Project Management Software Glossary
Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP)
The cost of work that has been completed up to a specified date.
Budgeted At Completion (BAC)
The total planned cost of a project.
Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP)
The planned cost of work completed for a project.
Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS)
The planned cost of work originally scheduled for a project.
Critical path
The tasks that must be completed, in order and on time, for a project to finish on schedule. All project management software identifies the critical path for a project.
Cost Variance (CV)
The difference between Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) and Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP).
Dependency
The dependency relationship between tasks. All project management software shows dependencies for a project.
Estimated At Completion (EAC)
The total cost spent up to a specified date plus any remaining budgeted costs.
Gantt chart
All project management software generates Gantt charts, which is the cornerstone chart for a project.
Lag time
The downtime between the end of one task and the start of another task.
Lead time
The amount of time (expressed as a percentage) that dependent tasks overlap each other.
Leveling
Resolving resource conflicts using project management software.
Linking
Creating a dependency between tasks. You manually do this beforehand so the project management software can determine the critical path and duration for a project.
Milestone
An important task (completion) in a project.
Overallocation
Assigning more tasks to a resource than can be accomplished in the time budgeted.
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
A graphical means of tracking task flow. All project management software can generate PERT diagrams.
Predecessor
A task that must be completed before another task, known as a successor, can be started.
Resource pool
A group of resources that you can use to make task assignments. Good project management software lets you create and work with resource pools.
Resources
The people, supplies and tools needed to complete a task or project.
Slack
The amount of time that a task can slip before it affects another task or the project completion date.
Stakeholder
Any person who is involved in a project.
Successor
A task that can be started only after another task, known as a predecessor, has been completed.
Summary task
A task that is made up of subtasks or subordinate tasks.
Schedule Variance (SV)
The amount difference between the Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) and the Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP).
Task
The basic element of a project, defined as an amount of work performed by a specified person by a specified date to achieve a desired outcome.
Variance At Completion (VAC)
The amount difference between the Budgeted At Completion (BAC) and the Estimated At Completion (EAC).
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