AACE PSP study plan

Define each planning input (scope, WBS, calendars, resource and cost basis) in your own words without notes

Build a work breakdown structure for a sample mid-size project down to work-package level with a defensible coding scheme

Distinguish activity, work package, and deliverable and classify 15 sample items correctly

Draft the planning-to-scheduling handoff checklist you would use on a real project

Sequence the sample project's activities and justify each dependency type chosen (FS, SS, FF, SF)

Assign lags only where physically or contractually justified and document the reason for each

Compute a forward and backward pass by hand on a 15-activity network and record early/late dates and total float

Verify your hand-calculated results against a scheduling tool and reconcile every discrepancy

Construct a resource-loaded schedule with at least two resource types and identify over-allocations

Apply resource leveling and summarize the resulting date and float impacts

Differentiate critical path, longest path, and near-critical path on your sample and explain where they diverge

Set up calendars and constraints in the tool and list which constraints you would defend to a reviewer

Define a baseline and explain what is frozen versus what may change after approval

Design a progress-update cycle including data date, actuals, remaining durations, and out-of-sequence logic handling

Produce a schedule health checklist covering logic, lags, constraints, float, and open ends

Run the health checklist against your sample schedule and score it

Perform an earned value analysis on your sample using PV, EV, AC, SV, CV, SPI, and CPI

Interpret a forecast method (EAC variants) and state the assumption behind each

Explain how schedule variance in dollars differs from schedule variance in time

Draft the corrective-action narrative you would present when SPI falls below 0.90

Compare baseline versus current schedule and quantify changes in dates, logic, and float

Identify and classify delay events as excusable, non-excusable, or compensable with reasoning

Explain time impact analysis and contrast it with a simple as-planned versus as-built comparison

Build a change log linking each schedule revision to its cause

Design a reporting package for three audiences: executive, project team, and client

Select the right visual for each message (Gantt, S-curve, histogram, float chart) and justify the choice

Write a schedule narrative that states status, forecast, risks, and asks in under one page

Critique two weak schedule reports and list the specific improvements you would make

Assemble a consolidated formula and definitions sheet across all four domains and self-quiz from it

Complete timed practice sets weighted to the front-loaded domains and log error patterns

Re-teach your two weakest concepts aloud or in writing without reference materials

Finalize a test-day strategy covering question triage and calculation checks