Enter the budgeted cost of work performed and the budgeted cost of work expected to have been completed to determine the schedule variance.
Schedule Variance Formula
The following formula is used to calculate a schedule variance.
SV = BCWP – BCWS
- Where SV is the schedule variance ($)
- BCWP is the budgeted cost of the work already performed on a project ($)
- BCWS is the budgeted cost of work that was scheduled to have been completed by this time frame. ($)
Schedule Variance Definition
A schedule variance is defined as the difference between the budgeted cost of work already performed and the budgeted cost of work that was expected to have been completed at this point in a project.
Schedule Variance Example
How to calculate schedule variance?
- First, determine the BCWP.
Calculate the budgeted cost of work performed already.
- Next, determine the BCWS.
Calculate the budgeted cost of work expected to have been completed.
- Finally, calculate the schedule variance.
Calculate the schedule variance using the equation above.
FAQ
Schedule variance is a measure of how far ahead or how far behind a certain project is based on budget expectations. If the project is ahead of schedule the schedule variance will be positive and negative for a project behind schedule.
Schedule variance uses monetary budgets instead of days because a budgeted cost of work is more accurate than days of work when measuring the schedule of a project. This is because some parts of a project may be more important than others even if they take the same amount of time. If something takes 1 day but cost 10 times and is more important than another task that also takes 1 day, it should weigh more heavily in the project outcome.
