Breakdown

Ace Handyman Services franchise unit economics

Ace Handyman Services franchisees sell craftsman labor by the day from a small office into a territory sized by household count. A multi-territory group billing $810,449 keeps $150,662 of owner discretionary income, while a single territory billing $775,337 keeps $49,793. Scale is what turns revenue into owner pay here.

By Scott Engler · Averan Advisors · Source: Ace Handyman Services Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) · Updated 22 September 2026

Where these figures come from

Primary source: Ace Handyman Services Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Items read: Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
Population: 154 of 383 locations
Our calculations: Marked on the page with an asterisk. Method
Last reviewed: 26 September 2026

Disclosure-based. Not a forecast, not an offer to sell a franchise, and not advice.

Key idea

A multi-territory group billing $810,449 keeps $150,662 of owner income. A single territory billing $775,337 keeps $49,793. Nearly the same revenue, three times the money, and the gap is almost entirely general and administrative overhead. Runs 21.8% of revenue at the single territory and 14.4% at the group.

Franchised territories (end 2025)383 across 214 owners

Average owner income, single territory$32,985

Average owner income, multi-territory group$116,627

Total investment$132,200–$226,000

Owner income averages $32,985 at a single territory and $116,627 at a multi-territory group. Across 77 of each, on average revenue of $473,921 and $806,795.
General and administrative takes 18.0% to 22.0% of revenue at single territories and 14.4% to 17.6% at groups. Four to seven points, which is most of the owner-income gap.
The $500,000 minimum annual revenue, reconciled at 8%, would cost a bottom-quarter single territory $19,664 more than it paid. 492% of that quarter's $3,994 of owner income.
Local marketing spend sits below the contractual minimum at every quartile in both tables. $48,639 at the highest-selling single quartile against a $50,000 annual requirement from year three.
In all four single-territory quartiles, both the highest and the lowest-revenue territory earn more owner income than the quarter average. Which puts the losses in the middle of each group.

Top performers

What separates the top Ace Handyman Services performers

Ace Handyman Services publishes no revenue figures, so neither the average nor the spread between locations is disclosed.

Decided before you open

Capacity, fixed at build.capacity is None vans multiplied by hours multiplied by how full they run. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building, quoted at 100,000 households. Two owners with the same brand and different ground are running different businesses, and density decides how much driving sits between jobs.
What you spend to open.Opening costs $132,200 to $226,000, a 1.7× range inside one brand. The high end usually buys more capacity, so the cheapest build is not always the cheapest route to the top band.

Live operating levers

What you can change after opening.This filing prices none of the operating lines. Across the Home Services brands in this library that do disclose them, the largest is the cost of what you sell at a median 43.8% of sales *. Model that line first, then ask owners at both ends of the system what it actually runs at, because a few points on the largest line outweighs everything else you can change.

Context you underwrite around

The reporting screen.154 of 383 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
What the rest of the category shows.Across the 66 Home Services brands in this library that do publish bands, the top group sells 8.9× the bottom at the typical brand, and a median 35% of locations reach their own average *. Assume a spread of that order here until the franchisor shows you otherwise.

Top performers

How far apart the locations are

Multi-territory, top quartile

This filing does not split its locations into performance bands, so the gap between the highest and lowest Ace Handyman Services location is not disclosed. What it does publish is on the Model and Finance tabs.

Fees, minimums & investment

The minimum revenue requirement has teeth.

What the brand took against what the minimum revenue requirement implies, single territories *Averan calculation
quartile	Total sales	Royalty and brand fund paid	Effective rate	8% of the $500,000 minimum	Shortfall	Shortfall against owner income
Top quartile	$775,337	$60,347	7.78%	$40,000	n/a	n/a
2nd quartile	$533,854	$39,687	7.43%	$40,000	$313	1%
3rd quartile	$347,542	$27,286	7.85%	$40,000	$12,714	32%
Bottom quartile	$250,699	$20,336	8.11%	$40,000	$19,664	492%

Ours, comparing the filed royalty and national brand fund figures for each quartile against 8% of the Minimum Annual Gross Revenues the franchise agreement sets for year three onwards.

A bottom-quarter territory billing $250,699 in its third year owes $40,000 of royalty and brand fund. Against $20,336 actually paid, a $19,664 gap, which is 492% of that quarter's $3,994 of owner discretionary income *. Thirty-nine of the 77 single reporting territories sit in the bottom two quartiles, below the $500,000 line. This is the single most consequential clause in the agreement and it appears nowhere in the performance tables.

Local marketing spend sits below the requirement at every quartile. The contract requires $30,000 from the third full month through year one, $40,000 in year two and $50,000 a year thereafter. The filed figures are $48,639, $39,299, $25,950 and $17,842 at the single-territory quartiles. A multi-territory group holding 3.58 territories spends $110,643 against a requirement that would scale to $178,947 *. Either the requirement is being applied more loosely than it reads, or a large share of this system is under-spending it.

