CPI 0.92, SPI 0.90 and an estimate at completion near 1.60 million against a 1,480,000 budget are computed, then interpreted, in this IT401 Unit 4 analysis of a point-of-sale rollout. Searches like "it 401 unit 4 assignment example", "it401 unit 4 sample" and "it401 unit 4 example" land here.
What a finished IT401 Unit 4 earned value analysis looks like
A formula block opens the five pages, each equation stated once, terms defined. The data table follows, one row per control account: budget at completion, planned value, earned value, actual cost, the two variances and the two indexes. Project totals read BAC 1,480,000 dollars, PV 720,000, EV 648,000 and AC 702,000, so cost variance is minus 54,000, schedule variance minus 72,000, CPI 0.923 and SPI 0.900. Three estimates at completion appear side by side: 1,534,000 if the overrun proves a one-time event, 1,603,333 if current cost efficiency continues, and 1,703,481 if both indexes keep acting on the remaining work. A to-complete performance index of 1.069 shows the efficiency needed to finish within the original budget. A line chart plots the three curves, and an interpretation section ends in a recommendation.
How a IT401 Unit 4 example is structured
Calculation and interpretation are separated so each can be checked alone. Measurement rules are declared before any figure: 0/100 for hardware deliveries, weighted milestones for configuration, and a fixed 9,000 dollars per completed store for installation, since earned value can be no more honest than the rule that credits it. Formulas and the account table follow, the arithmetic worked for the totals so any index traces to its inputs. Accounts are analyzed before the total, because a project CPI of 0.92 hides where the loss sits: software configuration and data conversion carry most of both variances, while hardware sits close to plan. Each index is then restated as a plain claim about dollars or dates. Of the three forecasts, the analysis argues for the middle one, because the conversion overrun comes from manual cleanup that every later wave will repeat.
Rules that credit progress
Each account's measurement method is fixed before the numbers appear, with project management treated as level of effort, so its earned value simply equals its planned value.
Account-level variances
Software configuration trails by 33,000 dollars of schedule and data conversion runs at a CPI of 0.82, the two figures that explain most of the project totals.
Three forecasts, three assumptions
Atypical, typical and schedule-pressured estimates at completion, each labeled with the condition under which it would be the right one to believe.
TCPI as a reality check
Finishing at 1,480,000 would need 1.069 dollars of value per dollar spent from here on, a jump the analysis judges unlikely given current trends.
Indexes in plain sentences
An SPI of 0.90 becomes a warning that, at this pace, the last stores would slip into the spring rush; the CPI becomes a forecast overrun of about 123,000 dollars.
A decision for the sponsor
Fund a second installation crew from contingency to protect the March date, accepting that the combined-index forecast then becomes the realistic ceiling.
Where marks go in IT401 Unit 4
Correct arithmetic is where earned value grading starts, not where it ends. Many rubrics reserve much of the credit for what the figures mean to a sponsor, so a table of indexes with no forecast sentence stalls halfway. Sign errors are the most frequent technical fault: variances computed as plan minus actual, or planned value mistaken for spending, reverse every conclusion drawn afterward. A single estimate at completion offered with no assumption attached draws comments where several methods were taught. Earned value credited by effort spent rather than work finished inflates progress, and level-of-effort work scored like a deliverable distorts the schedule index. Treating SPI as a reliable signal late in a project, when it drifts toward 1.0 regardless of lateness, is a subtler error. Missing units and totals that fail to reconcile cost smaller amounts.
Get a IT401 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Hand calculation or project-software output? IT401 sections split on that, so say which yours expects when pasting the Unit 4 figures, instructions and rubric. The indexes, forecasts, any EAC method your reading names and a plain-language interpretation are then worked to your numbers rather than ours. Delivery is 24-48h, and a first custom sample carries no fee.
IT401 Unit 4 questions, answered
Which estimate at completion formula should I use?
The one whose assumption fits your scenario, stated openly. BAC divided by CPI assumes current cost efficiency continues. Actual cost plus the remaining budget assumes the variance was a one-time event. The version dividing by CPI times SPI assumes schedule pressure will keep affecting cost. Many sections want at least one with its reasoning; the sample shows all three and argues for one.
What does a TCPI above one mean?
It means each dollar still to be spent must produce more than a dollar's worth of planned work if the project is to finish within its target. A TCPI of 1.069 against the original budget, set beside a current CPI of 0.923, demands a large improvement. When the gap is that wide the target is usually unrealistic, and the sample says so rather than promising a recovery.
Why does the schedule index improve near the end even when the project is late?
Because at completion earned value always equals planned value: both reach the full budget. SPI therefore drifts back toward 1.0 in the final stretch whether or not the finish date slipped. Some texts address this with earned schedule, which measures the schedule gap in time rather than dollars. The sample notes the limitation in one sentence and reports earned schedule where a section's reading covers it.