Earned Value (EV) is a means of putting a monetary value on project status to enable companies to measure project health. Earned value for completed work packages is equal to the total budget for those work packages. For activities not yet begun, the earned value is zero. For work packages in progress, there are a number of earned value techniques (EVTs) used to objectively measure the work package performance. The basic theory behind these methods is to multiply the budget by a “percentage complete” to get the earned value. The EVT selected for a work package determines how earned value is calculated.
This topic describes each of the EVTs available in Cobra. Most of these are also available in Open Plan. See individual descriptions for details.
Cobra / Open Plan EVT Options |
Apportioned (Cobra only) |
Assignment % Complete / Resource % Complete |
Calculated Apportionment (Cobra only) |
Steps (Cobra only) |
Earned As Spent (Cobra only) |
% Complete Manual Entry (Cobra only) |
This EVT assumes that when a work package starts, its progress will not deviate from the original budget spread. Cobra puts no limitations upon the applicability of this technique for measuring progress, but it is most suitable for only a small number of work packages that are by their nature unmeasurable. By definition, the value earned by an open work package using this EVT is equal to its to-date budget. The value earned each period equals the budget. In other words, the work package earns its entire budget up to the status date.
If a work package Level of Effort (LOE) EVT is In-progress, the budget before the status date is earned.
An LOE work package should be set to In-progress before its baseline start date. If the work package is in a status period after the baseline start date, Cobra puts a cumulative-to-date earned value record in the current period. Similarly, if you change the budget in the previous period, Cobra puts a correcting entry in the current period. This ensures cumulative-to-date earned value is equal to the cumulative-to-date budget.
The only fields that are editable are the actual start and finish dates and the forecast start and finish dates. The Milestones/Steps tab will display an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
With this EVT, milestones are defined, and relative weights are assigned to them. At any point, the value earned is the original work package budget multiplied by the combined weight of the completed milestones and divided by the total weight of all milestones. You can apply this method to any work package; it is generally the preferred method for work packages that span more than two fiscal periods. Cobra also provides a project option that allows you to define progress on a milestone as percent complete.
Although this EVT is available for selection in the EVT fields, Open Plan does not consider it in any calculations.
When you select this EVT, the Milestones/Steps tab is enabled. The following are the enable/disable rules for the columns in the grid on the Milestones/Steps tab:
Milestone: This column is read only.
Description: This column is read only.
Baseline finish: This column is read only.
Actual finish: This column can be edited.
Forecast finish: This column can be edited. It will automatically be set to the actual finish date.
Status: This is updated based on your entry. Valid values are Planned, In-progress and Completed.
Weight: This column is read only.
% complete or Completed: This column can be edited.
Use this EVT if you want to manually enter the completion status of the work package in percent for each status period. For example, if you entered 20 in the Completed field in the General tab of the Project view, then 20% of the work package has been earned. This EVT requires you to enter a single % complete value.
When you enter an actual start date, the forecast start date is updated with the actual date and disabled.
If the project option is set to not require actual dates, the actual start date is updated to equal the forecast start date when a value is entered in the percent complete field. If the forecast start date is after the status date, today’s date is placed in the actual start date.
When 100% is entered, the actual finish date is updated to equal the forecast finish date. If the forecast finish date is after the status date, today’s date is placed in the actual start date.
If an actual start date is required and % Complete>0, you cannot move from this record until actual start is entered. If % Complete = 100%, an actual finish date must be entered.
When EVT is % Complete:
The Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
An additional % Complete field displays inside the EVT Group box.
This field is disabled when there is no Actual start date entered for the work package and will be enabled after an Actual start date is entered.
Sometimes referred to as the “discrete” method, this EVT is applicable to any work package that comprises a predefined number of similar tasks. The value earned at any point in time is simply the work package budget multiplied by the number of these tasks completed and divided by the total number to be done. Use of this EVT assumes that budgets are based on the units being measured.
Although this EVT is available for selection in the EVT fields, Open Plan does not consider it in any calculations.
When the EVT is Units Complete:
The Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
A Units to do field and a Units complete field will display inside the EVT group box.
With this EVT, 50% of the value is earned as soon as the work package starts, and the rest is earned when it is completed. Use this EVT only for work packages that span a maximum of two periods, since value cannot be earned in any intervening periods. For example, if you apply the 50-50 EVT to a work package spanning 4 months,the work package cannot earn any value during the second and third months (assuming it does not finish early).
The only fields that are editable are the Actual Start and Actual Finish dates and the Forecast Start and Forecast Finish dates. When you enter an actual start date, the forecast start date is equal to the actual start date and is disabled. If you enter an actual finish date, then the Status updates to Completed.
