Agricultural Cash-flow Calculator
Tool for estimating farm-level profitability and cash flow from basic farm structure data
Description
Agricultural Cash-flow Calculator is a digital tool for estimating farm-level average profitability and cash flow using farm structure data. The tool uses production costs and sectoral benchmarks to generate standardized cash-flow projections that are comparable across farms and sectors to test financial plans, identify weak points in projected income and reduce the risk of agricultural lending.
Technology
Agricultural Cash-flow Calculator is implemented as a Microsoft Excel workbook that combine Hungarian FADN sector averages and farm-level inputs to compute cash flow, farm income and key ratios such as the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) over multiple years. The tool calculates sectoral cash flows using benchmark production values, costs and direct subsidies, and aggregates them into a total farm cash flow. Users can refine calculations by adjusting elements such as yields, prices, direct subsidies, costs, land classification value, educational level of the farmer and annual debt service, and includes sensitivity analysis functions to test alternative scenarios.
Target
Agricultural Cash-flow Calculator mainly targets loan officers and analysts in commercial banks that finance agricultural holdings, including smallholder farms, medium size farms and larger agricultural companies.
Business model
Agricultural Cash-flow Calculator has been developed and is maintained by the Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI) as part of its public mandate to provide evidence-based tools for agricultural policy and finance and is deployed in collaboration with commercial banks in Hungary. The solution is used internally by participating banks as a farm rating and loan assessment tool.
Impact
Agricultural Cash-flow Calculator intends to support more transparent and data-driven agricultural lending decisions by helping financial institutions identify weak elements in farm business plans, reducing loan default risk and channeling credit towards financially viable agricultural investments.
Four Betters
Better production
Better life
