9.3 Current Exam Strategy and Core Calculation Review

AACE Planning and Scheduling Professional PSP

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1 Chapter 0: Introduction & AACE PSP Exam Structure

0.1 Current AACE PSP Exam, Eligibility, and Certification Facts 0.2 Planning and Scheduling Professional Roles and Competencies 0.3 Cost Engineering and Scheduling Terminology per RP 10S-90

2 Chapter 1: Scope Definition & Planning Fundamentals

1.1 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Architecture & RP 33R-15 1.2 Organization & Resource Breakdown Structures (OBS, RBS, RAM) 1.3 Project Planning and Activity-Logic Development 1.4 Contract Requirements and Delivery Constraints 1.5 Stakeholder Identification, Needs, and Plan Review 1.6 Constructability Methods and Value Engineering 1.7 Resource Identification and Project Variables 1.8 Scope, Goals, Project Plan, and Phase Definition 1.9 Cost Breakdown Structure and Cost Estimate Development 1.10 Phase Relationships, Baseline Plan, Forecasts, and Risk/Recovery Planning

3 Chapter 2: Critical Path Method Mechanics & Network Logic

2.1 Activity Definition and Logic Relationships 2.2 Activity Durations, Productivity, and Work Calendars 2.3 Forward and Backward Pass Mathematical Mechanics 2.4 Float Calculations and Critical-Path Identification

4 Chapter 3: Advanced Network Techniques & Schedule Constraints

3.1 Schedule Constraints and Their Impact on Dates and Float 3.2 Advanced Logic Modeling: Ladders and Fragnets 3.3 Schedule Levels of Detail and Schedule Basis Documentation 3.4 Schedule Scope and Schedule Specification 3.5 Breakdown-Structure Relationships and the Cost Estimate Model 3.6 Stakeholder Feedback and Types of Schedules 3.7 Activities, Milestones, Schedule Quality, and Basis Documentation

5 Chapter 4: Resource Management & Leveling

4.1 Resource Planning, Allocation, and Histograms 4.2 Resource Leveling vs. Resource Smoothing 4.3 Cumulative Resource S-Curves & Productivity Tracking

6 Chapter 5: Baseline Management & Schedule Updating

5.1 Baseline Establishment, Forecasts, and Controlled Revision 5.2 Progress Measurement and Data Date Mechanics 5.3 Out-of-Sequence Logic: Progress Override vs. Retained Logic 5.4 Schedule Update Review and Quality Verification per RP 53R-06 5.5 Cost/Resource Management, Schedule Change, and Feedback 5.6 Acceleration and Recovery Scheduling per RP 54R-07 5.7 Control Schedules, Variance Analysis, Forecasts, and Management Summaries

7 Chapter 6: Schedule Risk Analysis & Monte Carlo Simulation

6.1 Schedule Risk Principles, Risk Drivers, and Three-Point Estimates 6.2 Monte Carlo Simulation, Criticality, Correlation, and Merge Effects 6.3 Risk Outputs, Confidence Dates, Sensitivity, and Contingency

8 Chapter 7: Earned Value & Earned Schedule Management

7.1 Earned Value Foundations: PV, EV, AC, and Variances 7.2 Traditional EV Performance Indices & Late-Project Quirks 7.3 Earned Schedule (ES) Theory, SV(t), and SPI(t) 7.4 Independent Schedule Forecasting & IEAC(t)

9 Chapter 8: Forensic Schedule Analysis & Delay Claims

8.1 Delay Classification, Criticality, and Contract Questions 8.2 RP 29R-03 Taxonomy, Data Validation, and Method Selection 8.3 TIA, Windowed Analysis, and Subtractive Models 8.4 Concurrency, Pacing, and Float: Technical Analysis Before Entitlement

10 Chapter 9: Executive Communication & Practical Scenario Applications

9.1 Official PSP Memo Writing Framework 9.2 Structured Technical Problem-Solving for PSP Scenarios 9.3 Current Exam Strategy and Core Calculation Review

9.3 Current Exam Strategy and Core Calculation Review

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

The current exam allows five hours total for 36 Planning questions, 83 Scheduling questions, and one Communication memo.

AACE does not publish mandatory time blocks for the three domains, so candidates should use checkpoints that fit their strengths and the live interface.

The exam is closed book and permits any style of battery-operated calculator; the testing center does not provide one.

Core calculation work should state the date convention and show intermediate values for dates, float, PERT, resources, and forecasts.

The official memo guidance favors one concise page, not a multi-page forensic report.

Last updated: October 2026

9.3 Current Exam Strategy and Core Calculation Review

The current PSP exam has a five-hour maximum and three scored domains: Conduct Planning Duties (36 questions), Conduct Scheduling Duties (83 questions), and Communication Competency (one memo). AACE does not publish mandatory 56/29/34 question parts or a required sixty-minute memo block.

Build a flexible pacing plan

There are 119 multiple-choice questions plus the memo. Reserve enough total time to draft and review the one-page memo, then use periodic checkpoints for the multiple-choice work. The exact allocation depends on your reading speed and network-calculation fluency.

