Investment Property Cash Flow Calculator
Find out what a property really costs you each week — and what would have to change for it to pay for itself
Your numbers
Out of your pocket
−A$195
per week
−A$843 a month · −A$10,120 a year
Cash-flow negative
Holding costs exceed the rent, so you fund the shortfall from your own income each week — usually in the expectation that capital growth makes up for it over time.
How we got there
- Rent collected
- A$31,000
- Less management fee
- − A$2,170
- Less running costs
- − A$6,400
- Less loan interest
- − A$32,550
- Net cash flow
- −A$10,120
See the full cash-flow formula behind this breakdown.
This property is costing you A$195 a week
Akweno tracks it automatically as your rent, expenses, loan and interest rate change — no more recalculating by hand.
Track this property in AkwenoStart free
Cash flow before tax. Negative gearing benefits, depreciation and capital growth are not included, so treat this as the holding cost rather than the total return. Figures update as you type.
Where it breaks even
Weekly cash flow as one assumption moves. Everything above the line pays for itself; everything below it comes out of your pocket.
You are here — 6.20%, at −A$200 a week
Breaks even at 4.27%
If things go differently
The same property under a worse and a better set of assumptions. Every adjustment is listed on the card, so nothing is hidden in a black box.
Downside
−A$442
per week
−A$22,990 a year
- Interest rate +2 pts
- Vacancy +3 weeks
- Running costs +10%
Your assumptions
−A$195
per week
−A$10,120 a year
- Exactly as you entered them
Upside
−A$105
per week
−A$5,448 a year
- Interest rate −0.5 pts
- Vacancy −1 week
- Rent +5%
The gap between the downside and the upside is A$337 a week. That spread — not the middle number — is what you are actually taking on.
Work backwards from a target
Pick the number you want the property to hit, then choose which lever moves. We solve for the value that gets you there.
Weekly rent needed
A$838 / week
A$218 higher than your figure of A$620 / week.
The next ten years
Rent usually grows faster than costs, so a property that starts out negative often does not stay that way. The interest rate is held flat here — rate risk lives in the chart above.
Turns positive
Not within ten years
Cumulative over ten years
−A$66,698
Related guides
Want to see this across your whole portfolio?
Akweno tracks real cash flow for every property you own — rent as it lands, every expense, every loan — updated automatically instead of recalculated by hand.
How to read your cash flow
Cash flow is the simplest question in property investing and the one most often answered badly: after the rent has come in and every bill has gone out, are you ahead or behind each week?
For the full breakdown of every term in the formula, see the Investment Property Cash Flow: Complete Guide.
The formula
Rent collected − costs − loan = cash flow
Start with the rent you actually collect, not the rent on the lease — a fortnight of vacancy is a fortnight without income. Take off the management fee, then every running cost, then what you pay the lender. What remains is your weekly cash flow.
Why weekly
Annual shortfall ÷ 52
A shortfall of $10,000 a year sounds abstract. The same number as $192 a week is something you can weigh against your actual income, which is why almost every investor thinks about holding costs in weekly terms.
Rent covers the loan and every cost, with money left over. The property funds itself and adds to your income each week.
Rent covers the costs almost exactly. The property carries itself without either helping or hurting your weekly position.
Costs exceed the rent, so you fund the gap from your own income — usually betting that capital growth more than repays it.
For a fuller look at this trade-off, see Positive vs Negative Cash Flow Property.
Four questions this calculator answers
- What does this property cost me each week?
- The headline figure, built from the rent you actually collect after vacancy and the management fee, minus every running cost and everything you pay the lender.
- How far can rates rise before this hurts?
- The break-even chart sweeps the interest rate and marks the exact point where cash flow crosses zero. Switch the sweep to rent or vacancy to test those instead — the crossing point is the number worth remembering.
- What if I am wrong about my assumptions?
- The downside column raises the rate by two points, adds three weeks of vacancy and lifts costs by ten per cent. The gap between downside and upside is the range you are genuinely exposed to, and it is usually wider than people expect.
- What would have to be true for this to work?
- Set a target — breaking even, or a surplus you name — then choose a lever. The calculator solves backwards for the rent, the price, the loan or the rate that reaches it, and tells you plainly when the target is out of reach.
Where this model draws the line
- Everything here is before tax. Negative gearing deductions and depreciation can materially soften a shortfall, and neither is included.
- Cash flow is not return. A property can cost you money every week and still be a good investment if it grows in value — and the reverse is also true.
- Principal repayments are counted as cash out, because they are, but they build equity rather than vanishing. The breakdown separates interest from principal so you can see both.
- The ten-year projection holds the interest rate flat on purpose. Rate risk belongs in the break-even chart and the downside scenario, not buried inside a forecast.
This calculator works on one property and the assumptions you type in. Akweno does the same job continuously across a whole portfolio — tracking the rent you actually received, every expense as it lands and each loan as its rate moves, so your real cash flow is always current instead of a snapshot. Start free.
Related guides
Investment Property Cash Flow: Complete Guide
The full formula, gross vs net, every cost that belongs in it, and a worked example.
Read the guideInvestment Property Expenses: What to Include in Cash Flow
Every expense category that belongs in a cash-flow calculation, and the ones that don't.
Read the guideMore in Property Cash Flow
Cash flow tracking
See the net income each property generates, month by month.
Read moreGuidePositive vs negative cash flow property
What each outcome means and how to decide which suits your situation.
Read moreGuideHow property expenses affect yield
Where each cost lands, and how it moves your net yield and cash flow.
Read more