Review a compact AACE Earned Value Professional (EVP) cheat sheet for EVMS baselines, earned value, actual cost, variance analysis, forecasts, data maintenance, and PM Mastery practice.
Use this AACE Earned Value Professional (EVP) cheat sheet to review the EVMS decisions that tend to separate a defensible performance-measurement answer from a formula-only answer. Keep the focus on authorized scope, baseline integrity, objective progress, actual-cost traceability, variance meaning, forecast assumptions, and clear management reporting.
| Item | EVP cue |
|---|---|
| Provider | AACE International |
| Exam | Earned Value Professional (EVP) |
| Format focus | multiple-choice and compound EVMS scenarios plus communication-memo judgment |
| Practice behavior | connect authorized work, baseline, planned value, earned value, actual cost, variance, forecast, and reporting action |
| PM Mastery status | live practice available |
| Area | What to know | Common trap |
|---|---|---|
| Authorized scope | work authorization, WBS, control account, work package, responsibility, and change status | claiming earned value for pending or verbal scope |
| PMB | approved performance measurement baseline with time-phased budget | treating a recovery plan as if it automatically changes the baseline |
| Progress evidence | objective completion rules, acceptance records, milestone credit, and physical progress | using spend, effort, or optimism as proof of earned progress |
| Actual cost | incurred cost, accruals, accounting traceability, and timing | judging cost variance before checking whether actuals are complete and comparable |
| Variance analysis | cause, impact, trend, corrective action, and forecast effect | reporting CPI/SPI without explaining why the variance happened |
| Forecasting | EAC, ETC, VAC, remaining-work assumptions, and trend credibility | applying a historical index to remaining work with a different risk or work mix |
| Baseline maintenance | approved changes, retroactive correction rules, audit trail, and disclosure | overwriting history to make a current report look cleaner |
| Communication | issue, evidence, recommendation, assumption, confidence, and next control step | writing a memo that lists metrics but does not support a decision |
Use this flow when an EVP question asks whether a report, forecast, or control-account decision is credible.
flowchart LR
A["Authorized scope?"] --> B["Approved PMB?"]
B --> C["Objective EV rule?"]
C --> D["Traceable AC?"]
D --> E["Variance cause?"]
E --> F["Forecast assumption?"]
F --> G["Management action"]
EVP questions often require the calculation and the control interpretation. Use formulas to support the management decision, not to replace it.
| Cue | Formula | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Cost variance | \(CV = EV - AC\) | Positive is usually favorable; negative means actual cost exceeds earned value. |
| Schedule variance | \(SV = EV - PV\) | Positive means earned progress exceeds plan; negative means earned progress lags the plan. |
| Cost performance index | \(CPI = EV / AC\) | Below 1.0 means cost efficiency is weak for earned work. |
| Schedule performance index | \(SPI = EV / PV\) | Below 1.0 means earned progress is behind the planned value profile. |
| Estimate to complete | \(ETC = EAC - AC\) | Expected remaining cost from the status date forward. |
| Variance at completion | \(VAC = BAC - EAC\) | Expected underrun or overrun compared with the budget at completion. |
| Basic EAC | \(EAC = AC + ETC\) | Use when the remaining-work estimate is built directly, not just projected from an index. |
If a question provides inconsistent or unsupported source data, the best answer may be to reject the report or correct the data before trusting the formula result.
After each EVP diagnostic or topic set, classify misses by failure type: authorization, baseline, progress evidence, actual-cost traceability, variance explanation, forecast assumption, data maintenance, or communication. If formula accuracy improves but scenario judgment stays weak, spend more time explaining what the number means for the control account, customer report, or management decision.
Use the free diagnostic as one realistic checkpoint, then move into topic drills when misses show a pattern. When you can pass several timed mixed attempts above your target score without recognizing repeated items, stop overtraining and focus on exam-day pacing, formula recall, and concise communication discipline.