XLCS Estimation Template – Comprehensive Feature Overview

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🛠 Discussion & Help	https://xlcs.de/

📖 Template Overview

The XLCS Real Estate Project Full-Cost Estimation Template is developed by integrating best practices from full-cost estimation templates used by major developers such as Greentown, Sunac, Country Garden, Jinke, Zhongliang, Zontai, and others, while also incorporating Greentown’s product configuration standards, typical project assumptions, and practical investment estimation requirements.

With just key project parameters and location-specific inputs, the template automatically generates a complete set of outputs including:

Engineering cost statements
Sales GDV statements
Sales sell-through plans
Collection schedules
Financing plans
Tax calculation sheets
Restricted fund schedules
Cash flow statements
Operating metrics
Sensitivity analysis tables
Data validation sheets
Project investment diagnostics & decision recommendations
Comprehensive scoring & investment ratings
Core indicator traffic-light diagnostics
Risk scoring & optimization recommendations
PPT-ready summary sheets

Under normal circumstances, what would require several days or even weeks of collaboration across cost, sales, finance, and operations departments for full-cost dynamic estimation can be completed in significantly less time with XLCS. For standard projects, experienced users can produce a relatively complete estimation output within a short timeframe.

Starting from V10, the template introduces the “Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations” module, which automatically generates comprehensive project scoring, investment ratings, core indicator diagnostics, risk identification, sensitivity analysis summaries, and optimization recommendations based on current estimation results—elevating the template from a traditional full-cost estimation tool to a comprehensive estimation system with investment diagnostics, risk warning, and decision support capabilities.

The complete template suite contains over 90 worksheets, covering the full spectrum of real estate project static estimation, dynamic estimation, cash flow analysis, tax calculations, financing analysis, sensitivity analysis, investment diagnostics, and results reporting.

⚙️ Feature Highlights

1. Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations

The “Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations” module, new in V10, is one of the core signature features of XLCS Core V10.

Designed for project investment decision-making, investment committee reporting, post-investment review, and risk identification scenarios, this module consolidates key results scattered across full-cost, cash flow, operating metrics, tax calculations, sensitivity analysis, and data validation sheets into management-readable investment diagnostic conclusions.

Key features include:

Project baseline information display
Core estimation version information display
Comprehensive scoring
Investment rating
Investment analysis conclusions
Optimization recommendations
Core indicator diagnostics
Comprehensive analysis and recommendations
Sensitivity analysis summary
Indicator grading configuration
Risk scoring

The system automatically evaluates critical dimensions including profitability quality, return efficiency, funding safety, sales realization, tax risk, financing sensitivity, and data credibility—helping users evolve from “reading spreadsheets” to “reading conclusions, risks, and recommendations.”

2. Core Indicator Traffic-Light Diagnostics

The V10 investment diagnostics module includes a core indicator dashboard that performs unified diagnostics on key project operating metrics, including:

Data Credibility
Investment Intensity
Gross Profit Margin
Net Profit Margin
Return on Investment (ROI)
Project NPV Rate
After-Tax IRR
Land Cost-to-GDV Ratio
Land Appreciation Tax Burden Rate
Land Appreciation Tax Appreciation Rate (MAX)
Peak Funding-to-GDV Ratio
Peak Funding-to-Total Investment Ratio
Cash Flow Payback Period
Residential Sales Cycle
Overall Project Sell-Through Rate
Residential 15-Day Post-Launch Contract Signing Rate
Management Expense Ratio
Marketing Expense Ratio
Development Management Fee Ratio
Financing Sensitivity Coefficient
Interest Profit Erosion Rate
Land Price Safety Margin

Each indicator displays:

Current value
Target value
Favorable / unfavorable variance
Status assessment
Traffic-light indicator
Diagnostic description

Through the traffic-light system, users can quickly determine whether each indicator is in Excellent, Compliant, Warning, or Red-Line status.

