Forecast your final cost.
Estimate at completion turns where you stand today into where the project will land. Three accepted methods, side by side, from four numbers.
Estimate at completion (EAC) forecasts a project's final cost from its performance so far. The methods differ by what you assume about the remaining work:
| Method | Formula | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Performance continues | BAC ÷ CPI | Current cost pressures will persist |
| Rest runs to plan | AC + (BAC − EV) | Remaining work at the budgeted rate |
| Cost + schedule | AC + (BAC − EV) ÷ (CPI × SPI) | Schedule slip is also driving cost |
Your numbers
The POD view
The performance behind the forecast.
Earned Value Performance
Both cost and schedule under pressure
Your CPI and SPI drive the forecast. POD keeps these live on every project.
One forecast today. A moving one in POD.
A single EAC is a snapshot from the numbers you typed. POD reads the cost and progress data your team already records and re-forecasts the finish continuously, per work package, so the overrun shows up while you can still act on it.
Questions & answers
The most common EAC formula is budget at completion divided by the cost performance index (EAC = BAC ÷ CPI), which assumes current cost efficiency continues. Other methods add the remaining work at the budgeted rate, or weight it by both the cost and schedule indexes.
Method & sources
The three EAC forecasts follow earned value management: budget divided by CPI (current cost performance continues), actual cost plus remaining budgeted work (the overrun to date was a one-off), and actual cost plus remaining work divided by CPI×SPI (schedule slip keeps driving cost). They diverge on purpose — the spread is the point, and which one to trust depends on why you are off plan.
Sources: PMI PMBOK Guide (Earned Value Management) · ANSI/EIA-748 EVMS standard
Methodology reviewed by the Plan of Day construction team · July 2026
We won't invent numbers you didn't give us.
Forecast the finish on your own project.
POD turns the reports you already produce into a live cost forecast. As complete as your data.
Last updated: July 2026