Free Earned Value Management Calculator

Q: What is Earned Value Management (EVM)?

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project management methodology that integrates scope, schedule, and cost metrics to assess project performance, detect cost/schedule variances, and forecast final project expenditures.

Q: What do CPI and SPI measure?

CPI (Cost Performance Index = EV / AC) measures cost efficiency ($1.00 of budget earned per dollar spent). SPI (Schedule Performance Index = EV / PV) measures schedule efficiency. Values above 1.0 indicate favorable performance.

Q: How is Estimate at Completion (EAC) calculated?

EAC forecasts total final project cost based on current performance: EAC = BAC / CPI (when current cost trends are expected to continue).

Q: What is the To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI)?

TCPI represents the cost efficiency (CPI) required on remaining project work to complete within the original Budget at Completion: TCPI = (BAC - EV) / (BAC - AC).

Q: Can I export the project EVM audit to CSV?

Yes. You can export complete EVM metrics, variances, performance indices, EAC forecasts, and 6x5 sensitivity tables as a UTF-8 CSV spreadsheet with formula defense.

Step 1: Budget at Completion, Progress Percentages & Actual Costs

Project EVM Baseline & Actual Inputs

💰 Project Budget & Cumulative Cost

Budget at Completion (BAC) ($)

Actual Cost (AC / ACWP) ($)

BAC is total approved project baseline budget. Actual Cost (AC) is total expenditures incurred to date for all work performed.

⏱️ Planned vs. Actual Work Progress (%)

Planned Progress (PV %)

Actual Earned Progress (EV %)

PV = Planned % × BAC. EV = Actual % × BAC. Compares budget earned vs budget scheduled to detect delay and cost overruns.

Cost Performance Index

0.833 CPI

Cost Variance: -$275.0K (-20.0%)

Schedule Performance Index

0.846 SPI

Schedule Variance: -$250.0K (-15.4%)

Estimate at Completion (EAC)

$3.00M

Variance at Completion: -$500.0K vs $2.50M BAC

To-Complete Index (TCPI)

1.324 TCPI

Required cost efficiency on remaining $1.13M work

EVM Forecast Matrix: Progress (% Complete) vs. CPI Efficiency

Simulates Forecasted Project Cost at Completion (EAC) and Budget Variance (VAC) across delivery efficiency scenarios.

Work Complete	0.75x CPI (Severe Overrun)	0.90x CPI (Moderate Overrun)	1.00x CPI (On Budget)	1.10x CPI (Under Budget)	1.25x CPI (High Efficiency)

Project Governance Principles

Understanding Earned Value Management

Key delivery governance, project controls, and forecasting principles:

The Illusion of Burn vs. Progress: Spending 60% of project funds does not mean 60% of work is finished. EVM isolates physical value delivered from cash burned.
CPI Stability Rule: Research across thousands of enterprise and government projects shows that once a project is 20% complete, cumulative CPI rarely improves by more than 10%.
The TCPI Feasibility Test: If TCPI exceeds 1.15 to 1.20, achieving the original BAC without de-scoping or securing supplemental funding is statistically improbable.
Critical Ratio Health: Multiplying CPI × SPI provides a single diagnostic metric: CR > 1.0 indicates overall project health, while CR < 0.8 requires executive remediation.

Explore project scheduling in the Critical Path Method (CPM) Lab.

Mathematical Formulation

EVM equations

PV = ( Planned_% / 100 ) × BAC

EV = ( Actual_% / 100 ) × BAC

CV = EV - AC & SV = EV - PV

CPI = EV / AC & SPI = EV / PV

Critical_Ratio = CPI × SPI

EAC = BAC / CPI & ETC = EAC - AC

VAC = BAC - EAC

TCPI = ( BAC - EV ) / ( BAC - AC )

Evaluate contract hourly yields in the Effective Hourly Rate Lab.

FAQ

Earned value management questions

What is Earned Value Management (EVM)?