Budgeted cost of work scheduled

Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS), also referred to as "Planned Value" (PV), is a term from earned value management, a project management technique that seeks to measure forward progress in an objective manner. BCWS is defined as the approved budget that has been allocated to complete a scheduled task (or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) component) during a specific time period.

BCWS is different from the Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP); BCWP measures the budgeted cost of work that has actually been performed, rather than the cost of work scheduled. BCWS is also different from the Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP), as the ACWP measures the actual cost that has been spent, rather than the budgeted cost.

An example will illustrate the difference between these three terms. Assume that a schedule contains a task "Test hardware" that is budgeted to cost $1000 to perform, and is expected to begin at the start of January 1st and complete at the end of January 10th. At the end of January 5th, the work is scheduled to be 50% complete (5 days of the scheduled 10 days). So, at the end of January 5th, the BCWS is $1000 (the budgeted cost) times 50% (the scheduled completion percentage), or $500. Suppose that by the end of January 5th, the work is actually only 30% complete. In this case, the BCWP would be $1000 (budgeted cost) times 30% (the actual completion percentage), or $300. Also, suppose that to reach the 30% complete level at the end of January 5th, $250 was actually spent. Then, the ACWP would be $250.

ee also

* List of project management topics
* Project planning

Literature

*cite book
first = Quentin
last = Fleming
authorlink =
year = 2005
title = Earned Value Project Management
edition = Third Edition
publisher = Project Management Institute
id = ISBN 1-930699-89-1
*cite book
year = 1998
title = ANSI EIA-748A Standard
edition = June1998
publisher = Electronic Industries Alliance