Earned Value Management Calculator — EVM Metrics
Enter your project's budget (BAC), planned value (PV), actual cost (AC) and percent complete to get the full suite of Earned Value Management metrics: CPI, SPI, cost and schedule variances, and the estimate at completion.
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CPI < 1: project is over budget — every $1 spent delivers less than $1 of value
- 1
Earned Value (EV)
500,000 × (35% ÷ 100) = 175,000The budgeted worth of the work actually completed. - 2
Cost Performance Index (CPI)
175,000 ÷ 220,000 = 0.795
How does this calculator work?
EVM converts project progress into three dollar figures — Earned Value (EV = BAC × % done), Planned Value (PV = budget for work planned by now), and Actual Cost (AC). Dividing gives the Cost Performance Index (CPI = EV/AC) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI = EV/PV). A CPI below 1 signals overspending; extrapolating it gives the Estimate at Completion (EAC = BAC/CPI).
Formula
How this is calculated
Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project-performance framework used across industries (construction, IT, defence) to objectively measure how well a project is tracking against its budget and schedule. It compares three quantities at any point in time: Planned Value (PV) — the budgeted cost of work that was scheduled to be done by now; Earned Value (EV) — the budgeted cost of the work actually completed (BAC × % complete); and Actual Cost (AC) — what has really been spent.
From those three numbers, EVM derives the key performance indicators. Cost Variance (CV = EV − AC) and Schedule Variance (SV = EV − PV) tell you in dollar terms how much you are over/under budget and ahead/behind schedule. Dividing gives indices: CPI = EV/AC and SPI = EV/PV, where 1.0 is exactly on-plan, values above 1.0 are favourable, and values below 1.0 indicate trouble. A CPI of 0.85 means every dollar spent has delivered only $0.85 of planned value.
The Estimate at Completion (EAC = BAC/CPI) extrapolates current cost efficiency to project the final total cost. The To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI = (BAC − EV)/(BAC − AC)) shows the CPI needed on remaining work to finish within budget — values above 1.1 are generally considered unrealistic to achieve.
Frequently asked questions
A CPI of 1.0 means the project is exactly on budget. A CPI above 1.0 means you are getting more value per dollar spent than planned (under budget). A CPI below 1.0 means you are overspending. Industry experience suggests that CPI values rarely improve significantly after the 20% completion mark, making early EVM tracking very valuable for corrective action.
Actual Cost (AC) is simply how much money has been spent. Earned Value (EV) is the budgeted worth of the work actually completed — it translates physical progress into dollars using the original plan. If you are 35% done on a $500 000 project, EV = $175 000 regardless of how much you actually spent. Comparing EV to AC reveals whether that progress came in over or under budget.
EAC (Estimate at Completion) is the projected total cost to finish the entire project, based on current CPI: EAC = BAC ÷ CPI. ETC (Estimate to Complete) is the remaining cost from today to the end: ETC = EAC − AC. If EAC exceeds BAC, the project is over-budget at completion; VAC = BAC − EAC shows that overrun (negative VAC = cost overrun).
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Earned Value Management Calculator — EVM Metrics [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/earned-value-management-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Earned Value Management Calculator — EVM Metrics." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/earned-value-management-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Earned Value Management Calculator — EVM Metrics," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/earned-value-management-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_earned_value_management_calculator, title = {Earned Value Management Calculator — EVM Metrics}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/earned-value-management-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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