# Earned Value Management (EVM) for Projects

> Earned value management compares planned value, actual cost and earned value to show variance. See an example and the SuperWise plan-versus-actual reports.

Canonical: https://superwise.site/glossary/earned-value-management/
Last updated: 2026-11-01

A method that compares planned value, actual cost and earned value to show whether a project is ahead or behind on schedule and cost.

## What is Earned Value Management (EVM)?

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a technique for measuring construction project performance against the baseline. It compares the Planned Value (what the work should cost by now), the Actual Cost (what has been spent) and the Earned Value (the budgeted value of the work actually done) to show schedule and cost variances.

## Practical example

A project plans to complete 50% of its [brickwork](https://superwise.site/glossary/brickwork/) by month 3, a Planned Value of ₹50,00,000. By month 3 only 40% is done, so the Earned Value is ₹40,00,000, while ₹60,00,000 has been spent as the Actual Cost. EVM shows that the project is both behind schedule and over budget.

## In SuperWise

SuperWise reports planned against actual cost and dates by [WBS](https://superwise.site/glossary/work-breakdown-structure/) task. The task-wise cash outflow report sets planned spend from the budget beside actual spend from bills and challans, which suits earned value analysis. The MIS report adds planned and actual dates with SPI and variance, and a percentage-complete S-curve.

[Budget tracking](https://superwise.site/features/estimation-vs-earned-value/)

## Related terms

- [Overrun (Cost & Time)](https://superwise.site/glossary/cost-overrun/)
- [Estimation](https://superwise.site/glossary/estimation/)
- [Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)](https://superwise.site/glossary/work-breakdown-structure/)
- [Cost Code](https://superwise.site/glossary/cost-code/)

## Related
- [Overrun (Cost & Time)](https://superwise.site/glossary/cost-overrun/)
- [Estimation](https://superwise.site/glossary/estimation/)
- [Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)](https://superwise.site/glossary/work-breakdown-structure/)
- [Cost Code](https://superwise.site/glossary/cost-code/)
- [Budget tracking](https://superwise.site/features/estimation-vs-earned-value/)