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Methodology

Reading Charts & Tables

Every visualization in Profivo tells a story. Here's how to read them and extract the insights that matter.

KPI Dashboard
4.2M
GDV
3.1M
Total Costs
820K
Profit
22.4%
RoC
31.2%
IRR
M18
Break-even

Summary Dashboard (KPI Cards)

What it shows

The top-line metrics at a glance — GDV, NDV, Total Costs, Profit, Return on Cost, IRR, and break-even month. This is the first thing you see when you open a project.

How to read it

Each card shows a single metric with color coding. Green values indicate positive/healthy results. Red indicates warnings or negative values. The cards update in real time as you change any input.

Key insight: Look at Profit AND Return on Cost together. A large absolute profit on a massive capital base might represent a poor return. RoC tells you how efficiently capital is deployed.

Profit Waterfall

Waterfall Chart (Profit Breakdown)

What it shows

How Net Development Value cascades down through each cost category to arrive at final profit. Each bar represents a deduction from the starting revenue figure.

How to read it

The first bar is NDV (total net revenue). Red bars represent cost deductions — land, build, other costs, finance. The final green bar is what remains: your profit. The taller a red bar, the larger that cost category.

What to look for

Which cost category takes the biggest chunk? Is it land, build, or finance? This tells you where to focus your optimization efforts and where negotiation has the most impact.

Common mistake: Ignoring the finance cost bar. On leveraged projects, interest and fees can represent 5-10% of total costs. If the finance bar looks small, double-check your debt assumptions.

Cost Structure
100%
Build
Land
Finance
Other

Donut Chart (Cost Structure)

What it shows

The proportional breakdown of all project costs as segments of a circle. Each segment represents a cost category — land, build, finance, professional fees, contingency, and other costs.

How to read it

Larger segments represent bigger cost categories. The donut format makes it easy to see relative proportions at a glance without needing to compare exact numbers.

What to look for

Is land or build the dominant cost? In urban areas, land often dominates. In greenfield developments, build costs take the lead. Understanding this split helps you prioritize where cost control matters most.

Revenue by Unit Type
3-bed 2-bed 1-bed Studio

Revenue Breakdown (Bar Chart)

What it shows

Revenue contribution from each unit type or group in your development. Taller bars mean that unit type generates more total revenue, either from higher prices, larger units, or more quantity.

How to read it

Compare bar heights to see which unit types drive the most revenue. Hover over bars to see exact figures including quantity, area, price per square meter, and total contribution.

Key insight: Diversified revenue across multiple unit types reduces risk. If 80% of revenue depends on a single unit type, any market shift in that segment disproportionately affects the whole project.

Sensitivity Matrix
-20% GDV → +20%

Sensitivity Heatmap

What it shows

How two variables simultaneously affect Return on Cost or Profit. Rows represent one variable (e.g., build cost changes), columns represent another (e.g., GDV changes). The center cell is your base case.

How to read it

Green cells indicate profitable outcomes. Yellow cells are marginal. Red cells indicate a loss. The gradient from center outward shows how sensitive the project is to simultaneous changes in both variables.

What to look for

Count the red cells. If most of the grid is green, the project is resilient to a wide range of market conditions. If red dominates the top-left quadrant (costs up, revenue down), understand the threshold where the project breaks.

Common mistake: Focusing only on the base case (the center cell) and ignoring the surrounding red zone. The heatmap exists precisely to show you how close you are to the breakeven boundary.

Monthly Cash Flow
Costs
Revenue

Cash Flow Chart (Monthly Bars)

What it shows

Monthly inflows (revenue) and outflows (costs) displayed as bars, with a cumulative line tracking the running total. This is the most detailed time-based view of your project's financial profile.

How to read it

Red bars below the axis represent monthly costs. Green bars above represent monthly revenue. The cumulative line shows the running total — how deep it dips below zero indicates peak funding required, and when it crosses zero is your break-even month.

What to look for

How deep does the cumulative line go below zero? That depth equals the maximum cash you need to fund the project. When does the line cross back above zero? That is your break-even point.

Key insight: The gap between the lowest point of the cumulative line and zero equals how much cash the project needs at peak. This is the number your finance structure must cover.

Cumulative S-Curve
gap
Cum. Costs
Cum. Revenue

S-Curve (Cumulative)

What it shows

Two rising curves: cumulative costs (which start rising early during construction) and cumulative revenue (which rises later during the sales period). The vertical gap between them at any point represents the cash requirement at that moment.

How to read it

The cost curve rises first — you spend before you earn. The revenue curve catches up as sales proceed. Where the two curves cross is the break-even month: the point at which total revenue received equals total costs incurred.

What to look for

The maximum vertical gap between the two curves is your peak funding requirement. A wider gap means more working capital needed, which translates to more debt and higher finance costs.

In practice: A wider gap between the cost and revenue curves means more working capital is needed, which increases risk. Projects with early pre-sales can narrow this gap and improve capital efficiency.

Scenario Comparison
Downside
Base
Upside

Scenario Comparison

What it shows

Side-by-side profit bars (or any key metric) for the pessimistic, base, and optimistic scenarios. This gives you the range of possible outcomes in one visual.

How to read it

Compare the three bars directly. The base case (center) represents your current assumptions. The downside shows what happens if markets deteriorate. The upside shows the favorable case. The spread between downside and upside indicates overall project risk.

What to look for

Does the pessimistic scenario still show a positive profit bar? If so, the project has a built-in safety margin. If the downside bar disappears or goes negative, the project depends on favorable conditions to succeed.

Key insight: If the downside profit is negative but the upside is very positive, the project is speculative. If all three bars are positive and close together, the project is stable and predictable — exactly what lenders want to see.

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