Your project has a budget of $75,000 and is expected to last six months. Within your project, you are
forty percent complete and you have spent $35,000, and you want to compare the actual costs
against the earned value. What project component would you compare actual costs to in this
instance?

A.
Project schedule

B.
Project cost constraints

C.
Cost performance index

D.
Project cost baseline

Explanation:
You should compare the actual costs of the project to the cost baseline. The farther away your actual
costs are from the cost baseline, the greater the project variance.
Answer option C is incorrect. The cost performance index is a number that shows how well the
project is performing on costs. It is found by using the formula ‘earned value/actual costs’.
Answer option A is incorrect. Comparing the actual costs to the project schedule would not show
performance on project costs, just when the monies were actually spent.
Answer option B is incorrect. Project cost constraints are the limits of funds and are often linked to
the cost baseline over time. In other words, you can compare how much you were supposed to
spend to how much the project has actually spent to reach the percentage of the project that is
considered complete.
What is a baseline plan?
A baseline plan is an original project plan used to track progress of a project. The baseline plan is a
snapshot of the schedule at the time that the baseline is saved. It includes information about tasks,
resources, and assignments. Eleven baseline plans can be created in a project.