* Variance analysis,  

* Earned value analysis,  

* Forecasting, and  

* Financial analysis 

* Earned value analysis (EVA).

 Earned value analysis compares the performance measurement baseline to the actual schedule and cost performance.

EVM develops and monitors three key dimensions for each work package and control account:  

* Planned value.

Planned value (PV) is the authorized budget assigned to scheduled work.

It is the authorized budget planned for the work to be accomplished for an activity or work breakdown structure (WBS) component,

not including management reserve. The total of the PV is sometimes referred to as the performance measurement baseline (PMB).

The total planned value for the project is also known as budget at completion (BAC).  

* Earned value.

Earned value (EV) is a measure of work performed expressed in terms of the budget authorized for that work.

It is the budget associated with the authorized work that has been completed. The EV being measured needs to be related to the PMB,

and the EV measured cannot be greater than the authorized PV budget for a component.  

* Actual cost.

Actual cost (AC) is the realized cost incurred for the work performed on an activity during a specific time period.

It is the total cost incurred in accomplishing the work that the EV measured.

The AC needs to correspond in definition to what was budgeted in the PV and measured in the EV.  

* Variance analysis.

 Variance analysis, as used in EVM, is the explanation (cause, impact, and corrective actions)

for cost (CV = EV – AC), schedule (SV = EV – PV), and variance at completion (VAC = BAC – EAC) variances.

Cost and schedule variances are the most frequently analyzed measurements. 

The percentage range of acceptable variances will tend to decrease as more work is accomplished.

Examples of variance analysis include but are not limited to:  

* Schedule variance.

Schedule variance (SV) is a measure of schedule performance expressed as the difference between the earned value and the planned value.

It is the amount by which the project is ahead or behind the planned delivery date, at a given point in time.

It is a measure of schedule performance on a project.

The EVA schedule variance is a useful metric in that it can indicate when a project is falling behind or is ahead of its baseline schedule.

The EVA schedule variance will ultimately equal zero when the project is completed because all of the planned values will have been earned.

Schedule variance is best used in conjunction with critical path method (CPM) scheduling and risk management.  

* Cost variance.

Cost variance (CV) is the amount of budget deficit or surplus at a given point in time,

expressed as the difference between earned value and the actual cost. It is a measure of cost performance on a project.

The cost variance at the end of the project will be the difference between the budget at completion (BAC) and the actual amount spent.

The CV is particularly critical because it indicates the relationship of physical performance to the costs spent.

Negative CV is often difficult for the project to recover.  

* Schedule performance index.

The schedule performance index (SPI) is a measure of schedule efficiency expressed

as the ratio of earned value to planned value. It measures how efficiently the project team is accomplishing the work.

It is sometimes used in conjunction with the cost performance index (CPI) to forecast the final project completion estimates.

An SPI value less than 1.0 indicates less work was completed than was planned. An SPI greater than 1.0 indicates that more work was completed than was planned.  

* Cost performance index.

The cost performance index (CPI) is a measure of the cost efficiency of budgeted

resources, expressed as a ratio of earned value to actual cost. It is considered the most critical EVA metric and measures the cost efficiency for the work completed.

A CPI value of less than 1.0 indicates a cost overrun for work completed. A CPI value greater than 1.0 indicates a cost underrun of performance to date.