Earned Value Calculations

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What Is Earned Value?

Earned Value (EV) answers the question: how much work have we actually accomplished, expressed in dollars? A project’s Budget at Completion (BAC) represents the planned cost for 100% of the work. Earned value is the portion of that budget that corresponds to the work you’ve actually done so far. If a work package has a $100,000 budget and is 60$60,000 — regardless of what you’ve actually spent. By comparing earned value to actual cost (ACWP — what you spent) and planned value (BCWS — what you budgeted to spend by now), Dash360 calculates schedule and cost variances that reveal whether work is on track.

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Earned Value Techniques

Each work package in Dash360 has an Earned Value Technique (EVT) setting that tells the system how to measure its progress. Different types of work need different measurement approaches — a milestone-driven deliverable is measured differently than ongoing management overhead. Choosing the right EVT ensures your earned value data reflects reality. The EVT is configured on each work package in the Budget Form. Dash360 supports five EVTs:

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PC — % Complete

How it works: The user enters a percent complete value on the work package. Dash360 calculates earned value as:

EV = BAC × % Complete

For example, if a work package has a $200,000 budget and is 45$90,000. The current period’s earned value entry is the difference between cumulative EV at the new % complete and cumulative EV from all prior periods. This means if a work package was at 30% last period and is now at 45%, the current period earns the difference — exactly 15% of BAC. Where % complete comes from: The percent complete is read from the work package record at the moment Calculate Earned Value runs. It is updated by:

• Quick Status — CAMs submit progress estimates each period
• Schedule Status Updates — approved schedule updates push schedule-derived progress to the work package
• Import — percent complete can be imported via the Import/Export process

Validation: Percent complete must be between 0 and 100. Values between 100.0001 and 100.9999 are automatically capped to 100. Values below 0 or above this range cause the calculation to fail with an error. When to use PC: Use it for any work package where a responsible person can meaningfully estimate what fraction of the work is done. This is the most common EVT and is appropriate for the majority of discrete work packages.

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LOE — Level of Effort

How it works: EV is earned automatically in proportion to elapsed time. Each period, Dash360 sets the earned value equal to the budgeted cost for that same period — the actual time-phased budget entries become the earned value entries. In other words, the budget plan and the earned plan are always the same. This means LOE work packages never generate a schedule variance — earned always equals planned by definition. You will see cost variances if actual spending differs from budget, but the system will never report schedule pressure for LOE work. LOE only begins earning value once the resource assignment’s start date is reached. No EV is generated for any period before the RA has started. Where % complete comes from: Not applicable — LOE does not use percent complete. Progress is time-based. When to use LOE: Use it for overhead, project management, and support activities — work that is ongoing throughout the project and where tracking progress by percent complete isn’t meaningful. Examples include project management labor, system engineering oversight, and contract management.

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EAS — Earned as Spent

How it works: Earned value equals actual cost. Whatever you’ve spent, that’s what you’ve earned:

EV = Actual Cost (ACWP)

Because earned always equals actual, EAS work packages never generate a cost variance. You will see schedule variance if spending is ahead of or behind the budget plan, but the cost variance will always be zero. When a work package has multiple budget resource assignments, the actuals are distributed to each earned RA proportionally — each RA earns a share of the total actuals based on its percentage of the total budget. After distributing, Dash360 runs an adjustment pass to ensure total earned exactly equals total actuals, eliminating any rounding differences that could create a phantom cost variance. Once cumulative earned equals cumulative actuals, EAS work packages earn zero in subsequent periods (EV cannot exceed ACWP). Where % complete comes from: Not applicable — EAS does not use percent complete. Progress is driven entirely by actuals. When to use EAS: Use it for work where the effort itself is the deliverable and there’s no meaningful way to separate “planned cost” from “earned value.” Typical examples include travel budgets, material procurement, and fee-based subcontracts where cost incurred equals value received.

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MILESTONE — Milestone Weights with % Complete

How it works: The work package’s effective percent complete is derived from the linked schedule activities rather than entered manually. Each activity linked to the work package has a weight and a percent complete value (its progress in the schedule). Dash360 computes a weighted average:

WP % Complete = Σ ( (Activity Weight ÷ Total Weight) × Activity % Complete )

The derived percent complete is then used exactly as the PC method:

EV = BAC × WP % Complete

Example: A work package has three linked activities weighted 25%, 50%, and 25%. Their schedule progress is 100%, 60%, and 0%. The effective WP percent complete is:

(0.25 × 100%) + (0.50 × 60%) + (0.25 × 0%) = 55%

Where % complete comes from: Activity progress (Progress field) is set in the schedule, typically updated through Quick Status or schedule status approvals. Activity weights are assigned in the Budget Form or via Assign All Activity Subtotals as Weights from the Projects process menu. Audit trail: When MILESTONE calculates, Dash360 records each activity’s ID, description, weight, start date, and finish date at the time of calculation. This snapshot is stored for audit purposes so you can see exactly what drove the EV result for any given period. When to use MILESTONE: Use it for work packages with clear, discrete deliverable milestones where schedule progress is a reliable indicator of earned value. The schedule must have activities linked to the work package with weights assigned before this EVT produces meaningful results.

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PP — Planning Package

How it works: Dash360 skips EV calculation entirely for planning packages. No earned value records are created. When to use PP: Use it for future work that has not yet been broken down into plannable work packages. Planning packages represent budget authorization for work that will be further defined later. Because the work isn’t planned in detail, progress can’t be measured — so no EV is calculated until the planning package is converted to a work package with a measurable EVT.

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How Calculations Work

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One Period at a Time

Calculate Earned Value runs for the current reporting period only. It generates earned data for that period based on the current state of percent complete values, schedule progress, and actuals. Prior period earned data is never modified retroactively — each period’s result is locked once calculated.

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What Triggers a Recalculation

You should run Calculate Earned Value after any of the following:

• CAMs submit new percent-complete values via Quick Status
• A schedule status update is approved (which may update work package progress)
• Actuals are imported (EAS work packages are affected immediately)
• Milestone activity progress is updated in the schedule

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Audit Trail

For PC and MILESTONE work packages, Dash360 records the percent complete values used at the time of each EV calculation. For MILESTONE, it also records each activity’s weight and progress at calculation time. This provides a full audit history of what drove earned value for any reporting period.

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EVT Quick Reference

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Where EVTs Are Configured

The EVT for a work package is set in the Work Package settings on the Budget Form. It can be changed at any time, but changing the EVT after EV has been calculated will affect future calculations — previously earned data is not retroactively changed.

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How Calculated EV Flows Through Dash360

Once earned value is calculated (via Calculate Earned Value from the Projects admin page), the results flow through to:

• CPR Report — Earned cost class data drives the BCWP column
• EV Curves — The cumulative earned value curve is updated
• Performance Metrics — SPI, CPI, TCPI, and variance figures all derive from earned value
• WBS Summary and Work Package reports — Earned cost class roll-ups reflect the new data

Earned value must be recalculated whenever percent complete values change or schedule progress is approved. Reports will reflect stale data until a recalculation is run.