Free tool
Earned value calculator (SV, SPI, CV, CPI, EAC)
Enter the budget, planned value, earned value and actual cost as of your status date. Get schedule and cost variance, SPI, CPI, three estimates at completion and TCPI, each with what it means for your project.
Filled in with a made-up example so you can see how it reads.
1. Your numbers
Use the same currency or unit (dollars, euros, thousands) for every amount, all as of the same status date.
The total budget for all the work.
Budgeted cost of the work scheduled to be done by the status date.
Budgeted cost of the work actually done by the status date.
What the work done so far has actually cost.
An approved or bottom-up estimate at completion. TCPI to EAC uses it.
For your status report
36% complete against 40% planned, with 45% of the budget spent. SPI 0.90 (behind schedule), CPI 0.80 (over budget). Forecast at completion 625,000 against a budget of 500,000 (VAC -125,000, using EAC = BAC / CPI).
2. Schedule and cost performance
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Schedule variance (SV)EV − PVBehind schedule: work worth 20,000 that was planned by now hasn't been done. | -20,000 |
| Schedule performance index (SPI)EV / PVFor every 1.00 of work scheduled to date, you've earned 0.90. Behind schedule. | 0.90 |
| Cost variance (CV)EV − ACOver budget: the work done so far cost 45,000 more than its budget. | -45,000 |
| Cost performance index (CPI)EV / ACFor every 1.00 spent, you've earned 0.80 of work. Over budget. | 0.80 |
3. Forecast at completion
Three standard ways to forecast the final cost. ETC (EAC − AC) is what's left to spend. VAC (BAC − EAC) below zero is the forecast overrun.
| Method | EAC | ETC | VAC |
|---|---|---|---|
| TypicalBAC / CPICost performance so far carries on. | 625,000 | 400,000 | -125,000 |
| AtypicalAC + (BAC − EV)The variance so far was a one-off; the rest goes to budget. | 545,000 | 320,000 | -45,000 |
| CPI and SPIAC + (BAC − EV) / (CPI × SPI)Being behind schedule also pushes up the cost of the rest. | 669,444 | 444,444 | -169,444 |
4. To-complete performance index (TCPI)
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| TCPI to finish within BAC(BAC − EV) / (BAC − AC)To finish within BAC, the remaining work has to earn 1.16 for every 1.00 spent. That's better than the 0.80 CPI achieved so far. | 1.16 |
| TCPI to finish at EAC(BAC − EV) / (EAC − AC)To finish at the typical EAC of 625,000 (BAC / CPI), the remaining work has to earn 0.80 for every 1.00 spent. Against this EAC, TCPI always equals the CPI; enter your own EAC to test a different target. | 0.80 |
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or saved.
The four inputs
- Budget at completion (BAC): the total budget for all the work.
- Planned value (PV): the budgeted cost of the work scheduled to be done by the status date. Also called BCWS, budgeted cost of work scheduled.
- Earned value (EV): the budgeted cost of the work actually done by the status date. Also called BCWP, budgeted cost of work performed. If you track percent complete, EV = % complete × BAC.
- Actual cost (AC): what the work done by the status date has actually cost. Also called ACWP, actual cost of work performed.
All four are in money (or hours, if that's how you budget), measured at the same status date.
Earned value formulas
| Measure | Formula | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule variance (SV) | SV = EV − PV | Below 0 is behind schedule, above 0 is ahead. |
| Schedule performance index (SPI) | SPI = EV / PV | Below 1 is behind schedule, above 1 is ahead. |
| Cost variance (CV) | CV = EV − AC | Below 0 is over budget, above 0 is under budget. |
| Cost performance index (CPI) | CPI = EV / AC | Below 1 is over budget, above 1 is under budget. |
| Estimate at completion (EAC), typical | EAC = BAC / CPI | Final cost if cost performance so far carries on. |
| EAC, atypical | EAC = AC + (BAC − EV) | Final cost if the variance so far was a one-off and the rest goes to budget. |
| EAC, CPI and SPI | EAC = AC + (BAC − EV) / (CPI × SPI) | Final cost if being behind schedule also pushes up the cost of the rest. |
| Estimate to complete (ETC) | ETC = EAC − AC | What's left to spend. |
| Variance at completion (VAC) | VAC = BAC − EAC | Below 0 is the forecast overrun at the end. |
| To-complete performance index (TCPI), to BAC | TCPI = (BAC − EV) / (BAC − AC) | Cost efficiency the remaining work needs to finish within budget. |
| TCPI, to EAC | TCPI = (BAC − EV) / (EAC − AC) | Cost efficiency needed to finish at a revised EAC. |
Work out the forecasts with the unrounded CPI and SPI. Rounding CPI to two places first can move the EAC by thousands on a large budget.
