CST Cost-Loaded Schedule Integration 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which EVM metric directly measures cost efficiency — the value of work accomplished per dollar spent?
- Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
- Cost Performance Index (CPI) (Correct answer)
- To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI)
- Variance at Completion (VAC)
Correct answer: Cost Performance Index (CPI)
CPI = EV ÷ AC, and a value below 1.0 means the project is spending more than the value of work it is completing.
Question 2: When integrating a cost-loaded schedule with an owner's payment application process, which document links schedule percent-complete to invoiced amounts?
- The Schedule of Values (SOV) (Correct answer)
- The Change Order Log
- The Primavera Resource Dictionary
- The Project Communications Plan
Correct answer: The Schedule of Values (SOV)
The Schedule of Values breaks the contract sum into line items tied to work activities, enabling percent-complete calculations to drive progress billings.
Question 3: A scheduler is asked to 'level the cost-loaded S-curve.' What adjustment is most likely being requested?
- Compressing the schedule to reduce overall project duration
- Smoothing spending peaks and valleys by shifting non-critical activities within float (Correct answer)
- Reducing the total project budget to match available funding
- Eliminating all cost contingency from the baseline
Correct answer: Smoothing spending peaks and valleys by shifting non-critical activities within float
Cost-curve leveling shifts float-containing activities to spread spending more evenly, reducing financing costs and resource spikes.
Question 4: In Earned Value Management, what does the acronym BCWP stand for?
- Budget Cost of Work Planned
- Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (Correct answer)
- Base Cost Weighted Plan
- Billed Cost of Work in Progress
Correct answer: Budgeted Cost of Work Performed
BCWP (now called Earned Value) represents the budgeted value of work actually completed, the central metric of EVM performance measurement.
Question 5: A cost-loaded schedule baseline is formally revised through what process?
- A verbal approval from the project sponsor
- An authorized re-baseline or baseline change request approved through change control (Correct answer)
- Updating activity percent-complete in the scheduling tool
- Adjusting the resource rates in the cost management system
Correct answer: An authorized re-baseline or baseline change request approved through change control
Baseline revisions require formal change control authorization to maintain the integrity of the performance measurement baseline.
Question 6: What is the Estimate to Complete (ETC) formula when assuming remaining work will be performed at the budgeted rate?
- ETC = BAC − EV (Correct answer)
- ETC = (BAC − EV) ÷ CPI
- ETC = AC + BAC
- ETC = EV − AC
Correct answer: ETC = BAC − EV
ETC = BAC − EV assumes remaining work proceeds per plan, so only the unearned budget value remains to be spent.
Question 7: When a cost-loaded schedule is imported into an ERP system, which data element is critical for maintaining cost code traceability?
- Activity original duration
- Activity cost account or WBS code mapping (Correct answer)
- Resource calendar assignments
- Relationship lag values
Correct answer: Activity cost account or WBS code mapping
Cost account or WBS code mapping ensures that schedule activity costs roll up to the correct cost codes in the ERP, enabling accurate financial reporting.
CST Cost-Loaded Schedule Integration 3
Which EVM metric directly measures cost efficiency — the value of work accomplished per dollar spent?