Cabin project calculator

Project name

What would 10 cabins have to earn? A cash-flow model for building a licensed tourism development. Every assumption is editable, and the URL is your saved scenario.

Project
corporate tax on profit after interest and depreciation
Land & build
gross floor area of the owner's house
structure and finishes only
access, borehole, ETAR, electricity
architect, engineers, permits, as a share of hard cost
share of hard and soft cost held back for surprises
a licensed tourism development recovers the 23% IVA on works
gross area the municipal PDM allows on the plot
reception, storage, technical rooms counted against the cap
lawyer, notary and registry for the land purchase
Income
For a second kind of unit: a larger cabin, a suite, a family lodge.
Operating expenses
guests, cleaning and the calendar handled for a share of revenue
employer cost including social charges
electricity, water, gas, internet
IMI, the annual municipal property tax
laundry, consumables, cleaning products
AL registration, software, permits
Airbnb, Booking and direct bookings blended
share of gross spent on your own marketing
share of gross set aside for repairs and replacements
Financing
of price when buying, of cost when building
all-in rate, fixed or variable plus spread
the yield a buyer of the running business would accept
Tax
6% for hotel-type stays, 23% standard; contested for a private AL
straight-line, reduces taxable profit
Land & build
Land
€150.000
Land acquisition costsIMT on rústico, Imposto do selo, legal
€12.700
Main house200 m² at €1500/m²
€300.000
Cabin10 × €55000 delivered · 40 m², €1375/m²
€550.000
Site infrastructureaccess, borehole, ETAR, electricity, earthworks
€120.000
Pool, reception, grounds, parking
€130.000
Design, engineering, licensing, legal12% of hard cost
€132.000
Contingency12%
€147.840
Total development costexcluding VAT
€1.542.540
IVA on works at 23%recoverable — a float, not a cost
€317.363
Peak funding requirementthe most you are out of pocket at once
€1.859.903
Annual cash flow
Income
Gross revenue10 units, 1754 booked unit-nights
€206.212
IVA6% of the gross price
−€11.672
Operating expenses
Channel fees14%
−€28.870
Marketing4%
−€8.248
Maintenance reserve5% of gross
−€10.311
Payrollfully loaded
−€55.000
Utilitieselectricity, water, gas, internet
−€15.000
Pool maintenance
−€3.000
Garden and grounds
−€6.000
Property tax (IMI)
−€5.000
Insurance
−€4.000
Linen and cleaning supplieslaundry, consumables, cleaning products
−€12.000
Accountant
−€3.000
Licences and subscriptions
−€6.000
Net operating incomeEBITDA: revenue less operating expenses
€38.111
Financing
Debt service
−€70.032
Cash flow before tax
−€31.921
Tax
IRCon profit after interest and depreciation
€0
Net annual cash flowafter tax and debt service
−€31.921
Income by month
€0€44.640 in the best month
JFMAMJJASOND

Revenue thresholds

Revenue targets are not one number. These three are genuinely different bars, and most feasibility studies quietly report only the first.

01

Cover the debt

needs €250.958
€206.212 modelled — €44.746 short (1,22× needed)

EBITDA equals the annual debt service. You own a business that pays its own bank and returns you nothing. This is the bar most feasibility studies stop at.

02

Be worth what it cost

needs €304.148
€206.212 modelled — €97.936 short (1,47× needed)

At a 7% exit yield the finished operation is valued at €544.441 against €1.542.540 spent. Below this line you have destroyed capital by building.

03

Earn 10% on your equity

needs €348.259
€206.212 modelled — €142.047 short (1,69× needed)

Debt covered plus €69.414 a year on the €694.143 you put in. This is the point at which the project competes with simply owning something else.

The IVA on works is a cash-flow problem, not a cost

Tourism construction pays the standard 23%, but a licensed empreendimento turístico makes taxable supplies, so the input IVA on the works is recoverable through the normal regime. That turns a six-figure tax into a float you carry for months. Get the company IVA-registered before the first invoice, not after.

The number this model cannot show you is the calendar

Between signing for land and the first paying guest sits a licensing route, the architecture and specialties, the permit, the build itself, then tourism classification. Three years is optimistic; five is normal where a plan-level route is needed. Every year of that is interest, professional fees and no revenue — and none of it is in the figures above.