Projects: Managing Costs

Gain insights into effective budgeting and cost control strategies. Learn how to manage project costs, track expenses, and optimize budget allocation for project success with MPUG’s resources.

Earned Value Management (EVM): A Roadmap to Project Success

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project management methodology that integrates scope, schedule, and cost elements to provide a holistic view of project status. Learn how EVM works, its historical c...

Fletcher Hearns Articles

The graph shows the Planned Value (PV), Earned Value (EV), and Actual Cost (AC) of a project over time. The PV is the planned cost of the project, the EV is the actual cost of the work that has been completed, and the AC is the actual cost of the work that has been completed. The PV is always increasing because the project is always getting closer to completion. The EV is also increasing, but at a slower rate than the PV because the project is not always completed on time. The AC is increasing at a steady rate because the project is always costing money.

A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Earned Value Management

Learn the fundamentals of Earned Value Management (EVM) and discover how it provides a powerful tool for project managers to measure progress and make informed adjustments.

Ronald B. Smith, MBA, PMP Articles

Introduction to Earned Value Formulas

Earned Value Management (EVM) helps you assess project performance based on cost and schedule metrics. This introduction explains key EVM formulas, including Earned Value (EV), Cost Variance (CV), and...

Elizabeth Harrin Articles

Earned value management (EVM) is a project management technique that integrates scope, schedule, and cost management. It is used to measure project progress and identify potential problems early on. EVM is based on the concept of earned value, which is the value of work that has been completed. Earned value is calculated by multiplying the percentage of work completed by the total project cost.

EVM uses three main metrics to track project progress:

* **Earned value (EV)**: The value of work that has been completed.
* **Planned value (PV)**: The value of work that was planned to be completed by a given date.
* **Actual cost (AC)**: The actual cost of work that has been completed.

EVM can be used to create a variety of reports that track project progress and identify potential problems. These reports can be used to make informed decisions about how to manage the project and improve its chances of success.

Here are some of the benefits of using EVM:

* **Improved project visibility:** EVM provides a clear and concise view of project progress. This information can be used to identify potential problems early on and take steps to mitigate them.
* **Increased project control:** EVM helps project managers to control project costs and schedules. This information can be used to make informed decisions about how to allocate resources and manage the project timeline.
* **Improved project communication:** EVM can be used to communicate project progress to stakeholders. This information can help to build trust and confidence in the project team.

EVM is a powerful project management technique that can be used to improve project visibility, control, and communication. By using EVM, project managers can increase the chances of project success.

Why Earned Value Management is Important

This article discusses the definition of earned value and the five reasons why earned value management is important to project success.

Elizabeth Harrin Articles

Understanding Earned Value Fields

In the first article of this series, I discussed the importance of Earned Value Management, or EVM, which evaluates the performance of your project in terms of its schedule, cost, and work. Earned val...

Ibrahim Abdulnabi Articles

Time is Money: The Importance of Earned Value Management

In my previous article, I discussed the importance of a baseline, and how, without one, a PM doesn’t have a yardstick, per se, to measure with. Project Management presents many tools and techniques fo...

Ibrahim Abdulnabi Articles

Misconception #4: Managing Resources in Project is Too Hard

Managing resources in Project is certainly not simple. If you’ve worked in Primavera or other scheduling tools, you know there’s even more complexity for how to utilize resources. Of course, there are...

Tim Runcie PMP, MCP, MCTS, P-TSP, MVP Articles

Multiple Views into the Same Project File

Different views into the same MS Project file enables us to see a schedule from multiple perspectives. Using the split view feature is one way to do this. The Project window is split into two panes, w...

Robin Nicklas Articles

Sharing Resources Across Multiple Projects

A resource pool can help you see how resources (i.e., work or materials) are used across multiple projects, so you will be able to track costs per plan, as well as the cumulative costs across multiple...