Compare · Popurise vs Excel

Excel feasibility model vs Popurise.

Excel bends to anything. Once timing, debt, GST and scenarios matter, Popurise holds its shape where a spreadsheet cracks.

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Free right now · No card required · Australian residential

app.popurise.com.au / harbourview-riseBrisbane QLD · 42 apartments · 30 months
The Excel routeStill modelling
  1. Copy last project's workbook
  2. Rewire the formulas
  3. Update every assumption by hand
  4. Reformat outputs for the IC pack
Peak debtbuilding…
The Popurise answerStacks up
Residual land value$7.2MSupportable at an 18% target margin on cost
Margin on cost18.4%
Equity IRR19.1%
Peak debt$31.0M
Equity required$20.4M
Run a feasibility

Illustrative figures for one residential apartment project — Brisbane QLD · 42 apartments · 30 months. Not financial advice.

The 20-second verdictThe best tool for each job — no scores, no spin.
Run a feasibility
Fast first-pass feasibilityPopurisebest fit
Clear, reviewable assumptionsPopurisebest fit
Replacing a spreadsheetPopurisebest fit
A one-off, bespoke calculationExcelmay suit

The fast answer

Choose the tool that fits the job.

No scores, no spin. A straight read on which option suits which team — and where Popurise is the stronger fit for fast Australian residential feasibility.

Choose Popurise ifRecommended

AU residential developers screening sites

Reach for Popurise on the residential feasibility you run every week — structure that does not break each time you change a number.

  • A first pass in minutes, not a setup project
  • Monthly cash flow, peak debt and equity required built in
  • Conservative, base and stretch scenarios side by side
  • Australian cost stack, GST and finance modelled in
Run a feasibility
Choose Excel if

A one-off, bespoke model

Reach for Excel on a genuinely one-off, bespoke calculation, or a funding structure no tool models yet.

  • Total flexibility, for better or worse
  • Fine for a single ad-hoc calculation
  • Everyone on the team already has it

The drivers that decide it

Side by side, across the decisions that matter.

How each option behaves across a real feasibility workflow — you decide which rows matter to your team. No scores, no invented feature claims.

Driver
AlternativeExcel
RecommendedPopurise
Speed to first pass
Hours of setup before a number
Minutes to a first pass
Early-stage deal screening
Workable, but slow per site
Built for fast site screening
Australian development workflow
Whatever you build in yourself
Australian residential, cost stack up
Monthly cash flow
Only if you build and maintain it
Monthly, by default
Debt timing
Manual, easy to break
Drawdown and interest on the program
Peak debt & equity
A formula you have to trust
Read straight off the model
Scenario comparison
Save another copy of the file
Side by side in one project
Assumption clarity
Scattered across tabs
Visible and editable
Team review
Read someone else's formulas
Shareable, auditable outputs
Spreadsheet reliance
It is the spreadsheet
Replaces the workbook
Learning curve
Everyone already knows Excel
Productive in an afternoon
Best-fit user
One-off, bespoke models
AU residential developers screening sites

Comparison based on workflow fit, user type and feasibility use case — not on pricing, feature counts or claims. Excel may suit a different job well; this page is about where Popurise is the stronger fit.

Run a feasibility

Before and after

The same site, two very different afternoons.

Most feasibility time is not modelling — it is rebuilding, repairing and reformatting. Popurise removes the parts that were never the point.

The manual afternoonHalf a day
  1. 01Copy last project's workbookstale template
  2. 02Update every assumption by handby hand
  3. 03Repair the formulas that brokebreaks silently
  4. 04Re-check the debt timinghard to audit
  5. 05Rebuild each scenario in a new tabanother file
  6. 06Clean the outputs for the IC packreformatting
The Popurise afternoonMinutes
  1. Open the project
  2. Enter the assumptions once
  3. Review monthly cash flow
  4. Compare scenarios side by side
  5. Check the returns
  6. Decide whether it stacks
What you get at the end

The numbers that decide whether the site stacks.

Every Popurise project returns the same decision-grade outputs — read up front, not dug out of a model. Figures are illustrative for one apartment project.

