Earned Value Management gives project managers a single coherent view of whether a project is on time and within budget โ two questions that standard tracking usually answers separately. It compares what you planned to spend, what you've actually spent, and the budgeted value of work actually completed.
Three figures drive everything: Planned Value (PV) is the budget you scheduled to have spent by now; Actual Cost (AC) is what you've really spent; Earned Value (EV) is the budgeted cost of the work actually completed so far. From these, Cost Variance (CV = EV โ AC) shows the ยฃ gap between value delivered and money spent, and Schedule Variance (SV = EV โ PV) shows the ยฃ gap between value delivered and value planned. Dividing instead of subtracting gives the two headline ratios: Cost Performance Index (CPI = EV รท AC) โ above 1.0 means you're getting more value than you're paying for; Schedule Performance Index (SPI = EV รท PV) โ above 1.0 means you're ahead of the plan.
Estimate at Completion has two common versions: EAC(v1) = BAC รท CPI assumes the project's current cost efficiency continues for the rest of the work; EAC(v2) = AC + (BAC โ EV) assumes the remaining work reverts to the original budgeted rate. Estimate to Complete (ETC = EAC โ AC) is the cost still to come. Variance at Completion (VAC = BAC โ EAC) is the forecast surplus or overrun. To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI = (BAC โ EV) รท (BAC โ AC)) is the cost efficiency the remaining work needs to hit to finish exactly on the original budget.
EVM is only as reliable as the % complete figure feeding it โ an honestly and consistently assessed estimate, not an optimistic one. It measures cost and schedule performance against the original baseline, but doesn't capture qualitative risk, quality issues, or scope creep on its own. A TCPI above roughly 2.0 is generally considered unachievable in practice โ it would require the remaining work to run at twice the planned efficiency.
Formulas follow the standard Earned Value Management methodology set out in the PMI Practice Standard for Earned Value Management.