CV% fields

The CV% (cost variance percent) fields show the ratio of cost variance (CV) to budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP), expressed as a percentage. This indicates the variance between how much it should have cost to how much it has actually cost to achieve the current level of completion up to the status date or today's date.

There are two categories of CV% fields.

Data Type    Percentage

CV% (task field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    CV% is the percentage of the cost variance (CV) divided by BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed). Project calculates the CV% for a task as follows:

CV% = [ (BCWP - ACWP) / BCWP ] * 100

Best Uses    Add the CV% field to a task view when you want to see a percentage of how much you're under, over, or exactly on budget for the level of completion on tasks.

Example    Your BCWP for a task is $500 and your ACWP is $400. Your CV% for the task is therefore 20%, meaning you're 20 percent under budget for the current level of completion.

Remarks    If the CV% is a positive percentage, the task is under budget. If it's 0 percent, the task is right on target. If it's a negative percentage, the task is over budget.

The CV% field is available by default on the Earned Value Cost Indicators table. You can apply it from the More Tables dialog box.

CV% (task-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    CV% is the percentage of the task's timephased cost variance (CV) divided by timephased BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed). The timephased values for BCWP and ACWP make timephased values for CV% available. Project calculates the CV% for a task as follows:

CV% = [ (BCWP - ACWP) / BCWP ] * 100

Best Uses    Add the CV% field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage view when you want to see a percentage of how much you're under, over, or exactly on target with your budget for the level of completion on tasks.

Example    On Monday, the BCWP for a task is $500 and the ACWP is $400. You review timephased CV% for the task in the Task Usage view and see that the CV% is 20 percent, meaning you're well under budget for the level of completion for this task. On Tuesday, the BCWP for the same task is $500 and the ACWP is $500. The CV% is 0 percent, indicating that you're exactly on target. On Wednesday, the BCWP for the task is $500 and the ACWP is $550. The CV% is -10%, indicating that the task is 10 percent over budget so far.

Remarks    If the CV% is a positive percentage, the task is under budget. If it's 0 percent, the task is right on target. If it's a negative percentage, the task is over budget.

In addition to the timephased CV%, you can show total CV% for tasks in the timephased portion of the Task Usage view. Either add the CV% field to the current table or apply the Earned Value Cost Indicators table, in which the CV% field is included by default. You can apply it from the More Tables dialog box.