Earned Value in Project

[Shawn]

I am using Project 2003. For the sake of EV Analysis I have changed the
Calculation tab in Options and checked mark all relevant options for EV
Analysis.
Here is the problem.
there is a task which has been scheduled before status date and the budget
is $820. Once I change the %complete from 0% to 50%, Project calculates BCWS
for $820 (which is right), however, BCWP shows $570 which is incorrect. BCWP
must be equal to %50 of $820 which is $410.
By the way there are another tasks with almost the same situation and BCWP
is being calculated properly. I was wondering what can make this
miscalculation by Project. Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[Brian Lukanic]

But keep in mind that BCWP = CPI * ACWP. CPI takes schedule into effect. I
would suspect that in the example you gave you are not exactly a the midpoint
(50%) in your schedule.

 

[Steve House]

You may also have a work contour situation affecting this and it's entirely
possible that Project is correct in its calculations while your expectation
is not. % Complete refers to duration while % Work Complete refers to work
and when work is contoured as something other than flat-line, the 50%
Complete mark in the schedule may not necessarily reflect the 50% Work
complete mark. Since BCWS and BCWP refer to work performed over time, if
work isn't performed at a unifom rate over the task duration it is entirely
possible that when the schedule is 50% Complete, the BCWS and BCWP for the
task will be something other than 50% of the total BAC. For example, if the
task uses the built-in front-loaded contour, at the point where the task
shows 50% Complete, it will be 75% Work Complete (and that's very close to
what you're seeing with your task in question).

An extreme example of contouring I use in my classes to illustrate how %
Complete and % Work Complete can differ is to imagine a task that begins Mon
8am and ends Fri at 5pm, requiring 1 hour of work per day Mon thru Thu and
then a big push to the finish with 8 hours on Fri. Duration = 40 hours, work
= 12 man-hours. Status date is Thu 5pm and everything has been worked
exactly as planned. We are at 32h/40h or 80% Complete but 4mh/12mh or 33%
Work Complete. If the resource gets $10 per hour, BAC = $120 and BCWS =
BWCP = $40.

 

[Shawn]

Thank you Brian for the help and your time. However the problem is related to
%Work Complete.

Shawn

 

[Shawn]

Steve- Thank you
Your point was really helpful. When I checked the %Work Complete I found
that it is 72% rather than 50% . Again the question is valid because $570 can
not be calculated from 72%*820.
So the question now is how I can get ride of this calculation. What I need
is the calculation of BCWP by %Complete* BCWS at task level. As far as I
remember I did not touch %work complete and I did not enter 72% for that task
in %Work Complete. I checked the calculation tab for EV Analysis and it is
based on %Complete rather than %Work Complete. I really appreciate if you
help me on this one too.
By the way when I change %Work Complete from 72% to 50%, it changed
%Complete from 50% to 40%. I also do not understand how $570 for BCWP is
being calculated.
Here is a snap shot of schedule information for the task.

Total Cost, %Complete, %Work Complete, BCWP, BCWS, ACWP
$820.00 , 50% , 72% , $570.00 , $820.00 , $570.00

You may also have a work contour situation affecting this and it's entirely
possible that Project is correct in its calculations while your expectation
is not. % Complete refers to duration while % Work Complete refers to work
and when work is contoured as something other than flat-line, the 50%
Complete mark in the schedule may not necessarily reflect the 50% Work
complete mark. Since BCWS and BCWP refer to work performed over time, if
work isn't performed at a unifom rate over the task duration it is entirely
possible that when the schedule is 50% Complete, the BCWS and BCWP for the
task will be something other than 50% of the total BAC. For example, if the
task uses the built-in front-loaded contour, at the point where the task
shows 50% Complete, it will be 75% Work Complete (and that's very close to
what you're seeing with your task in question).

