More and more companies are saying that they use earned value (EV) as part of their project control. However, use of earned value can run from full organisational US ANSI 748 accreditation to recognising that there is an earned value button available in your personal copy of Microsoft® Project.

This is potentially confusing and there is a very high risk of misunderstanding and disappointed expectations between stakeholders. The APM Earned Value Specific Interest Group (SIG) recognises that EV principles and the benefits they can bring to project control may be applied in a variety of ways. In some cases the principles are being applied without knowing that they are part of earned value. The key is to understand how and where earned value principles are being applied and to encourage them.

The earned value management (EVM) compass has been developed so that a clear picture can be obtained of how earned value is being used currently.