How to Use This Tool
Combine an operating-gap allowance with scheduled replacement funding and contingency. Estimate a property operating reserve from annual expenses, gap months, scheduled replacements, funding horizon and contingency.
The decision this tool supports
One generic percentage of property value can hide whether the reserve is meant for operating interruption, known replacements or both. This page keeps the decision bounded to modeled reserve target and the supporting outputs shown beside it. Property Reserve does not import an account, infer a market rate, or silently substitute an industry average.
Inputs and units
The Property Reserve calculation uses Annual operating expenses, Operating gap allowance, Scheduled replacements, Replacement funding horizon, Contingency on reserve. Keep all money values in one currency and all time, distance, mass, energy or volume entries in the unit printed beside the field. Mixing Property Reserve scopes can produce a plausible number with the wrong meaning.
- Annual operating expenses is entered in currency/year.
- Operating gap allowance is entered in months.
- Scheduled replacements is entered in currency.
- Replacement funding horizon is entered in years.
- Contingency on reserve is entered in %.
Formula and worked check
Gap reserve = annual operating expense ÷ 12 × gap months; annual replacement funding = scheduled cost ÷ horizon; contingency applies to their sum. $48,000 annual expenses, a three-month gap, $24,000 funded over five years and 10% contingency produce an $18,480 modeled reserve. The Property Reserve default is an executable known-answer case, not a benchmark or recommendation. Change one input and verify that the direction of modeled reserve target still matches the stated relationship.
How to interpret the result
Use the separated components to challenge the assumptions; the total is a planning scenario, not a lender, tax or statutory reserve requirement. The additional Property Reserve outputs expose the denominator, comparison, capacity or reverse value needed to audit the primary result instead of presenting one unexplained number.
Assumptions
- Annual expenses are representative of the reserve period.
- Replacement cost is spread evenly over the entered horizon.
- Contingency applies once to both components.
Save the Property Reserve input values and date with any material decision. A later Property Reserve rerun is reproducible only when the same assumptions and units are available.
Limitations and safety boundary
It excludes debt service, taxes, insurance deductibles, vacancy probability, inflation, timing of multiple replacements and local legal requirements. Property Reserve is an estimate and cannot replace a contract, local code, licensed professional, calibrated measurement, lender statement or platform report where one governs the decision.
Source and privacy
The Property Reserve definition or rule was checked against U.S. Small Business Administration — Manage your finances on 2026-08-26. Recheck U.S. Small Business Administration — Manage your finances when a specification or policy behind Property Reserve can change. Property Reserve arithmetic runs in this browser tab; ecech does not receive the values through a calculation API.
Sources & assumptions
Tool Spec v2 · verified 2026-08-26. Platform rules and fees can change; the editable inputs remain authoritative for your account.
Official references
- U.S. Small Business Administration — Manage your finances (checked 2026-08-26)
Model assumptions
- Annual expenses are representative of the reserve period.
- Replacement cost is spread evenly over the entered horizon.
- Contingency applies once to both components.
- It excludes debt service, taxes, insurance deductibles, vacancy probability, inflation, timing of multiple replacements and local legal requirements.
