Project 2013 Advanced

Lesson 3 - Evaluating and Distributing Data

Project 2013

V IEWING E ARNED V ALUE D ATA

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Discussion

As you record actual work on a project, you may want to know how the work performed compares to the baseline. Earned value analysis uses project costs to measure the performance of a project at the time of the project status date. By comparing the cost of work performed to the cost of work budgeted, you can view the rate of progress for a project and predict the trend of the project’s success. If you do not enter a status date, Microsoft Project uses the current date to perform the earned value calculations. Earned value analysis is based on three key measurements: the budgeted cost of work scheduled to be performed (BCWS), the budgeted cost of work actually performed (BCWP), and the actual cost of work performed (ACWP). For example, at a specific date, a task that is budgeted to cost $8000 should have been 50% complete with a budgeted cost of $4000. At this date, the task is behind schedule and is only 45% complete. According to the original budget, the work performed so far should cost $3600 (8000*.45). However, the actual cost for the work performed is only $3000. So while the task is behind schedule, the cost is less than budgeted.

Microsoft Project provides three tables with earned value data: Earned Value , Earned Value Cost Indicators and Earned Value Schedule Indicators .

The Earned Value table is available for both tasks and resources. This table provides all the cost of work information to help you monitor your progress. The fields in this table are described below:

Field

Description

BCWS This field displays the budgeted cost of work scheduled through the status date or current date. BCWP This field displays the budgeted cost of work performed through the status date or current date. ACWP This field displays the actual cost of work performed through the status date or current date. SV This field displays the earned value schedule variance through the status date [SV = BCWP - BCWS]. A positive value indicates that costs are under budget and a negative value indicates tasks are over budget.

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