The earned value method#

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The earned value method, or Earned Value Management (EVM), is a technique for objectively measuring project progress. In Allegra, EVM is used in such a way that at any time you receive a conservative but also very reliable statement about deviations from the planned effort and schedule.

To support EVM, each item requires three properties:

Planned value ( PV, Planned ): the amount of planned work ( BCWS ). This is the estimated total amount of working time needed to complete the item.

../../_images/evm2.png — The earned value method in Allegra#

Actual working time ( AC, Actual ): the working time spent so far
Estimated remaining work ( ERW, Remaining ): the estimated amount of work needed to complete the item. At the start, this value equals the planned value.

There are two derived parameters:

Earned value ( EV ): also known as the budgeted cost of work performed ( BCWP ). This is a certain percentage of the planned value. In the simplest case, the value is zero as long as the item is not completed, and it equals the planned value when the item is fully completed. The earned value is independent of the actual amount of work performed.
Actual planned value ( APV ): this is the sum of the actual costs ( AC ) plus the estimated remaining work ( ERW ).

If you monitor the three values for PV, AC, and EV over time, you receive early indications of delays and effort overruns.

../../_images/evm1.png — An earned value chart#

This method is advantageous if you only book the earned value once an item is fully completed. While work is in progress, the earned value remains at zero. With a sufficiently detailed project structure, this yields a realistic, conservative progress overview as well as a reliable projection of the final state.

In the Gantt view, a progress bar shows an item’s degree of completion (CG). The expected situation regarding when an item will be completed is calculated from the estimated remaining duration and the actual costs as CG = actual costs / actual value.

The degree of completion for parent items is calculated as SUM (ACi / SUM (APV)), where ACi is the actual effort for each non-summary item and SUM (APV) is the sum of all actual planned values for all non-summary items.

To obtain an earned value report, go to Task management > Reports > Earned Value Chart.

../../_images/earnedValue.png — Earned value report#