3. Comprehensive Analysis & Risk Scoring

V10 introduces a comprehensive analysis section and a risk scoring section that transform estimation results into structured management recommendations.

The comprehensive analysis section outputs conclusions across the following dimensions:

Profitability Quality
Return Efficiency
Funding Safety
Sales Realization
Tax Risk
Financing Sensitivity
Data Credibility

The risk scoring section further displays:

Risk category
Associated indicators
Current value
Risk level
Traffic-light status
Triggering reasons
Optimization recommendations

This functionality is suitable for preliminary investment assessment, project review meetings, rapid executive review, and post-investment review.

4. Sensitivity Analysis Summary & Stress Test Integration

V10 integrates sensitivity analysis results with the investment diagnostics module, automatically summarizing key stress test results for land price, selling price, sales cycle, and financing rates.

Linked analysis covers:

Land price sensitivity
Selling price sensitivity
Sales cycle stress testing
Financing rate stress testing

Through the sensitivity analysis summary, users can quickly assess project resilience under adverse scenarios:

Rising land unit prices
Declining selling prices
Extended sales cycles
Increasing financing rates
Expanding peak funding
Delayed payback periods
Declining IRR / NPV

This feature helps users understand “under what conditions the project deteriorates, to what extent, and where the primary risks lie.”

5. Indicator Grading Configuration Section

V10 adds an indicator grading configuration section that establishes unified judgment criteria for key indicators used in investment diagnostics.

The grading section displays:

Red-Line Value
Warning Value
Compliant Value
Excellent Value
Project Current Value
Industry Benchmark Reference
Description and Source

This section helps users understand the system’s judgment logic and facilitates future customization based on city tier, project type, and corporate investment standards.

6. Cloud Database

The template includes a built-in cloud database function that collects and organizes information on regulatory fees, tax parameters, green building policies, and city tiers for major cities across China, providing reference data for estimation.

Using an external linked cloud database enables real-time data updates.

The template automatically extracts corresponding city database information based on the entered city name and populates key estimation fields with default values. Users may also manually adjust values based on local real-time policies.

7. Intelligent Website Node Speed Testing & Cloud Link Repair

The template includes an intelligent speed testing system for XLCS official website cloud service nodes. On file open or manual button click, the system automatically tests access speeds across multiple XLCS official nodes, selects the fastest available node for local access, and updates the cloud database connection URL.

Supported features:

Automatic detection of domestic core nodes
One-click testing of all official nodes
Display of node response times
Automatic selection of the fastest node
Update of CloudDB_URL
Replacement of old cloud links in Name Manager
Refresh of external links
One-click repair of cloud link anomalies

When a domain is inaccessible or slow, users can click “One-Click Repair Cloud Link Anomaly” or “One-Click All-Node Speed Test” to automatically switch to a better node.

8. Product Configuration Standards & Cost Metrics

The template adopts Greentown’s new five-tier product configuration classification:

Collection (T-Class)
Premium (S-Class)
Select (W-Class)
YUE (J-Class)
AN (C-Class)

Combined with product type, the system automatically matches corresponding configuration standards and cost limit databases.

If configuration standards or city tiers are raised, the template automatically adjusts related coefficients and unit cost benchmarks in Sheet 04.3 Configuration Standards, and updates calculations in the corresponding product’s structural/MEP cost detail sheets.

9. Automatic Detection of Duplicate Engineering Metrics & Multi-Tier Configuration Adaptation

From V9 onward, the template supports multiple configuration standards for the same product type. Based on product names and tiers entered in Sheet 04 Overview, the system automatically identifies duplicate entries where the “same product name has different configurations” and generates corresponding configuration columns in Sheet 04.3 Configuration Standards.

For duplicate products, the system also aggregates and sums parameters from the same group in columns T:AB of the structural detail sheet, and returns the calculated results to Sheet 04.1 Engineering Metrics.

