In Earned Value Management, what does Planned Value represent?

• A. The value of work that should have been completed according to the schedule.
• B. The budget reserved for unexpected events.
• C. The actual cost incurred to date.
• D. The value of work actually completed.

Answer: (A)

Planned Value represents the budgeted cost of the work that should be completed by a specific date according to the project schedule. It is the time-phased portion of the baseline, showing what the plan expects you to have spent or allocated for the scheduled scope by that date. It’s derived from the total budget and the percent of work planned to be done by the date. For example, if the total budget is 1,000,000 and the plan calls for 25% of the work to be finished by the end of the period, Planned Value is 250,000. This differs from Earned Value, which measures the budgeted cost of actual work completed, and from Actual Cost, which is what has actually been spent. Using PV alongside EV and AC helps assess schedule performance; if EV is less than PV you’re behind plan, if EV matches PV you’re on plan.