Earned value is a project management technique that relates resource planning to schedules and to technical cost and schedule requirements. All work is planned, budgeted, and scheduled in time-phased ”planned value” increments constituting a cost and schedule measurement baseline. There are two major objectives of an earned value system: to encourage contractors to use effective internal cost and schedule management control systems; and to permit the customer to be able to rely on timely data produced by those systems for determining product-oriented contract status.
(BalancedScorecard.org Definitions)
Other Definitions
Earned Value Management – A management technique that relates resource planning to schedules and to technical cost and schedule requirements. All work is planned, budgeted, and scheduled in time-phased increments constituting a cost and schedule measurement baseline. (Wideman Comparative Glossary of Common Project Management Terms v2.1 )