Planned Value (PV)
The authorized budget assigned to the work scheduled to be completed by a point in time.
Planned Value (PV) is the authorized budget assigned to the work scheduled to be completed by a specific point in time. It represents the “time-phased baseline” — how much work, in dollar terms, the approved schedule says should be done by today. PV is also called the Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) in older literature, and at project completion it equals the Budget at Completion (BAC).
The exam frequently tests the distinction between PV and Earned Value (EV). PV measures what was planned to be complete; EV measures what was actually accomplished, valued at the same planned rates. Schedule Variance (SV = EV − PV) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI = EV ÷ PV) both use PV as the baseline, so misidentifying PV in a scenario will cascade into wrong SV and SPI answers.
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