This feature resolves the previous limitation where each product type could only have one set of engineering unit cost benchmarks, and is particularly suitable for multi-product, multi-tier, multi-phase projects.

10. One-Click Unit Area Fine-Tuning

Sheet 02 Basic Indicator Entry supports automatic unit area adjustment. After users enter total design area and unit counts, the system automatically adjusts individual unit areas to align the aggregated area with the total design area.

Supported rules include:

When total design area is 0, automatically zero out corresponding unit counts
When total design area is non-zero but unit counts are zero, automatically initialize with a mid-range unit
Default initial area of 100㎡ for back-calculating unit counts
For single-unit-type products, precise back-calculation based on “total design area ÷ unit count”
For multi-unit-type products, even distribution of area differences across total unit counts

11. Construction Schedule Templates

The template includes multiple pre-sale construction schedule templates spanning 5 to 12 months to launch. The system can automatically select based on city tier, or users may manually select or customize.

The template automatically calculates the first-launch date and enters it into the schedule plan based on the highest floor count in the first-launch zone and local pre-sale image milestone requirements.

12. Construction Payment Templates

The template includes multiple construction payment templates:

Monthly progress payments for standard projects
Annual lump-sum progress payments
Contractor funding advance before launch, normal monthly payments after launch
Contractor funding advance until structural topping, normal monthly payments thereafter

After selecting the corresponding payment template, the system automatically recalculates the monthly construction payment schedule and enters it into the cash flow statement.

13. Pre-Development Payment Templates

The template includes multiple pre-development fee payment templates:

Monthly progress payments for standard pre-development costs
For challenging projects: discounted pre-development engineering costs (excluding regulatory fees and some design fees) before launch, normal payments after launch

Users can freely set different payment percentages for design fees, regulatory fees, and pre-development engineering costs.

14. Sales Collection Templates

Based on city-level purchase restrictions and structural-topping loan disbursement requirements, the template automatically selects different sales collection templates.

Users may also manually adjust collection milestones and ratios in the Collection Assumptions sheet. The system automatically generates the sales collection plan and enters it into the Total GDV & Collection Plan sheet.

15. Four-Mode Sales Sell-Through Generation

The sales sell-through module supports four modes:

Default
By sell-through rate
By months
By unit count

Unlike traditional templates that only support a single sell-through rhythm, XLCS allows each product to have its own sell-through mode. Residential and commercial products can be configured with different monthly sell-through unit counts, and the system automatically generates monthly sell-through rates based on each product’s launch timing, total units, and product type.

When selling by unit count, the system intelligently allocates monthly sales volumes among available products, automatically removing sold-out products from subsequent allocation—making the sales plan more realistic.

16. Sales Restricted Fund Templates

The restricted fund module supports multiple regulatory logic types:

No restriction
Period-end balance-based restriction
Total restricted amount / milestone-based release
Locally-calculated construction cost-based restricted amount

The system automatically generates monthly restricted fund release plans based on phase-based restriction milestones and release ratios, and enters them into the cash flow statement.

Special rules for parking/storage restricted funds:

Release cannot precede the sale start date
Cumulative release cannot exceed cumulative collections

This logic more accurately reflects the impact of restricted funds on project available funds, peak funding, and financing requirements.

17. Financing Interest Payment Templates

Both development loans and pre-financing support the following interest payment modes:

Quarterly interest payments
Semi-annual interest payments
Annual interest payments
Bullet repayment (principal and interest at maturity)

Each financing type supports up to 5 installment drawdowns and repayments. The system automatically generates monthly financing interest plans based on each loan’s principal, drawdown month, repayment month, annual rate, and payment mode. Multiple interest payments in the same month are automatically aggregated.

18. Non-Standard Financing Module

Non-standard financing refers to non-standardized funding beyond pre-financing and development loans to cover project cash flow gaps.

