Compare · Popurise vs A spreadsheet

Feasibility spreadsheet vs software.

A spreadsheet is fine for one model a quarter. Popurise wins the moment feasibility becomes a repeated, reviewed, team workflow.

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Free right now · No card required · Australian residential

app.popurise.com.au / harbourview-riseBrisbane QLD · 42 apartments · 30 months
The A spreadsheet routeStill modelling
  1. Open last project's workbook
  2. Overwrite the assumptions
  3. Chase the formulas that broke
  4. Print and reformat for the bank
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
An occasional, single-author modelA spreadsheetmay 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

Move to software once feasibility is a repeated workflow, a team reviews it, or the file has quietly become the system of record.

  • 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 A spreadsheet if

One author, one model, one project

Stay in a spreadsheet while you run one feasibility a quarter and are happy owning the formulas.

  • Free, flexible, already installed
  • Fine for a single occasional model
  • No onboarding for a one-off

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
AlternativeA spreadsheet
RecommendedPopurise
Speed to first pass
Fast to open, slow to trust
Minutes to a first pass
Early-stage deal screening
One site at a time
Built for fast site screening
Australian development workflow
Only what you build in
Australian residential, cost stack up
Monthly cash flow
When you need it for the bank
Monthly, by default
Debt timing
Hand-built and fragile
Drawdown and interest on the program
Peak debt & equity
A cell you hope still works
Read straight off the model
Scenario comparison
Open another file
Side by side in one project
Assumption clarity
Buried in the formulas
Visible and editable
Team review
Onboarding is reading the workbook
Shareable, auditable outputs
Spreadsheet reliance
It is the spreadsheet
Replaces the workbook
Learning curve
Familiar to everyone
Productive in an afternoon
Best-fit user
Occasional, single-author models
AU residential developers screening sites

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

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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, A spreadsheet and a spreadsheet.

01

How often will you run a feasibility?

  • Most weeks, across a pipelinePopurise
  • A few times a yearA spreadsheet
02

What is the job in front of you?

  • Screen sites quicklyPopurise
  • One deep, bespoke modelA spreadsheet
  • A formal, detailed appraisalA spreadsheet
03

Where are your projects?

  • Australian residentialPopurise
  • Global or commercial-ledA spreadsheet
04

Who needs to read the numbers?

  • A team or a committeePopurise
  • Only you, occasionallyA spreadsheet
05

How much do cash flow and debt timing matter?

  • Central to every dealPopurise
  • Built by hand when askedA spreadsheet
06

Your priority when you choose?

  • Speed to a clear answerPopurise
  • Maximum modelling depthA spreadsheet
The bottom line

A spreadsheet is fine for one model a quarter. Popurise wins the moment feasibility becomes a repeated, reviewed, team workflow.

A spreadsheet may suit an occasional, single-author model — this page is about where Popurise is the sharper fit.

Related

Excel vs Popurise
Development feasibility software

Questions

A spreadsheet vs Popurise, answered.

Can I keep using a spreadsheet alongside Popurise?

Yes — many teams do during the transition. Use Popurise for new projects and migrate active ones as they reach a milestone.

When is a spreadsheet still enough?

If you run one feasibility a quarter, are the only author, and are comfortable owning the formulas, a spreadsheet is still fine. The case for software grows once feasibility becomes repeated, reviewed by a team, or the file has quietly become your system of record.

Do I still get monthly cash flow and debt timing in software?

Yes, and without building it by hand. Popurise models timing, debt drawdown, interest, peak debt and monthly cash flow on every project, so the parts a spreadsheet only builds when the bank asks are there from the first pass.

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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