CAPM Prep
CAPM Formula Cheat Sheet
The CAPM's calculation questions cluster around earned value management. Memorize this handful of formulas, understand what each result means, and you've got the math side of the exam covered.
Most of the CAPM is conceptual, but a slice of it is arithmetic — and that slice is almost entirely earned value management (EVM). The good news: it's a small, closed set of formulas, and they're built from three base numbers. Learn the three, and the rest follow logically.
The three base values
- PV — Planned Value: the budgeted cost of the work you planned to have done by now.
- EV — Earned Value: the budgeted cost of the work you've actually completed. EV = % complete × BAC.
- AC — Actual Cost: what you've actually spent to do that work.
One more: BAC — Budget at Completion, the total budget for the project. Everything below is these four, combined.
Variances — are you ahead or behind?
| Formula | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CV = EV − AC | Cost Variance |
| SV = EV − PV | Schedule Variance |
Read it: positive is good, negative is bad. A negative CV means you're over budget; a negative SV means you're behind schedule. (Tip: EV comes first in every variance and index — if you remember that, you rarely flip the sign.)
Indexes — how efficient are you?
| Formula | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CPI = EV ÷ AC | Cost Performance Index |
| SPI = EV ÷ PV | Schedule Performance Index |
Read it: greater than 1 is good, less than 1 is bad. A CPI of 0.9 means you're getting 90 cents of value for every dollar spent. Same base ordering as the variances — EV on top.
Forecasting — where will you end up?
| Formula | Meaning |
|---|---|
| EAC = BAC ÷ CPI | Estimate at Completion (typical case) |
| ETC = EAC − AC | Estimate to Complete |
| VAC = BAC − EAC | Variance at Completion |
Read it: EAC is your revised total-cost forecast; the common version assumes current cost efficiency (CPI) continues. ETC is what's left to spend. VAC is how far off the original budget you'll finish — positive means under budget.
To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI)
| Formula | Meaning |
|---|---|
| TCPI = (BAC − EV) ÷ (BAC − AC) | Efficiency needed to finish on the original budget |
Read it: the cost efficiency you'd have to hit for the rest of the work to land on your BAC. If TCPI is above 1, you need to be more efficient than you've been — a warning sign.
1. Every variance and index starts with EV — memorize that and you won't flip formulas. 2. Variance = subtraction (result reads as $, good if positive). Index = division (result reads as a ratio, good if > 1). 3. "Cost" formulas pair EV with AC; "schedule" formulas pair EV with PV.
Don't forget the non-EVM math
A few other formulas show up. Cost of a communication network: n(n−1)/2, where n is the number of stakeholders — it counts the communication channels. And on the schedule side, know how to walk a network diagram to find the critical path (the longest path through the project) and float/slack (how long an activity can slip without delaying the project). These are procedures more than plug-in formulas, so practice them on real diagrams.
How to actually memorize these
Don't just stare at the table. Do a handful of earned-value problems until the formulas are automatic, and — more importantly — until you can read what each result is telling you, because the exam often asks for the interpretation, not just the number. Space that practice across several days rather than cramming it the night before; formulas you drilled once and reviewed twice stick far better than ones you memorized in a single panic.
Drill the formulas — and everything else
Ascent has a one-tap formula & reference sheet for exam day, plus earned-value practice questions with worked explanations and spaced repetition so the math stays sharp. Free to start, no account required.
Get Ascent — CAPM PrepCAPM is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc. Ascent is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with or endorsed by PMI. Formulas reflect standard earned value management as used in PMI's framework.