BCWP (Earned Value or EV) fields

The BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed) fields contain the cumulative value of the task's, resource's, or assignments's percent complete multiplied by the timephased baseline costs. BCWP is calculated up to the status date or today's date. This information is also known as earned value.

There are several categories of BCWP fields.

Data Type    Currency

BCWP (task field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    When a task is first created, the BCWP is 0.00. As soon as a baseline is saved and progress is reported for the task (as actual work, actual duration, or percentage of work complete), Microsoft Office Project calculates BCWP. This calculation is based on the percentage of work complete, as compared with the task's baseline duration. Project then calculates the cumulative baseline cost and provides the value of what the task's actual costs should be, given the task's progress to that point in the task's baseline duration.

Best Uses    Add the BCWP field to a task sheet to review how much of the budget should have been spent on a task up to the status date or today's date, in view of the amount of work done so far and the timephased baseline cost for the task.

Example    The baseline duration for a task is 8 days, and its baseline cost is $400. The one assigned resource has reported that the task is now 25 percent complete as of last Friday. If last Friday is your status date, the BCWP to this point is $100. When the resource reports that the assignment is 50 percent complete, the BCWP becomes $200.

The baseline duration for another task is 4 days, and its baseline cost is $60. These costs are timephased as $10, $10, $20, and $20 over the 4 days. The task is now 50 percent complete. The BCWP to this point is $20, because 50 percent of the baseline duration consists of the first 2 days, which have a baseline cost of $10 each. Later, the task is 75 percent complete. The BCWP to this point is now $40, because 75 percent consists of the first 3 days, and the calculation is cumulative.

Remarks    You can compare the BCWP to the ACWP (actual cost of work performed) field to determine whether the task is on track in terms of budget. The CV field shows the difference between these fields. You can also compare BCWP to the BCWS (budgeted cost of work scheduled) field to determine whether the assignment is on track in terms of the schedule. The SV field shows the difference between these fields.

BCWP (resource field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    As soon as a resource begins reporting progress (as actual work, actual duration, or percentage of work complete) on assigned tasks and a baseline is saved, Microsoft Office Project calculates the BCWP for the resource. BCWP for a resource is calculated as the sum of BCWP values for all the resource's assignments.

Best Uses    Add the BCWP field to a resource sheet. You can then review how much of the budget should have been spent on a resource, in view of the amount of assigned work done so far and the timephased baseline cost for the resource, up to the status date or today's date.

Example    Sean has a BCWP of $100 on one assigned task, $200 on another assigned task, and $50 on a third assigned task. In the Resource Sheet view, you see that Sean has a rolled up BCWP of $350.

Remarks    You can compare the BCWP to the ACWP (actual cost of work performed) field to determine whether the resource is on track in terms of budget. The CV field shows the difference between these fields. You can also compare BCWP to the BCWS (budgeted cost of work scheduled) field to determine whether the assignment is on track in terms of the schedule. The SV field shows the difference between these fields.

BCWP (assignment field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    When an assignment is first made, the BCWP for the assignment is 0.00. As soon as a baseline is saved and progress is reported for the assignment (by actual work, actual duration, or percentage of work complete), Microsoft Office Project calculates BCWP for the assignment. The amount of work complete is multiplied by the assignment's timephased baseline cost up to the status date or today's date.

Best Uses    Add the BCWP field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view. This field displays how much of the budget should have been spent on an assignment, in view of the amount of work done so far and the baseline cost for the assignment.

Example    You need to report on BCWP as of last Friday. You enter Friday's date as the status date, and then review the costs on an assignment that has a baseline cost of $400. The resource has reported that the assignment is now 25 percent complete. If the actual work represented by the 25 percent was reported before the status date, then the BCWP for the assignment is $100. If half the actual work represented by the 25 percent is after the status date, then BCWP for the assignment is $50.

Remarks    You can compare the BCWP to the ACWP (actual cost of work performed) field, to determine whether the assignment is on track in terms of budget. The CV field shows the difference between these fields. You can also compare BCWP to the BCWS (budgeted cost of work scheduled) field to determine whether the assignment is on track in terms of the schedule. The SV field shows the difference between these fields.

