Calculate and explain earned value (CPI, SPI, and EAC)
Works out earned value metrics from your figures and explains in plain words what they say about cost and schedule.
The prompt
Help me calculate earned value metrics for my project and explain what they mean.
Budget at completion (BAC): [TOTAL approved budget]
Planned value (PV) to date: [budgeted cost of work scheduled to date]
Earned value (EV) to date: [budgeted cost of work actually completed - or give me % complete per work package and its budget]
Actual cost (AC) to date: [what we have actually spent]
Reporting date and planned end date: [DATES]
Context: [known reasons for over- or under-spend, upcoming big costs, changes approved]
Calculate and show the formula for each:
- Cost variance (CV = EV - AC) and schedule variance (SV = EV - PV).
- CPI (EV / AC) and SPI (EV / PV).
- Estimate at completion using two methods: EAC = BAC / CPI (current performance continues) and EAC = AC + (BAC - EV) (remaining work goes to plan).
- Estimate to complete (ETC) and variance at completion (VAC).
- TCPI - the efficiency needed on remaining work to finish on budget.
Rules: use only my numbers; do not fill in missing values. Point out if "% complete" looks like a guess, since it drives everything. Note that SPI drifts toward 1.0 near the end of a project and becomes less useful.
Return:
1. A results table with each metric, value, and a one-line meaning.
2. A plain-English summary for a non-finance sponsor (under 120 words).
3. Which EAC method is more realistic here, and why.
4. 3 actions the numbers suggest.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Data & Analysis prompts
What to fill in
- TOTAL approved budget
- budgeted cost of work scheduled to date
- what we have actually spent
- DATES
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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