Based on monthly cash flow gaps, user-defined annual interest rates, and trigger thresholds, the template automatically calculates non-standard financing drawdown and repayment schedules and amounts. The default single loan term is 12 months, with mandatory early repayment when cash flow turns positive, and early repayment triggers when no funding gaps are detected in the next 6 months.

Repayment follows FIFO order. Users can choose whether non-standard financing enters the financing plan and cash flow statement.

19. Development Management Fee Payment Templates

After entering key management agreement terms and payment milestones, the template automatically calculates:

Saleable property management fees
Non-saleable property management fees
Incentive fees
Off-site property management fees
Sales incentive management fees

And generates monthly payment schedules that enter the cash flow statement.

20. City Facility Fee Calculation Templates

After entering local regulatory fee indicators and calculation methods, the template can calculate city facility fees across multiple modes:

By GFA-based calculation
By total investment-based calculation
Unified standard calculation
Differentiated rates by product type / floor count
Whether basement areas are included
Whether government-mandated affordable housing pays facility fees

21. Management / Marketing Fee Calculation Templates

Based on project key information and Greentown standards, the template automatically generates recommended management and marketing fee rates. Users may manually override default rates, and the system automatically updates the full-cost estimation sheets.

22. Non-Standard Residential LVT Template

After entering local non-standard residential classification criteria, the template automatically distinguishes standard vs. non-standard residential properties based on FAR, unit area, selling price, and other criteria, and calculates LVT separately for each category.

23. Fitted Delivery Schedule Templates

When the template detects fitted units, it automatically enables fitted delivery / fitted handover options and adjusts the corresponding fitted construction schedule templates.

24. Prefabrication Rate Templates

Based on the project’s PC prefabrication rate requirements, the template automatically adds structural cost increments associated with different prefabrication rates in the engineering cost calculation sheets.

25. Pre-Sale Image Milestone Templates

Based on plot height restrictions in planning conditions, the template automatically calculates the highest floor count in the first-launch zone and, based on local pre-sale image milestone requirements, calculates the corresponding construction timeline and recommended first-launch date.

26. PPT-Ready Results Pages

The template includes multiple pre-configured results output pages that automatically extract key result data for presentation purposes, including:

Economic estimation tables
Income statements
Annual cash flow statements
Annual sales tables
Selling price sensitivity analysis tables
Key indicator summary tables

27. Multi-Dimensional Sensitivity Analysis Reports

The template includes multiple sensitivity analysis tools:

Selling price sensitivity analysis
Land price sensitivity analysis
Financing structure sensitivity analysis
Sales dynamics analysis
Marketing fee ratio dynamics analysis

These cover the primary sensitivity analysis needs in real estate project estimation—price, cost, financing, sales cadence, and marketing expenses.
In V10, sensitivity analysis results can further feed into the Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations module to form a sensitivity analysis summary. The system links land price, selling price, sales cycle, and financing rate stress test results with comprehensive scoring, investment rating, and risk scoring—helping users assess project resilience under adverse scenarios.

28. Selling Price Sensitivity Analysis

Sheet 11.4 Selling Price Sensitivity Analysis supports custom benchmark selling prices with precise product-code matching to corresponding products in Sheet 02 Basic Indicator Entry.

Supports:

Residential price adjustments
Commercial price adjustments
Separate writing of rough / fitted prices
Automatic backup and restoration of original prices
Batch generation of price scenario results

29. Land Price Sensitivity Analysis

Sheet 11.3 Land Price Sensitivity Analysis supports automatic generation of up to 50 land price scenarios based on starting land unit price, increment value, and run count.

This feature is suitable for:

Land acquisition bid calculations
Land cost tolerance analysis
Auction bidding strategy simulation
Comparison of profit margin, IRR, NPV, and peak funding under different land unit prices

The system automatically restores the original land unit price formula after execution.
In the V10 investment diagnostics module, land price sensitivity results can be further used to assess land price safety margins, helping users identify headroom for profit margins, IRR, NPV, and peak funding under current land cost conditions.