Monthly cash position$M cumulative · illustrative
Peak debt −$31.0M+$10.8M
Residual land value$7.2MThe land price the site can support at your target return.
Development margin on cost18.4%Development profit over total development cost.
Equity IRR19.1%Time-weighted return on the equity invested.
Gross realisation (GRV)$62.0MTotal expected sale value of the completed scheme.
Peak debt$31.0MThe largest drawn debt balance across the program.
Equity required$20.4MThe capital committed to the deal.
Break-even sale price$11,450/m²The sale rate at which development profit reaches zero.

Illustrative outputs for one residential apartment project. Not financial advice.

See it on your site

Why teams switch

The friction on one side. The fix on the other.

What pushes developers off the spreadsheet is consistent — and each of them is a place Popurise is built to help.

The friction
  • Model setup takes too longA new site means copying last project's workbook and rewiring it before a single number appears.
  • Assumptions are hard to reviewLand, costs, finance and GST scatter across tabs, so no one can see what the answer actually rests on.
  • Spreadsheet versions multiplyfeasibility_v17_FINAL.xlsx — and no one is certain which file the decision was signed off against.
  • Debt timing is unclearInterest on a moving debt balance is fiddly to build and even harder for someone else to audit.
  • Monthly cash flow is hiddenCash flow only gets built when the bank asks, so funding pressure stays invisible until late.
  • Scenario comparison is manualComparing conservative, base and stretch means another copied file, not a like-for-like view.
  • IC outputs need cleaningEvery investment committee pack is a reformatting job before the numbers are fit to send.
With Popurise
  • Faster first-pass feasibilityEnter the assumptions once and read whether a site stacks in minutes, not after a build.
  • Clearer assumptionsLand, costs, contingency, finance and GST stay visible and editable — never buried in a cell.
  • Monthly cash flow by defaultEvery project models cash flow monthly, so funding and interest move with the program.
  • Debt and peak funding visibilityDrawdown, interest, peak debt and equity required are read straight off the model.
  • Cleaner scenario comparisonConservative, base and stretch cases sit side by side in one project, not separate files.
  • Australian development workflowAcquisition costs, stamp duty, GST on sales and finance modelled the way local projects run.
  • Browser-based reviewOpen a feasibility on the site visit or hand it to a colleague — nothing to install or email.

Questions to ask first

Six questions before you choose a tool.

No widget, no email. Read the six questions that actually settle it — and see, honestly, where each answer points between Popurise, Excel and a spreadsheet.

01

How often will you run a feasibility?

  • Most weeks, across a pipelinePopurise
  • A few times a yearExcel
02

What is the job in front of you?

  • Screen sites quicklyPopurise
  • One deep, bespoke modelExcel
  • A formal, detailed appraisalExcel
03

Where are your projects?

  • Australian residentialPopurise
  • Global or commercial-ledExcel
04

Who needs to read the numbers?

  • A team or a committeePopurise
  • Only you, occasionallyExcel
05

How much do cash flow and debt timing matter?

  • Central to every dealPopurise
  • Built by hand when askedExcel
06

Your priority when you choose?

  • Speed to a clear answerPopurise
  • Maximum modelling depthExcel
The bottom line

Excel bends to anything. Once timing, debt, GST and scenarios matter, Popurise holds its shape where a spreadsheet cracks.

Excel may suit a one-off, bespoke calculation — this page is about where Popurise is the sharper fit.

Related

Excel feasibility model problems
Spreadsheet vs software
Development appraisal software
Spreadsheet risk checklist

Questions

Excel vs Popurise, answered.

Can I import my existing Excel model?

Not directly. The fastest path is to set up the project in Popurise once — most projects take 5–10 minutes the first time.

Do I lose flexibility moving off Excel?

You lose the ability to bend any cell. You gain a structure that doesn't break. Most teams find the trade worth it after the first project.

When is Excel still the better choice?

For a genuinely one-off calculation, a custom funding structure Popurise does not model yet, or a legacy workbook you have inherited, Excel is still the right tool. Popurise is built for the residential feasibility you run repeatedly, not every ad-hoc sum.

How does Popurise handle GST, debt timing and monthly cash flow?

GST on sales, debt drawdown and interest, and monthly cash flow are modelled by default — the parts that are fiddly to build and easy to break in a spreadsheet. In Excel each is a formula you maintain and re-check every project; in Popurise they update with your assumptions.

Stop rebuilding feasibility models.

Screen a site, compare scenarios and see whether it stacks — residual land value, margin on cost, IRR and cash flow. Free right now, no card required.

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