Sinking fund forecast software · Australia
A surveyor's forecast is a photograph of one day. Plinth is the same engineering, kept running — so the number is true on the day you need it, not the day it was written.
One
Every long-life asset gets a line: what it costs to replace or service in today’s dollars, how often that comes round, and when it was last done. That’s the whole model — no black box, no proprietary index you can’t interrogate.
Because it’s a register and not a report, it’s editable. Change a cost, add an asset your building actually has, mark a job done — the forecast recomputes on the spot.
14 assets · $2.9m in today’s dollars · Harbour Court
Two
Every work is escalated to the dollars of the year it falls due, at 3.5% a year. This is the single thing a static plan gets most wrong.
- Today
- $100k
- In 5 years
- $119k
- In 10 years
- $141k
- In 15 years
- $168k
the same $100,000 job, four different years
Three
Draw the works against the fund and the verdict is arithmetic: the year it breaches, how deep, and the flat levy that would have held it. No percentage rule of thumb.
Four
The asset register
Every common-property item with its cost and renewal cycle — the backbone of the plan.
A live fund forecast
The maintenance fund projected year by year, with the contribution needed to keep it solvent.
Renewals & compliance
Track essential-safety and certificate expiries so nothing lapses between meetings.
A document vault
Plans, certificates, warranties and insurances kept with the building they belong to.
Works that feed back
When a job is quoted and done, the plan updates — it never drifts from reality.
A downloadable report
A clean, current plan to table at the AGM, generated on demand.
Five
- Quotes update the plan
- Accept a quote and the real figure replaces the estimate — the whole forecast recalculates.
- Actual vs forecast
- Track what’s actually been spent against the plan, so drift shows up early.
- Always AGM-ready
- The plan is never out of date, so the number you table is the number the system has kept live.
- 6 months to 10 years
- Near-term operational windows and long-term capital, on one screen.
Six
The maths is the same everywhere — only the terminology changes. Plinth uses the right words for your jurisdiction.
Seven
Strata & OC managers
One portfolio, every building’s plan current — and committee members who can see it without ringing you.
Committee members
A plan you can actually read, and the confidence the fund is set right before you vote on levies.
Building managers
Renewals, compliance and works in one place, tied to the plan that funds them.
Eight
Plinth signs you in with a one-time code emailed to your address, so there’s no password to steal, reuse or phish — every sign-in is its own verification step. Plan data is isolated per owners corporation, and the number of signed-in devices is capped per account.
Questions
- What is a sinking fund forecast?
- A sinking fund forecast is a long-range estimate of a building's major capital spending — roofs, lifts, membranes, repaint cycles — and the owner contributions needed to meet it without special levies. Most Australian states require one in some form, usually spanning 10 years. The estimate only holds while its assumptions hold: prices rise and works shift, so a forecast needs revisiting well before the next formal report falls due.
- Is a sinking fund compulsory in Australia?
- In most states, yes, under different names. NSW mandates a capital works fund and 10-year plan for owners corporations. Queensland requires sinking fund budgets under most regulation modules. Victoria requires a maintenance plan and fund for tier one and tier two owners corporations. WA requires a reserve fund and 10-year plan for schemes with 10 or more lots or a replacement value above $5 million. South Australia requires community corporations to keep a sinking fund for non-recurrent spending, though strata corporations under its older Strata Titles Act 1988 may keep one voluntarily rather than by obligation.
- How many years should a sinking fund forecast cover?
- At least 10 years in most states. NSW, Victoria and WA all legislate 10-year plans, and Queensland's sinking fund budget must cover the current financial year plus at least nine more. Plinth models 20 years, because the second decade is where the expensive plant usually falls due — seeing it early is what lets levies rise gently instead of arriving as a shock.
- What is the difference between a sinking fund and a capital works fund?
- Nothing in substance. Capital works fund is the name New South Wales now uses for what was previously called the sinking fund; both hold money set aside for capital and non-routine works, separate from the administrative fund that pays day-to-day costs. Other states have their own labels — maintenance fund in Victoria, reserve fund in Western Australia — while Queensland and South Australia still use sinking fund.
- How much does sinking fund forecast software cost?
- Plinth is A$750 per account per year including GST, which covers the first building, then A$350 per year for each additional building. There are no per-seat charges and no feature tiers. Before paying anything, the free calculator at plinthconsulting.com.au takes six inputs and gives a quick read on whether current levies are on track, and the worked demo shows the full product on a real-shaped building.
Plinth prepares the plan on published cost data. When works fall due we can manage them — competitively tendered, at arm’s length from every contractor. The plan is never a sales document for the works.