30. Financing Structure Sensitivity Analysis

Sheet 11.2 Financing Sensitivity Analysis supports variation analysis of development loan and pre-financing amounts, rates, and terms.

The system automatically modifies model input parameters, calls the financing interest calculation module to regenerate interest plans, and reads net profit, net margin, IRR, equity ROI, ROE, and other metrics.

31. Sales Dynamics Analysis

Sheet 11.6 Sales Dynamics Analysis analyzes the impact of the following variables on core financial metrics:

Launch timing (advance or delay)
Monthly sell-through rate changes
Residential monthly sell-through unit changes
Commercial monthly sell-through unit changes
Sell-through period (months) changes

Output metrics include:

Peak funding
Peak timing
IRR
NPV
Cash flow payback period
Annual equity ROI

32. Marketing Fee Ratio Dynamics Analysis

Sheet 11.7 Marketing Fee Ratio Dynamics Analysis supports linked analysis of residential selling prices and marketing fee rates.

Users can configure multiple residential price points with corresponding marketing fee rates. The system automatically writes prices and rates into the model and reads:

Project net profit
Project net margin
IRR (pre-tax)
IRR (after-tax)

This is suitable for evaluating reasonable marketing investment at different price levels and the impact of increased marketing expenses on project returns.

33. Automatic Adaptation of Engineering Metrics from Major Developers

In addition to automatically selecting Greentown product line engineering cost limits, the template also adjusts for city tier differences based on cloud data and displays reference engineering metrics from developers such as Country Garden for comparison.

34. Data Validation & Review Functionality

The template automatically checks cross-sheet relationships and common errors, tracing data sources and providing root cause analysis and modification recommendations.

Validation includes:

Workbook link errors
Cross-sheet reference errors
Abnormal sales cycles
Rough/fitted price input anomalies
Invalid plot names
Area allocation anomalies
Financing parameter anomalies
Engineering metric reference anomalies
Tax logic anomalies

The V10 investment diagnostics module references data validation results to form the “Data Credibility” assessment. If base data, formula links, sales cycles, price inputs, financing parameters, or tax logic contain anomalies, the comprehensive score, investment rating, and risk scoring may be affected. Therefore, it is recommended to complete data validation and review before viewing investment diagnostic conclusions.

35. VBA Automatic Workbook Error Checking

In the Data Validation & Review sheet, the template provides one-click VBA functionality to check workbook link errors, cross-sheet reference errors, and other common errors. Results are displayed in designated cells for quick issue identification.

36. Pre-Launch Funding Payment Plan

Based on the selected construction payment template, the template aggregates and schedules monthly payments and collections for land, pre-development, construction, period costs, and taxes.

Supports selection based on first-launch scenario:

Phase 1
Phase 1, Batch 1 (First Launch Zone)

Provides aggregated totals for pre-launch, Year 1, Year N, and other periods.

37. Dual Directory System: Home Page & Export Directory

The template includes two directory types:

Directory Type	Worksheet	Purpose
Home Page Directory	Home	Quick navigation to worksheets
Export Directory	Export	Selection of worksheets for export

The Home Page Directory is used for internal template navigation; the Export Directory is used for results file export.

38. One-Click Results File Export

To meet confidentiality and external reporting requirements, the template supports selective worksheet export.

During export, the system:

Automatically copies user-selected worksheets
Generates a standalone .xlsx file
Converts formulas to static values
Preserves formatting, column widths, row heights, and page styles
Removes macros and VBA code
Does not affect the original template

Suitable for providing estimation results to clients, leadership, partners, and financial institutions.