Worked example
A made-up project has a budget of 500,000 (BAC) over ten months. At the end of month four the plan says 200,000 of work should be done (PV). The team has finished 36% of the work, so EV = 36% × 500,000 = 180,000. That work has cost 225,000 (AC). These are the numbers the calculator starts with.
- Schedule: SV = 180,000 − 200,000 = −20,000, and SPI = 180,000 / 200,000 = 0.90. Behind schedule.
- Cost: CV = 180,000 − 225,000 = −45,000, and CPI = 180,000 / 225,000 = 0.80. Over budget.
- Forecast: EAC = 500,000 / 0.80 = 625,000 if cost performance carries on. Then ETC = 625,000 − 225,000 = 400,000 is left to spend, and VAC = 500,000 − 625,000 = −125,000 is the forecast overrun.
- The other EACs: 225,000 + (500,000 − 180,000) = 545,000 if the overrun was a one-off, and 225,000 + 320,000 / (0.80 × 0.90) = 669,444 if the schedule delay keeps pushing costs up.
- To finish on budget: TCPI = (500,000 − 180,000) / (500,000 − 225,000) = 1.16. Every 1.00 still to be spent has to earn 1.16 of work, against 0.80 so far.
In a status report: 36% complete against 40% planned, with 45% of the budget spent, and a forecast of 625,000 against a budget of 500,000.
How to read SPI and CPI
Both indexes divide earned value by something else, so 1.0 means exactly on plan.
- SPI above 1 means more work is done than was scheduled by now: ahead of schedule. Below 1 means behind. An SPI of 0.90 means 90% of the work scheduled to date has been done.
- CPI above 1 means the work done cost less than its budget: under budget. Below 1 means over budget. A CPI of 0.80 means each 1.00 spent has earned 0.80 of work.
- Read them together. SPI below 1 with CPI above 1 can mean work started late or with fewer people than planned. SPI above 1 with CPI below 1 can mean extra people or overtime are buying speed. Both below 1 means behind and over budget at once.
- Variances say how much, indexes say how efficiently. SV and CV are amounts, so they grow with the size of the project. SPI and CPI are ratios, so you can compare projects of different sizes, or this month with last month.
Need a color for the report? The forecast overrun as a share of the budget works as the budget threshold in the RAG status criteria generator.
Why SPI drifts back to 1.0 on late projects
SPI and SV measure schedule in budget, not in time. Once the planned finish date has passed, PV equals BAC and stops growing, and when the last task is done, EV equals BAC too. So at the end SPI is 1.0 and SV is zero even on a project that finished months late, and late in a project SPI says less and less about how late it is.
For the schedule, the clearer signal is slip in days: each task's current finish date against its baseline finish. The schedule slip calculator works it out for a whole task list, and schedule slip in days explains what to put in the report. (Earned schedule, an extension of EVM, measures schedule performance in units of time for the same reason.)
Questions
What is earned value management?
Earned value management (EVM) measures project performance by comparing three numbers at a status date: planned value (the budgeted cost of the work scheduled so far), earned value (the budgeted cost of the work actually done) and actual cost (what that work cost). From them you get the schedule and cost variances, the SPI and CPI indexes, and forecasts of the final cost.
What is the difference between SPI and CPI?
SPI = EV / PV compares the work done with the work scheduled, so it measures schedule efficiency. CPI = EV / AC compares the work done with what it cost, so it measures cost efficiency. For both, 1.0 is on plan, above 1 is better than plan and below 1 is worse.
Which EAC formula should I use?
BAC / CPI if cost performance so far will carry on, which is the usual default. AC + (BAC − EV) if the variance came from a one-off event and the rest of the work should go to budget. AC + (BAC − EV) / (CPI × SPI) if the project is behind and catching up is likely to cost more. If the original estimates no longer hold, re-estimate the remaining work from the bottom up and use AC plus that new ETC.
What does a TCPI above 1 mean?
TCPI is the cost efficiency the remaining work needs to hit a target. A TCPI of 1.16 against BAC means each 1.00 of remaining budget has to earn 1.16 of work. Compare it with the CPI so far: the further TCPI is above the CPI, the less likely the target is.
How do I calculate earned value from percent complete?
Multiply the budget at completion by the share of the work actually done: EV = % complete × BAC. For a more reliable number, do it task by task with each task's own budget and add the results. Rules such as 0/100 (no credit until a task is finished) or 50/50 (half at the start, half at the finish) avoid optimistic percent-complete guesses.
Is anything I enter saved?
No. The calculation runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to PingCadence or anyone else.
Get the finish dates without chasing
SPI tells you the project is behind. The task owners know by how many days. PingCadence asks each task owner on the cadence you set, from your own Outlook or Gmail after you approve the batch, collects a new date when something's late, and keeps your baseline, so every report shows slip in days. See how it works.