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Baselines and Earned Value Computations

Baseline information is factored in to many of the calculations performed in earned value analysis. You must baseline your project to attain earned value data or estimate at completion (EAC) variances. Earned Value Analysis (EVA) is a statistical operation that compares the project's present actuals against what was planned. For example, EVA may compare the length of time a task would take, according to a baseline budget plan, to the actual length of time it took. EVA is also sometimes referred to as Performance Measurement.

All of the earned value fields contain the fundamental calculations used for EVA. The following EV values are calculated for every scheduled activity:

• Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS)
• Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)
• Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP)

These values are used together to determine if work is being performed as planned. The most frequently employed measures are:

• Cost Variance (CV)
• Schedule Variance (SV)
• Cost Performance Index (CPI)
• Schedule Performance Index (SPI)

More information:

Earned Value Data Fields

Earned Value

Baselines

View Baseline Work Allocation and EV Data