TCPI Calculator
Compute the cost efficiency you must achieve on remaining work to finish within the original budget (BAC) or a revised EAC.
TCPI = (BAC − EV) / (BAC − AC)Interpretation Guide
- TCPI ≤ 1.0Remaining work is achievable at current performance.
- 1.0 < TCPI ≤ 1.1Stretch — performance must improve.
- TCPI > 1.1Unrealistic — replan or rebaseline.
Example
BAC $500k, EV $200k, AC $240k → TCPI = 1.15, meaning you need 15% better efficiency than achieved so far.
Real-world use cases
- Sanity check on EAC
- Recovery planning
- Stakeholder transparency
Common mistakes
- Ignoring TCPI when CPI < 1
- Comparing TCPI without scope normalization
Professional tips
- If TCPI keeps climbing, recommend rebaseline
Frequently asked questions
What does TCPI > 1 mean?
You must perform better on the remaining work than you have so far to hit the budget.
What this tool does
Compute the cost efficiency you must achieve on remaining work to finish within the original budget (BAC) or a revised EAC.
It applies the standard formula TCPI = (BAC − EV) / (BAC − AC) so planners, schedulers and PMOs get a defensible number they can put in front of a steering committee.
Looking for the underlying terminology? Open the PM Glossary or the PM Cheat Sheet for quick references on EVM, scheduling and risk terms.
When to use it
- Sanity check on EAC
- Recovery planning
- Stakeholder transparency
Typical owners: project managers, planning engineers, project controls leads and PMO analysts running weekly or monthly performance reviews on EPC, infrastructure, IT and construction projects.
How to interpret the result
Treat the number as a signal, not a verdict. Read it together with the trend over the last 3–6 reporting periods, the critical-path status, and the risk register before you change the plan.
- Compare against the baseline, not against another project.
- Investigate the drivers behind the value before reporting it up.
- Pair it with at least one complementary KPI (cost, schedule, risk or quality).
Worked example
BAC $500k, EV $200k, AC $240k → TCPI = 1.15, meaning you need 15% better efficiency than achieved so far.
In a real project review, document the inputs, the resulting value, the interpretation, and the corrective action you committed to. That audit trail is what turns a calculator output into a controls decision.
In-depth guide: TCPI Calculator
To-Complete Performance Index (TCPI) flips the EVM question around. Instead of asking 'how efficient have we been?', it asks 'how efficient do we have to be on the remaining work to still hit our target?'. The target can be the original budget (BAC) or a revised forecast (EAC). Either way, TCPI tells you whether the recovery you have promised the steering committee is mathematically realistic.
TCPI is the single most-useful sanity-check on any recovery plan. If your project has been running at CPI = 0.85 for nine months and someone proposes a recovery plan that requires TCPI = 1.20 for the rest of the project, the right answer is almost always 'no, rebaseline'. Sustained TCPI values above 1.10 on the remaining work are vanishingly rare in real projects.
On government and defence programmes, TCPI is a mandatory monthly disclosure on EVMS-compliant projects under ANSI/EIA-748. It is also part of the Integrated Programme Management Reports (IPMR) DI-MGMT-81861A data item.
When to use it (and when not to)
Use TCPI any time you submit a recovery plan, a revised EAC, or a request to draw on the management reserve. It is the right number to put in front of a sponsor who is asking 'can we still bring this in on budget?'.
Do not use TCPI before the project has stable CPI and SPI baselines (typically after 15–20% completion). Before that point, the remaining-work denominator is too large and TCPI numbers tend to be close to 1.0 even on troubled projects.
Related KPIs to read alongside
Pair TCPI with cumulative CPI (the historical baseline), period CPI (the leading indicator), and the SPI/SPI(t) pair. Where a recovery plan is in place, also track 'recovery CPI' — the cost efficiency achieved since the recovery plan was baselined — and compare it directly against the required TCPI.
Worked example — pharmaceutical facility fit-out
A pharmaceutical facility fit-out has BAC = $18M. At month 14 of 24, EV = $9.0M, AC = $11.0M, so cumulative CPI = 0.818. Remaining work in budget terms is BAC − EV = $9.0M; remaining budget is BAC − AC = $7.0M.
TCPI (to hit BAC) = 9.0 / 7.0 = 1.286. In plain English: the team has been delivering 82 cents of value per dollar, and they would have to deliver $1.29 of value per dollar for the rest of the project to still hit the original budget. That is a 57% productivity uplift, which is almost never achievable on a project that is already 14 months in.
The team accepts this and shifts the target. They build an EAC of $20M (accepting a $2M overrun) and recompute TCPI to EAC = 9.0 / (20 − 11) = 1.00. That is achievable — it just means holding current cost performance steady, with no further slippage. They present the $2M overrun, the new EAC, and the TCPI-validated recovery plan to the steering committee as a single package.
Decision table
| Signal | What it means | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| TCPI ≤ 1.00 | Target is achievable at current performance. | Hold; continue executing the recovery plan. |
| 1.00 < TCPI ≤ 1.05 | Modest stretch — small productivity uplift required. | Identify 2–3 concrete improvement actions and track weekly. |
| 1.05 < TCPI ≤ 1.10 | Significant stretch — historically uncommon. | Stress-test the recovery plan; consider revising the target. |
| TCPI > 1.10 | Recovery to this target is unlikely. | Rebaseline to a realistic EAC; do not promise the steering committee a number you cannot deliver. |
Common pitfalls in the field
- Computing TCPI against BAC when the project is clearly past the point of hitting BAC. This produces alarming TCPI numbers that everyone ignores. Once EAC > BAC, switch the TCPI denominator to the new EAC.
- Assuming a TCPI of 1.10 is 'just a 10% improvement'. It actually means improving from where you have been on average to performing 10% better than baseline — that is typically a 20–30% productivity uplift on the remaining team.
- Reporting TCPI without context. A TCPI of 1.05 on a project with 80% remaining is very different from the same TCPI on a project with 20% remaining. Always show TCPI alongside % complete and remaining duration.
Featured in Academy articles
This calculator is referenced in the FAQs of these Academy articles — read them to understand the theory behind the numbers.
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