The most populat method to monitor the progress of a method is called EVA (Earned Value Analysis). EVA compines three aspects of project

The Budgeted Cost for Work Scheduled (PCWS) or Planned Value in other terms,

The Budgeted Cost for Work Performed (PCWP) or Earned Value and

The Actual Cost for Work Performed (ACWP) of Actual Cost.

What you say as incurred cost probably you refer to Actual Cost.

Indirect cost is different and it is measured with a number of different ways depending on type of project, team head count, etc.

Dear Fitsilis, in my point of view the EVA (or EVM) is just an extension of the traditional approach of measuring physical and financial advances over time. In short, EVM is restricted to the financial evaluation of progress in a building project, with all shortcomings money produces as a common measure of all things.

We discuss 6 issues to lead this aforementioned conclusion in "Critical analysis on earned value management (EVM) technique in building construction" availabe at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274067989_Critical_analysis_on_earned_value_management_EVM_technique_in_building_construction?ev=prf_pub

Regarding the Indirect Cost, we check that an incorrect process to computing of those Indirect Cost also generated distortions.

Due of this, I believe that this question continues opened and demand more studies even after of the improvements achieved with Earned Schedule.

What is your opinion?

Best Regard Cândido!

Conference Paper Critical analysis on earned value management (EVM) technique...

Your reasong is correct. EVM has definitely limitations. You have already defined a number of them. I will explain shortly my point of view in relation with what you write.

I come from a different discipline, software engineering where it is even more difficult to establish what is the project progress. This apples for many reasons:

a) Software projects in many cases involve procurrement of equiment or software licences that account for a large proportion of project budget but for very small project progress

b) Effort usually is measured in manmonths. Software development is a knowledge intensive task which implies that the productivuty of an expert is totally different that the productivity of a junior person. As such the productivity achived in one manmonth varies considerably between team members

The result is that EVM is not sufficient to forecast with high precision project progress.

So, the question is. What you do. What you do in reality is that you monitor more indicators and not only CPI or SPI. For example, you have to see

• effort spent in relation to the type of tasks you are executing,
• past projects' performance,
• productivity of your team in terms of Function Points / Use case points per man month you are spending.

In software development there many metrics you have to follow in order to make sure that your project is under control.

Here at Greece, with one of my PhD students we are trying to study project complexity and to buid a model for measuring. It is very hard to find the factors and even harder to have a valid, predictable model.

So my answer to you is that EVA is just a model, it gives you some information but you have to measure more, and analyse every single project parameter. The good thing with EVA is that it is very simple, everybody knows it, and the process of calculating it forces you to look at the plan and to study the numbers.