AACE CST study guide
AACE CST · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The AACE Certified Scheduling Technician (CST) is a technician-level credential offered by AACE International and listed on the association's site under Technician Certifications, alongside the Certified Cost Technician. It is aimed at practitioners who build, update and maintain project schedules - junior schedulers, planning engineers, project controls technicians and coordinators - who want to show working-level competence rather than the advanced, professional-level knowledge expected of a PSP holder. The exam is multiple choice, and the study territory it draws on clusters into five areas: schedule planning, schedule development, schedule maintenance and control, schedule analysis and reporting, and project controls fundamentals. Candidates should confirm the current domain weightings on AACE's own CST Details page, because at the time this material was assembled the public CST page returned a 404 error and no item count, time limit, passing score, fee or validity period could be verified. The AACE CST study guide has 5 sections and about 1,454 words.
01Schedule Planning
Schedule planning defines what must be done, how it is decomposed, who owns it, and what basis supports durations. Start with scope and a WBS that rolls deliverables into work packages and then activities.
272 words, about 1 min02Schedule Development
Schedule development turns planned activities into a logic network and calculates dates through the critical path method. Use finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish ties with intention; lags and leads should be justified, not used to hide missing logic.
304 words, about 2 min03Schedule Maintenance and Control
Schedule maintenance keeps the approved baseline and the current schedule trustworthy. The data date, or status date, separates actuals from forecast.
286 words, about 1 min04Schedule Analysis and Reporting
Schedule analysis asks whether the project is ahead or behind, where float has eroded, and whether the critical path has shifted. Compare current dates with the baseline and examine total float trends, not just finish variance.
287 words, about 1 min05Project Controls Fundamentals
Project controls integrates scope, schedule, cost, risk, and change into one performance picture. The WBS provides the common structure for control accounts, budgets, and schedule activities.
305 words, about 2 min