I frequently come across similar terms — particularly in German — used to describe the status of a project with regard to cost and schedule. Here is a proposal for consistent terminology, drawn as far as possible from the PMI's PMBOK Guide (especially from the area of earned value analysis). To my knowledge, there is no clearly defined term specifically for the expected completion date. The German terms for actual, earned, and planned cost may also be written with a hyphen: Ist-Kosten, Soll-Kosten, and Plan-Kosten instead of Istkosten, Sollkosten, and Plankosten. The control date corresponds to the status date, which is usually the current date.
Project Status by Cost and Schedule
Suggestions for improvement, comments, and references to official sources such as PMI, DIN, or ISO — or to the terminology used in standard software from Microsoft, SAP, or Atlassian — are welcome.
| German |
English |
Abbreviation |
Explanation |
| Istkosten |
Actual Cost |
AC or ACWP |
Actual costs incurred as of the control date |
| Sollkosten |
Earned Value |
BCWP |
Planned cost of the work actually performed as of the control date |
| Plankosten |
Planned Value |
BCWS |
Planned costs as of the control date |
| Leistungsabweichung |
Schedule Variance |
SV |
Value of the delayed work at planned rates as of the control date |
| Kostenabweichung |
Cost Variance |
CV |
Difference between the actual cost and the planned cost of the work performed as of the control date |
| Geschätzte Restkosten |
Estimate to Completion |
ETC |
Expected remaining costs until completion |
| Geschätzte Gesamtkosten |
Estimate at Completion |
EAC |
Expected total costs at completion |
| Geschätzter Fertigstellungstermin |
Estimated Completion Date |
ECD |
Expected completion date |
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Renke Holert