Supports export of the Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations page
Preserves static results including comprehensive scoring, investment rating, risk scoring, and optimization recommendations

39. One-Click Multi-Mode LVT Liquidation Value Generation

XLCS PRO supports one-click generation of LVT liquidation values across multiple modes: consolidated liquidation, by-plot liquidation, and by-phase liquidation. Users can configure different phase/plot combinations to view corresponding LVT liquidation values in real time, facilitating identification of optimal tax planning structures.

40. WPS/Excel Dual-Platform Compatibility & Global Task Lock

Since V8.2, the template’s core functionality has been fully compatible with both Excel and WPS.

Multiple core VBA modules incorporate a global task lock mechanism to prevent data conflicts from repeated button clicks or concurrent macro execution. Affected modules include:

Sales sell-through plan
Construction payment plan
Restricted fund calculation
Financing interest calculation
Engineering metric auto-configuration
File export
Sensitivity analysis modules

VBA Automation Capabilities Overview

Starting from XLCS Core V9, significant core logic has been refactored with VBA modules. Compared to traditional complex formulas, VBA offers advantages in execution efficiency, complex logic handling, batch calculation, data recovery, cross-sheet integration, and WPS/Excel compatibility.

Module	Worksheet	Primary Function
Sales Sell-Through	02 Basic Indicator Entry / 09.1 Sales Plan	Generates monthly product sell-through plans
Construction Payment Plan	08.2 Pre-Construction Payment	Generates monthly payment plans for Phases 1–5
Restricted Fund	09.3 Restricted Funds	Generates monthly restricted fund release plans
Financing Interest	08.1 Financing Plan	Calculates monthly interest for development loans and pre-financing
Selling Price Sensitivity	11.4 Selling Price Sensitivity Analysis	Analyzes impact of price changes on metrics
Land Price Sensitivity	11.3 Land Price Sensitivity Analysis	Analyzes impact of land unit price changes on metrics
Financing Structure Sensitivity	11.2 Financing Sensitivity Analysis	Analyzes changes in loan amount, rate, and term
Sales Dynamics	11.6 Sales Dynamics Analysis	Analyzes impact of sales cadence changes
Marketing Fee Dynamics	11.7 Marketing Fee Ratio Dynamics Analysis	Analyzes price-fee combinations
Engineering Metric Auto-Config	04.1 Engineering Metrics / 04.3 Configuration Standards	Automatically configures engineering unit cost benchmarks
Unit Area Adjustment	02 Basic Indicator Entry	Automatically calibrates unit areas
Website Node Speed Test	02 Basic Indicator Entry	Automatically selects fastest cloud service node
Home Page Directory	Home	Automatically generates worksheet navigation
Export Function	Export	Selective worksheet export
Project Investment Diagnostics	Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations	Generates comprehensive scoring, investment rating, core indicator diagnostics, risk scoring, and optimization recommendations
Sensitivity Analysis Summary	Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations / Sensitivity Analysis Sheets	Consolidates land price, selling price, sales cycle, and financing rate stress test results
Risk Scoring	Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations	Identifies data credibility, funding safety, sales realization, tax, and financing sensitivity risks
Indicator Grading Configuration	Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations	Displays red-line, warning, compliant, and excellent values with industry benchmarks

Through these VBA automation modules, XLCS is not merely a set of estimation spreadsheets, but a comprehensive real estate estimation system with automatic calculation, validation, analysis, diagnosis, export, and repair capabilities. With the addition of the Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations module in V10, the template further incorporates investment rating, risk warning, and decision support capabilities.

🌐 Official Website & Support

Type	Link
Official Website	http://fccs.cc
Official Website	http://fckcs.cn
Official Website	http://fckcs.com
Official Website	http://fdc.sd
Official Website	http://fccsz.com
Official Website	http://cskits.com
Support & Suggestions	http://xlcs.de/
Email Contact	[email protected]

📷 Template Preview

XLCS Core – Full-Cost Estimation Core Edition Preview
XLCS Core – Project Investment Diagnostics & Decision Recommendations

XLCS — Making full-cost estimation smarter