CAPM Practice: Demonstrate an understanding of a project management plan schedule

Comparing percent complete to percent budget spent is a simple but insufficient indicator. To properly assess performance, Earned Value Management (EVM) is needed: compare EV to PV (schedule efficiency) and EV to AC (cost efficiency). It's possible the project is ahead of schedule (good), but it's also possible that less work was done than planned while also spending less (both behind schedule and under budget).

**Why not A:** Concluding the project is "definitely" under budget based on percent complete vs. percent budget spent is premature. This simple comparison does not account for the cost of remaining work, which may be more expensive than work completed. Proper EVM analysis is needed before drawing definitive conclusions.

**Why not B:** With 40% complete and only 30% of budget spent, the project appears to be getting more work done per dollar than expected, not less. Over budget would mean spending more than the value of work accomplished, which is the opposite of what the raw numbers suggest.

**Why not C:** While the numbers could potentially indicate a resource issue, this is speculative without further analysis. The difference between percent complete and percent budget spent could have many explanations, and jumping to a resource allocation problem without EVM data is premature and unfounded.