When the EVT is 50-50, the Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
With this EVT, no value is earned until the work package is completed; at which point, the entire budget is earned. Use this EVT only if the work package is scheduled to start and finish in the same period.
The only fields that are editable are the Actual Start and Actual Finish dates and the Forecast Start and Forecast Finish dates. When you enter an actual start date, the forecast start date is equal to the actual start date and is disabled. If you enter an actual finish date, then the Status updates to Completed.
When the EVT is set to 0-100, the Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
With this EVT, all the value is earned as soon as the work package starts. Use this EVT only if the work package is scheduled to start and finish in the same period.
The only fields that are editable are the Actual Start and Actual Finish dates and the Forecast Start and Forecast Finish dates. When you enter an actual start date, the forecast start date is disabled.
When the EVT is set to 100-0, the Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
This EVT is a variation of the 50-50 EVT. The percentage earned at the start of the work package (1 to 99%) is defined in advance by the user by entering the percentage in the Start % field. The remaining percentage is earned when the work package is completed. This method should be used only for work packages whose schedule dates span a maximum of two fiscal periods.
When the EVT is set to User Defined:
A Start % field displays in the EVT group box
The Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add any records to the grid.
With this EVT, the work package budget is earned in direct proportion to the amount earned on another related work package. You can apply this EVT to any work package if the referenced work package does not itself use the Apportioned or the Level of Effort EVT, and if the schedules dates are the same for both work packages. This EVT is generally used when the activity itself is difficult to measure, but it is closely related to a more readily measured work package. Quality assurance is a typical example of this type of work package.
When the EVT is Apportioned:
The Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
An Apportioned To field displays in the EVT group box.
This EVT results in always calculating an earned value of zero for the change request. Use this EVT if you do not want the work package to earn any of its budget, regardless of its status.
When the EVT is set to Planning Package, the Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
This EVT allows you to enter percent complete for each resource individually. This EVT is useful when you have long work packages and your resources are not spread across the entire work package. This is not a recommended method for work packages that contain apportionment resources because Cobra will be unable to get the status of the apportioned resources.
When the EVT is set to Assignment % Complete, the work package % Complete column is disabled and the Resource Progress button in the EVT group box is enabled.
This EVT is associated with apportioned budget. Cobra allows you to define budget change requests based on a percentage of other change requests, such as tagging travel as a percentage of engineering. Work packages that use this EVT can calculate earned value based on the same formula.
When the EVT is Calculate Apportioned:
You can enter or update the actual and forecast dates.
The Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
This EVT enables you to define the steps and weight used in calculating the percent complete of the work package. When you add a step, the work package earns a percentage of the work package's budget. This method is similar to milestones except that dates are not entered.
When the EVT is set to Steps, the Milestones/Steps tab is enabled.
This EVT calculates the percent complete of a work package based on the actual costs using the formula Actual Cost/(BAC x 100). If Actual Cost exceeds the BAC, the earned value will equal the budget. This method is useful for progressing material change requests to reduce false variances.
When actual costs are collected at the work package level, the percent complete is calculated using the total earned and BAC values at the work package level. When actual costs are collected at the control account level, the BAC is calculated using the sum of the work packages and the same percent complete is applied to all work packages with status of In-progress.
If the Allow percent complete on milestones option is selected in the Project section of the Project Information dialog box's Preferences tab, Cobra uses the percent complete approach in calculating earned value by weighted steps. Each step can have a portion earned, rather than forcing an all-or-nothing awarding of earned value.
Although this EVT is available for selection in the EVT fields, Open Plan does not consider it in any calculations.
This EVT calculates earned value using the same method as % Complete; however, Cobra will not update work packages using this method when the status is loaded from the schedule. This requires you to enter a single % complete value.
When you enter an actual start date, the forecast start date is updated with the actual date and disabled.
If the project option is set to not require actual dates, the actual start date is updated to equal the forecast start date when a value is entered in the percent complete field. If the forecast start date is after the status date, today’s date is placed in the actual start date.
When you enter 100%, the actual finish date is updated to equal the forecast finish date. If the forecast finish date is after the status date, today’s date is placed in the actual start date.
If you do not select % Complete Manual Entry, and:
% Complete>0, you must enter an actual start date.
% Complete=100, you must enter an actual finish date.
When the EVT is % Complete Manual Entry, the Milestones/Steps tab displays an empty grid and you cannot add a record to the grid.
This field is disabled when there is no actual start date entered for the work package and will be enabled once an actual start date is entered.