I've never seen a large project be close to the original estimate, either. But that doesn't stop the customer from thinking that estimate is what's going to hap

I've never seen a large project be close to the original estimate, either. But that doesn't stop the customer from thinking that estimate is what's going to happen. As an employee of a huge contractor myself, you aren't wrong. The contracts people will always want to see the EVM plan. The contractor's budget people will compare the estimate to prior actuals and somehow come up with an estimate they think is good. And then you will run over, and the government will try to hold you accountable, even though the causes of your overruns may be requirements changes from the customers. I apologize if my original post presented this rosy picture that estimates are wonderful and always work. I guess some recent training came through a little too much.