what is earned value?

Question

Please give me a brief explanation of what earned value is.

Answer 1

Assuming that you are trying to find out what Earned Value Management is (of which Earned Value (EV or BCWP) is but one part of) the simple definition can be seen here http://www.pmforum.org/library/papers/2007/PDFs/Giammalvo-5-07.pdf and if you want the more detailed explanation, I would recommend you start here, at the source. https://acc.dau.mil/adl/en-US/19577/file/53597/Gold%20Card%20September%202010.pdf

And if you are interested in making this part of a career change, then you may want to consider certification in this growing field? http://www.aacei.org/educ/cert/EVP/

Hope this helps you some?

BR,
Dr. PDG, Boston, MA
http://www.build-project-management-competency.com

Answer 2

I'm going to assume that you are looking for information on EV, one of the terms/metrics of Earned Value Management.  EV is computed by summing all the planned values (PV) for any project tasks completed up to the point in time where you are taking the measurement.  PV is the valuation of the work performed.

Let's say that you are painting four walls.  You expect to use $50 of paint for each wall and take one hour to paint each wall.  At the end of 2.5 hours, you have painted only two walls and spent $100.  If this is the point where we measure the earned value, it is $125=$50 for one wall + $50 for the second wall + $25 for the half wall.  You are behind budget and over time when we compare the plan to the actual.