An extreme example of contouring I use in my classes to illustrate how %
Complete and % Work Complete can differ is to imagine a task that begins Mon
8am and ends Fri at 5pm, requiring 1 hour of work per day Mon thru Thu and
then a big push to the finish with 8 hours on Fri. Duration = 40 hours, work
= 12 man-hours. Status date is Thu 5pm and everything has been worked
exactly as planned. We are at 32h/40h or 80% Complete but 4mh/12mh or 33%
Work Complete. If the resource gets $10 per hour, BAC = $120 and BCWS =
BWCP = $40.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I am using Project 2003. For the sake of EV Analysis I have changed the
Calculation tab in Options and checked mark all relevant options for EV
Analysis.
Here is the problem.
there is a task which has been scheduled before status date and the budget
is $820. Once I change the %complete from 0% to 50%, Project calculates
BCWS
for $820 (which is right), however, BCWP shows $570 which is incorrect.
BCWP
must be equal to %50 of $820 which is $410.
By the way there are another tasks with almost the same situation and BCWP
is being calculated properly. I was wondering what can make this
miscalculation by Project. Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[Steve House]

Take a look at the task and resource usage views and see what the scheduled
work / actual work contours look like when broken down on a day by day
basis - your answer to what's going on will lie somewhere in there.
Remember that "% Complete" refers to duration by definition, it's a measure
of time going by and you can't arbitrarily redefine it. Likewise, BCWS/C
are measures of is Budgeted Cost of WORK Scheduled or Complete and other
than deciding on the "as of" date, ie, setting the status date, time doesn't
enter into the picture. (570/820)*100 is 69%, close enough to the 72% that
rounding errors can account for at least part of the discrepancy. In the PM
world, +/- 10% is considered right on the money <grin>.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Steve- Thank you
Your point was really helpful. When I checked the %Work Complete I found
that it is 72% rather than 50% . Again the question is valid because $570
can
not be calculated from 72%*820.
So the question now is how I can get ride of this calculation. What I need
is the calculation of BCWP by %Complete* BCWS at task level. As far as I
remember I did not touch %work complete and I did not enter 72% for that
task
in %Work Complete. I checked the calculation tab for EV Analysis and it is
based on %Complete rather than %Work Complete. I really appreciate if you
help me on this one too.
By the way when I change %Work Complete from 72% to 50%, it changed
%Complete from 50% to 40%. I also do not understand how $570 for BCWP is
being calculated.
Here is a snap shot of schedule information for the task.

Total Cost, %Complete, %Work Complete, BCWP, BCWS, ACWP
$820.00 , 50% , 72% , $570.00 , $820.00 , $570.00

You may also have a work contour situation affecting this and it's
entirely
possible that Project is correct in its calculations while your
expectation
is not. % Complete refers to duration while % Work Complete refers to
work
and when work is contoured as something other than flat-line, the 50%
Complete mark in the schedule may not necessarily reflect the 50% Work
complete mark. Since BCWS and BCWP refer to work performed over time, if
work isn't performed at a unifom rate over the task duration it is
entirely
possible that when the schedule is 50% Complete, the BCWS and BCWP for
the
task will be something other than 50% of the total BAC. For example, if
the
task uses the built-in front-loaded contour, at the point where the task
shows 50% Complete, it will be 75% Work Complete (and that's very close
to
what you're seeing with your task in question).

An extreme example of contouring I use in my classes to illustrate how %
Complete and % Work Complete can differ is to imagine a task that begins
Mon
8am and ends Fri at 5pm, requiring 1 hour of work per day Mon thru Thu
and
then a big push to the finish with 8 hours on Fri. Duration = 40 hours,
work
= 12 man-hours. Status date is Thu 5pm and everything has been worked
exactly as planned. We are at 32h/40h or 80% Complete but 4mh/12mh or
33%
Work Complete. If the resource gets $10 per hour, BAC = $120 and BCWS =
BWCP = $40.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I am using Project 2003. For the sake of EV Analysis I have changed the
Calculation tab in Options and checked mark all relevant options for EV
Analysis.
Here is the problem.
there is a task which has been scheduled before status date and the
budget
is $820. Once I change the %complete from 0% to 50%, Project calculates
BCWS
for $820 (which is right), however, BCWP shows $570 which is incorrect.
BCWP
must be equal to %50 of $820 which is $410.
By the way there are another tasks with almost the same situation and
BCWP
is being calculated properly. I was wondering what can make this
miscalculation by Project. Thank you for your help in advance.