The Earned Value Method suffers from its complicated history. Introduced in the 1960s by the Department of Defense as a method for managing projects, it was quickly driven into disfavor by its "alphabet soup" of abbreviations and its well intenioned, but misapplied accounting reuirements.

Nowadays things are looking up for the Earned Value Method. In 2000, the Project Management Institute (PMI) published a revised Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) that banished the arcane abbriviations. The institute also included 15-20 Earned Value questions on the Project Management Profession (PMP) Certification Examination. By simplifying the ideas of Earned Value and requiring its mastery for certification, PMI hopes that project managers will take advantage of this method more often.

To help you capatilize on Earned Value, we have enclosed a tutorial (written by OAK associates) which will show you how to apply it, even to your simplest projects. The example given in this tutorial is also found as an example in Checkitweb. So by reading the tutorial and at the same time using Checkitweb, you will get a good understanding of the Earned Value method and a see a tool in action which will enable you to use the Earned Value method on even your simplest projects.

Earned Value Tutorial