What does it cost to run a villa in Bali each month?

The line most projections leave blank. It does not shrink when the villa is empty.

Rental projections are detailed about income and vague about cost. This is the vague part, and it is the reason net returns disappoint.

What is actually in the number

Staff. The largest line and the least flexible. Villa staff, housekeeping, security, pool and garden, and a manager on larger properties, continue whether or not anyone is staying. Indonesian employment obligations attach to properly engaged staff, so this is not a cost you switch off in low season.

Utilities. Power is the surprise. Air conditioning across multiple bedrooms, pool pumps and water heating carry a real monthly load, and it rises with occupancy rather than replacing other costs.

Pool and garden. Continuous. A neglected pool costs more to recover than to maintain.

Maintenance. Bali is hard on buildings, humidity, salt air near the coast, and heavy rain. Budget for continuous small repairs rather than occasional large ones.

Internet, supplies, consumables. Small individually, constant collectively.

The costs that are not "running costs" but hit the same account

Platform commission: 15–20% depending on channel mix
PB1, the 10% regional accommodation tax, collected from the guest and remitted by you. It is not income and never was
Management fee: 15–25%, and the base it is charged on matters as much as the percentage
Refurbishment reserve. A rental villa needs refitting every few years. Almost never shown in a projection
Income tax, on the profit that remains
PBB, annual land and building tax, though on a lease this generally sits with the owner

Why "it's cheap in Indonesia" misleads

Individual costs are low by Western standards. The count is high, and the fixed portion does not flex.

A villa at 30% occupancy still pays staff, still runs the pool, still needs the roof fixed. The revenue halves; the cost base does not.

That asymmetry is exactly what break-even occupancy measures.

Getting a real number

Do not accept a monthly figure without the breakdown behind it. Ask for:

Staff roster, roles, and who employs them
Twelve months of actual utility bills, not an average
What the management fee includes and what is billed separately
The maintenance history. What has been replaced, and when

Then put your figure into the calculator and see what it does to the yield you were quoted.

If a seller cannot produce twelve months of bills for a villa they say has been running successfully, consider what that means.