A practical approach is:

• answer direct conceptual items efficiently;
• flag calculation-heavy items if the interface permits;
• return to solvable calculations with written intermediate steps;
• preserve a meaningful memo block; and

use remaining time to check unanswered or flagged work.

Treat this as strategy, not official timing policy.

Exam-day facts

The examination is closed book.

AACE permits any style of battery-operated calculator.

The testing center does not provide the calculator.

Candidates should follow current Kryterion and AACE appointment instructions.

The whole examination has a five-hour maximum.

Do not narrow “any style” to “non-programmable” unless the current appointment instructions do so.

CPM date conventions

First determine whether the problem uses continuous day-zero math or inclusive day numbering.

For a zero-day convention:

• E F = E S + D EF = ES + D EF = ES + D
• L S = L F − D LS = LF - D L S = L F − D

For an inclusive day-one convention:

• E F = E S + D − 1 EF = ES + D - 1 EF = ES + D − 1
• L S = L F − D + 1 LS = LF - D + 1 L S = L F − D + 1

Mixing conventions creates one-day errors even when the network logic is correct.

Relationship-aware logic

For a zero-lag finish-to-start relationship in zero-day math, a successor’s early start is the maximum predecessor early finish. Other relationship types constrain different endpoints. Do not apply the simple free-float expression E S s u c c e s s o r − E F a c t i v i t y ES_{successor} - EF_{activity} E S s u ccessor ​ − E F a c t i v i t y ​ to every start-to-start or finish-to-finish relationship without adapting the relationship and lag.

Total float can be calculated as:

T F = L S − E S = L F − E F TF = LS - ES = LF - EF TF = L S − ES = L F − EF

The critical or controlling path is not always “every zero-float activity.” Constraints can create negative float, positive float can remain on the longest path, and software settings can affect reported criticality. Trace a continuous path to the required milestone.

Duration and resources

For quantity-based work:

Duration = Quantity Daily production \text{Duration} = \frac{\text{Quantity}}{\text{Daily production}} Duration = Daily production Quantity ​

If daily production is built from crew size:

Daily production = Crew size × Output per worker per day \text{Daily production} = \text{Crew size} \times \text{Output per worker per day} Daily production = Crew size × Output per worker per day

Confirm whether adding workers is physically feasible. Fixed-work arithmetic is not proof that production scales linearly.

Three-point estimating

Classic PERT uses:

• T e = O + 4 M + P 6 T_e = \frac{O + 4M + P}{6} T e ​ = 6 O + 4 M + P ​
• σ ≈ P − O 6 \sigma \approx \frac{P - O}{6} σ ≈ 6 P − O ​

For an independent path approximation, variances—not standard deviations—are added before taking the square root. Real schedule-risk models may violate the independence and fixed-path assumptions, so use the formula only when the question supplies those assumptions.

Earned value and earned schedule

Core earned-value formulas are:

• C V = E V − A C CV = EV - AC C V = E V − A C
• S V = E V − P V SV = EV - PV S V = E V − P V
• C P I = E V A C CPI = \frac{EV}{AC} CP I = A C E V ​
• S P I = E V P V SPI = \frac{EV}{PV} SP I = P V E V ​

Traditional schedule variance is value-denominated and does not replace CPM milestone analysis. Earned Schedule translates earned value onto the planned time curve:

• S V ( t ) = E S − A T SV(t) = ES - AT S V ( t ) = ES − A T
• S P I ( t ) = E S A T SPI(t) = \frac{ES}{AT} SP I ( t ) = A T ES ​

Forecast formulas are conditional models. State the performance assumption rather than treating one estimate at completion as certain.

Memo checkpoint

Use the official one-page flow: header; issue and impact; supplied alternatives; comparative analysis; recommendation; and final decision handoff. Review names, dates, arithmetic, and whether every option in the prompt was addressed.

The strongest preparation combines conceptual recall with repeated handwritten calculations and timed one-page memos. Learn the reasoning behind each formula so a changed convention or scenario does not turn memorization into a trap.

Applied review: use the published structure, not invented parts

Plan around one five-hour appointment containing 36 Planning questions, 83 Scheduling questions, and one Communication memo. AACE does not publish mandatory time segments for obsolete 56, 29, and 34-question parts. Create a personal pacing budget, check progress periodically, and retain enough flexibility for network calculations, scenario reading, and the memo. The communication domain is scored, so leaving the memo blank is a material risk.

Build a compact formula set from understanding: CPM forward and backward passes under a consistent date convention, total and free float, quantity-productivity-duration relationships, earned-value indices and forecasts, and basic probability interpretations. Practice identifying when a formula is inapplicable. Write assumptions beside intermediate work so that a sign, unit, or calendar error is visible.

During review, first eliminate answers that contradict scope, logic, ethics, or the current official rules. Recalculate quantitative choices rather than matching a familiar-looking number. For the memo, outline issue, impact, alternatives, analysis, recommendation, and decision handoff before writing. Use the final minutes to check unanswered items, units, and memo completeness—not to force every uncertain answer into the same letter pattern.