Cost Variance (CV)

The cost variance (CV) is a key measure that illustrates the gap between the project’s earned value (EV) and its actual cost (AC).

CV = EV – AC

• A CV value of 0 indicates that the project is on budget.
• A positive CV value indicates that the project is under budget (cost-efficient).
• A negative CV value indicates that the project is over budget (cost-inefficient).