BCWP (task-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    When a task is first created, the BCWP is 0.00. As soon as a baseline is saved and progress is reported for the task (by actual work, actual duration, or percentage of work complete), Microsoft Office Project calculates timephased BCWP for the task. The percent complete is compared with the task's baseline duration. Project then calculates the cumulative baseline cost to that point of the baseline duration and provides the value of what the task's actual costs should be, given the task's percentage of completion.

Best Uses    Add the BCWP field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage view. This field will display how much of the budget should have been spent on a task, in view of the percent complete and the timephased baseline cost for the task, up to the status date or today's date. You can also use this field to create a graph of BCWP from the first actual work value entry to the status date or today's date.

Example    The baseline duration for a task is 8 days, and its baseline cost is $400. As of last Friday, the task is 25 percent complete. If your status date is last Friday, the BCWP is $100. Later, when the task is 50 percent complete, the BCWP becomes $200.

The baseline duration for another task is 4 days, and its baseline cost is $60. These costs are timephased as $10, $10, $20, and $20 over the 4 days. The task is now 50 percent complete. The BCWP to this point is $20, because 50 percent of the duration consists of the first 2 days, which have a baseline cost of $10 each. Later, when the task is 75 percent complete, the BCWP becomes $40, because 75 percent consists of the first 3 days, and the calculation is cumulative.

Remarks    You can compare the BCWP to the ACWP (actual cost of work performed) field, to determine whether the task is on track in terms of budget. The CV field shows the difference between these fields. You can also compare BCWP to the BCWS (budgeted cost of work scheduled) field to determine whether the assignment is on track in terms of the schedule. The SV field shows the difference between these fields.

BCWP (resource-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    As soon as a resource begins reporting progress (as actual work, actual duration, or percentage of work complete) on assigned tasks and a baseline is saved, Microsoft Office Project calculates the BCWP for the resource. The timephased BCWP for a resource is calculated as the sum of BCWP values for all the resource's assigned tasks, as accumulated and distributed over time.

Best Uses    Add the BCWP field to the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view. You can then display how much of the budget should have been spent on a resource, in view of the amount of work done so far and the timephased baseline cost for the resource, up to the status date or today's date.

Example    Sean has a BCWP of $100 on one assigned task, $50 on another assigned task, and $50 on a third assigned task. Sean started work on these tasks four days ago. In the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view, the past four days show the timephased BCWP as $50, $100, $150, and $200.

Remarks    You can compare the BCWP to the ACWP (actual cost of work performed) field to determine whether the resource is on track in terms of budget. The CV field shows the difference between these fields. You can also compare BCWP to the BCWS (budgeted cost of work scheduled) field to determine whether the assignment is on track in terms of the schedule. The SV field shows the difference between these fields.

BCWP (assignment-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    When an assignment is first made, the timephased BCWP for the assignment is 0.00. As soon as a baseline is saved and progress is reported for the assignment (by actual work, actual duration, or percentage of work complete), Microsoft Office Project calculates BCWP. The amount of work complete is multiplied by the assignment's timephased baseline cost.

Best Uses    Add the BCWP field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view. This field displays how much of the budget should have been spent on an assignment, in view of the amount of work done so far and the timephased baseline cost for the assignment, up to the status date or today's date. You can also use this timephased BCWP value to create a graph.

Example    It's Tuesday, and you need to report on timephased BCWP for an assignment that has a baseline cost of $400. The assigned resource has reported that the assignment is now 50 percent complete. If your status date is last Friday, and if the actual work represented by the 50 percent took place on Tuesday through Friday, then the timephased BCWP shows as $25, $50, $75, and $100 on Tuesday through Friday, respectively.

Remarks    You can compare the BCWP to the ACWP (actual cost of work performed) field to determine whether the assignment is on track in terms of budget. The CV field shows the difference between these fields. You can also compare BCWP to the BCWS (budgeted cost of work scheduled) field to determine whether the assignment is on track in terms of the schedule. The SV field shows the difference between these fields.