AACE PSP Cheat Sheet

May 1, 2026

Review a compact AACE Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) cheat sheet for schedule logic, critical path, float, updates, forecasting, recovery, and memo traps before PM Mastery practice.

On this page

Use this AACE PSP cheat sheet to review the scheduling decisions that tend to separate a defensible schedule-control answer from a tool-clicking answer. Keep the focus on logic quality, update evidence, critical-path movement, recovery options, and clear stakeholder communication.

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Exam snapshot

Item	PSP cue
Provider	AACE International
Exam	Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP)
Format focus	multiple-choice scheduling scenarios plus a communication memo component
Practice behavior	identify the schedule logic, update evidence, forecast impact, recovery option, and communication point
PM Mastery status	live practice available

Scheduling checklist

Area	What to know	Common trap
Schedule basis	scope, WBS, activity definition, assumptions, calendars, constraints, and resources	accepting a date forecast before checking the model assumptions
Logic quality	dependencies, leads/lags, open ends, constraints, out-of-sequence progress, and path continuity	treating software output as reliable without reviewing logic
Critical path and float	current driving path, total float, near-critical work, and key milestones	assuming the original baseline critical path is still the current driver
Updates and progress	status date, actual starts/finishes, remaining duration, percent complete, and revised logic	mixing progress reporting with forecasting without checking data quality
Forecasting and recovery	delay drivers, mitigation, resequencing, crashing, fast tracking, resource changes, and risk	forcing a finish date without a credible recovery action
Communication memo	cause, impact, evidence, assumption, risk, recommendation, and confidence level	writing a status narrative that hides uncertainty or skips the control action

Must-know distinctions

Baseline schedule versus current schedule: the baseline is the approved reference; the current schedule reflects updates and revised forecast.
Constraint versus dependency: constraints impose date rules; dependencies represent logical relationships between activities.
Total float versus free float: total float protects the project finish or milestone; free float protects only the next successor.
Critical path versus near-critical path: near-critical work may become driving after small changes.
Progress update versus forecast: update data records what happened; forecast analysis predicts the impact on future work.
Recovery plan versus rebaseline: recovery tries to protect commitments; rebaseline changes the approved reference when formally justified.
Schedule variance versus schedule risk: variance is observed difference; risk is uncertainty about future schedule outcomes.
Memo conclusion versus calculation: the memo must explain the business meaning of schedule evidence, not only show dates.

Common traps

Trusting a calculated finish date when the network has missing logic or hard constraints.
Ignoring out-of-sequence progress and then accepting float values at face value.
Reporting percent complete without reviewing remaining duration and critical path impact.
Treating all negative float as a scheduling error instead of investigating the imposed date and control context.
Recommending crashing or fast tracking without acknowledging cost, quality, safety, or resource risk.
Confusing a schedule update with an approved schedule change.
Writing a memo that lists facts but does not identify the driver, impact, recommendation, and confidence.

Practice strategy

After each PSP diagnostic or topic set, classify misses by failure type: schedule model quality, critical-path reasoning, update data, float interpretation, recovery choice, or communication. If calculation items improve but memo-style reasoning stays weak, spend more time translating schedule evidence into a concise management recommendation.

Revised on Monday, May 25, 2026

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