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The SV (earned value schedule variance) field shows the difference in cost terms between the current progress and the baseline plan of a task, all assigned tasks of a resource, or for an assignment up to the status date or today's date. You can use SV to check costs to determine whether tasks or assignments are on schedule. The timephased versions of these fields show values distributed over time. 

There are several categories of SV fields.

Data Type    Currency

SV (task field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    SV is the difference between budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) and budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS). Microsoft Office Project calculates the SV as follows:

SV = BCWP - BCWS

Best Uses    Add the SV field to a task sheet to determine whether the task is behind or ahead of its baseline schedule in cost terms.

Example    The baseline plan for the "Write proposal" task had the task scheduled to complete 50 hours of work (at a cost of $500) by June 1. However, on June 1, the percent complete on the task was only 80 percent. The BCWP for this task is $400 (80 percent of $500). The BCWS is $500. Therefore, the SV is -$100, indicating in cost terms how much the task is behind the baseline plan.

Remarks    If the SV is positive, the task is currently ahead of schedule in cost terms. If the SV is negative, the task is currently behind schedule in cost terms. SV is expressed in currency units, the same units used in the CV (earned value cost variance) field. This makes it easy to plot SV and CV on the same graph.

SV (resource field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    SV is the difference between BCWP and BCWS. Microsoft Office Project calculates the SV as follows:

SV = BCWP - BCWS

Best Uses    Add the SV field to a resource sheet to determine whether the resource is behind or ahead of its baseline schedule in cost terms.

Example    Your baseline plan had Sean scheduled to complete 50 hours of work (at $10 per hour) by June 1, and Sean only had 80 percent of the work done by June 1. The BCWP for Sean's assignments is $400 (80 percent of 500). The BCWS is $500. Therefore, the SV is -$100, indicating in cost terms how much the resource is behind the baseline schedule.

Remarks    If the SV is positive, the resource's tasks are currently ahead of schedule in cost terms. If the SV is negative, the resource's tasks are currently behind schedule in cost terms. SV is expressed in currency units, the same units used in the CV (earned value cost variance) field. This makes it easy to plot SV and CV on the same graph.

SV (assignment field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    Schedule variance (SV) is the difference between the BCWP and the BCWS. Microsoft Office Project calculates the SV as follows:

SV = BCWP - BCWS

Best Uses    Add the SV field to the sheet portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view to determine whether the assignment is behind or ahead of the baseline schedule in terms of cost. The comparison of the two can indicate whether your tasks are behind or ahead of the baseline plan.

Example    Your baseline plan had Sean, at $10 per hour, working for eight hours on a task on June 1. Because of schedule changes, this assignment is now scheduled for June 2. When the status date is June 1, the BCWS for Sean's assignment is $80, and the BCWP is $0, because no actual work has been done. Therefore, the SV is -$80, indicating in terms of cost that the assignment is behind schedule.

Remarks    If the SV value is positive, the assignment is currently ahead of the baseline schedule in terms of cost. If the SV is negative, the assignment is currently behind the baseline schedule in terms of cost. SV is expressed in currency units, the same units used in the CV (earned value cost variance) field. This makes it easy to plot SV and CV on the same graph.

SV (task-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    SV is the difference between BCWP and BCWS. Microsoft Office Project calculates the SV as follows:

SV = BCWP - BCWS

Best Uses    Add the SV field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage view to determine whether the task is behind or ahead of the baseline plan in cost terms. Because Project maintains timephased values for BCWP and BCWS, timephased values for the SV are also available.

Example     The baseline plan for the "Write proposal" task had the task scheduled to complete 50 hours of work (at a cost of $500) by June 1. However, on June 1, the percent complete on the task was only 80 percent. The BCWP for this task is $400 (80 percent of $500). The BCWS is $500. Therefore, the SV is -$100, indicating in cost terms how much the task is behind the baseline plan.

Remarks    If the SV is a positive value, the task is currently ahead of schedule in terms of cost. If the SV is a negative value, the task is currently behind schedule in terms of cost. SV is expressed in currency units, the same units used in the CV (earned value cost variance) field. This makes it easy to plot SV and cost variance (CV) on the same graph.

SV (resource-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    SV is the difference between BCWP and BCWS. Microsoft Office Project calculates the SV as follows:

SV = BCWP - BCWS

Best Uses    Add the SV field to the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view to determine whether the resource is behind or ahead of its baseline schedule in cost terms. Because Project maintains timephased values for BCWP and BCWS, timephased values for the SV are also available.

Example    Your baseline plan had Sean scheduled to complete 50 hours of work (at $10 per hour) by June 1, and Sean only had 80 percent of the work done by June 1. The BCWP for Sean's assignments is $400 (80 percent of 500). The BCWS is $500. Therefore, the SV is -$100, indicating in cost terms how much the resource is behind the baseline schedule.

Remarks    If the SV is a positive value, the resource's tasks are currently ahead of schedule in terms of cost. If the SV is a negative value, the resource's tasks are currently behind schedule in terms of cost. SV is expressed in currency units, the same units used in the CV (earned value cost variance) field. This makes it easy to plot SV and cost variance (CV) on the same graph.

SV (assignment-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    SV is the difference between BCWP and BCWS. Microsoft Office Project calculates the SV as follows:

SV = BCWP - BCWS

Best Uses    Add the SV field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view to determine whether the assignment is behind or ahead of the baseline schedule in cost terms. The comparison can indicate whether your tasks are behind or ahead of the baseline plan. Because Project maintains timephased values for BCWP and BCWS, timephased values for the SV are also available.

Example    Your baseline plan had Sean, at $10 per hour, working for eight hours on a task on June 1. Because of schedule changes, this assignment is now scheduled for June 2. When the status date is June 1, the BCWS for Sean's assignment is $80 and the BCWP is $0 because no actual work has been done. Therefore, the SV is -$80, indicating in cost terms that the assignment is behind schedule.

Remarks    If the SV is a positive value, the assignment is currently ahead of the baseline schedule in terms of cost. If the SV is a negative value, the assignment is currently behind the baseline schedule in terms of cost. SV is expressed in currency units, the same units used in the CV (earned value cost variance) field. This makes it easy to plot SV and cost variance (CV) on the same graph.

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