Earned Value Management is your project’s GPS. It answers three simple questions every project manager needs:

⏰ Are we on time?

💰 Are we on budget?

🛣️ Are we on track?

EVM combines scope, schedule, and cost into one integrated framework — giving you real-time insight instead of gut feeling.

Every EVM calculation starts with just three numbers:

PV — Planned Value — what you planned to have done by now
EV — Earned Value — what you actually got done
AC — Actual Cost — what you actually spent

From these three, Project Control derives everything: CPI, SPI, CV, SV, EAC, and more.

CPI tells you cost efficiency — are you getting bang for your buck? A CPI of 1.2 means you’re delivering 20% more value than you’re spending.

SPI tells you schedule performance — are you ahead or behind? An SPI below 1.0 means you’re running late.

Both are calculated continuously from Earned Value (EV) vs. Budget (BAC) and Planned Value (PV).

These four KPIs tell the full story:

CPI — Cost Performance Index — bang for your buck
SPI — Schedule Performance Index — speed score
ETC — Estimate To Complete — how much more?
EAC — Estimate At Completion — final total forecast

All calculated automatically from your PV, EV, and AC data in Business Central.

Each period (e.g. weekly), the cycle runs:

1. Update — Refresh Estimate to Complete (ETC) in BC Project
2. Export — Push remaining work, resources, and EV to the Planning System
3. Optimize — Planning engine re-plans resources across projects
4. Distribute — New planning lines flow to Time Sheets
5. Capture — Actuals are posted back to BC, triggering EV recalculation

This continuous feedback loop is the heartbeat of Earned Value Management.

Time Sheets are pre-filled with planned hours from the Planning System. Resource-to-project authorization is enforced automatically via the Project Resource Matrix.

1. Plan — Pre-filled hours appear for each resource
2. Log Hours — Resources confirm or adjust actual time worked
3. Approve — Manager validates entries
4. Post to BC — Actuals flow to Business Central, creating ledger entries and triggering Earned Value calculation

The cycle then repeats — actuals feed back into the next planning round.