC	Estimate to complete from now
VAC = BAC − EAC	Variance at completion
TCPI = (BAC − EV) / (BAC − AC)	Required future CPI to meet BAC

Memory Trick

EV always comes first in subtraction formulas (CV = EV−AC, SV = EV−PV) and in the numerator of index formulas (CPI = EV/AC, SPI = EV/PV).

Negative variance = bad. Index < 1.0 = bad.