Fixed charges are small: $7,188 a year of software. $599 a month, which the franchisor may raise to $1,200. Beyond that the structure is percentage-based, which is unusually gentle for this library. But the $50,000 marketing requirement and the $500,000 revenue minimum together behave like a very large fixed obligation for any territory below that revenue line.

What it costs to open a territory.

Estimated initial investment, as the brand reported it, Item 7 of the 2026 FDD
Item	Low	High
Initial franchise fee	$70,000	$100,000
Additional funds, three months	$30,000	$45,000
Initial marketing spend	$11,000	$20,000
Truck or van	$0	$9,000
Insurance	$5,500	$7,000
Professional fees	$500	$6,000
Computer hardware and office equipment	$2,500	$5,500
Licenses and permits	$1,000	$5,000
Rent for first three months	$3,500	$4,800
Miscellaneous opening costs	$2,000	$4,500
Travel and living while training	$3,500	$4,500
Building work and signage	$600	$4,000
Furnishings	$600	$4,000
Lease deposit	$1,000	$3,200
Tools and equipment	$0	$2,500
Utility deposits and fees	$500	$1,000
Total	$132,200	$226,000

As the brand reported it, reordered here by size.

The build is 0.28 to 0.48 times a year of average single-territory revenue. $132,200 to $226,000 against $473,921 *. Light by the standards of this library, because the business runs from an office, rent is $3,500 to $4,800 for three months and building work as little as $600.

The franchise fee is 53% of the low column and 44% of the high. $70,000 to $100,000, scaling with household count at a dollar per household. That is the only line that scales with territory size. It means an owner buying 100,000 households pays $30,000 more for ground whose value the performance tables suggest depends far more on execution.

Cash to run the business day to day is $30,000 to $45,000 across three months. Against a bottom-quarter territory's annual expenses of $246,705, cost of goods plus expenses, three months would be $61,676. So the reserve covers roughly half to three-quarters of it *. Add the $30,000 first-year marketing requirement and the working capital assumption deserves rebuilding from the bottom up.

One territory or several

The same revenue, three times the money.

Multi-territory, top quartile

$1,514,055

Single territory, top quartile

$775,337

Multi-territory, bottom quartile

$332,217

Single territory, bottom quartile

$250,699

2025 profit and loss by quartile, single territories against multi-territory groups, as the brand reported it, with shares of revenue added *Averan calculation
Group	Units	Total sales	Cost of goods sold	Gross profit	Total expenses	Owner discretionary income	Share of revenue	General and administrative
Multi-territory, top quartile	19 groups, 68 territories	$1,514,055	48.8%	51.2%	36.5%	$223,597	14.8%	16.6%
Multi-territory, 2nd quartile	19 groups, 52 territories	$810,449	47.1%	52.9%	34.3%	$150,662	18.6%	14.4%
Single territory, top quartile	19	$775,337	50.7%	49.3%	42.9%	$49,793	6.4%	21.8%
Multi-territory, 3rd quartile	19 groups, 52 territories	$595,435	47.5%	52.5%	40.5%	$71,561	12.0%	17.6%
Single territory, 2nd quartile	19	$533,854	52.2%	47.8%	40.3%	$40,188	7.5%	18.0%
Single territory, 3rd quartile	19	$347,542	45.3%	54.7%	43.4%	$39,489	11.4%	20.5%
Multi-territory, bottom quartile	20 groups, 60 territories	$332,217	51.4%	48.6%	41.0%	$25,486	7.7%	16.6%
Single territory, bottom quartile	20	$250,699	52.8%	47.2%	45.7%	$3,994	1.6%	22.0%

Revenue and owner discretionary income are as the brand reported it; the percentage columns are marked *, dividing each filed line by its own group's revenue.

A multi-territory group billing $810,449 keeps $150,662; a single territory billing $775,337 keeps $49,793. $35,112 more revenue and $100,869 more owner income *. Across the whole reporting population the pattern holds: single territories average $32,985 of owner income and multi-territory groups $116,627, 3.5 times.

General and administrative is where the difference sits. 18.0% to 22.0% of revenue at single territories against 14.4% to 17.6% at groups, a gap of four to seven points. That is worth $31,000 to $54,000 a year at the revenue levels in this table *. The line covers office wages, payroll taxes, insurance, telephone and internet: one office, one dispatcher, one set of software, range across more work.

Gross profit is close between the two: 47.2% to 54.7% single, 48.6% to 52.9% multi. Craftsman personnel costs run 28.6% to 35.7% of revenue at single territories and 29.6% to 34.6% at groups. So the trade itself prices the same either way, the labor, the materials and the mark-up travel. What changes is the overhead sitting on top of it.

The single-territory top quartile is the least profitable of the four single groups. $775,337 of revenue produces $49,793, or 6.4%, against 11.4% at the third quartile on $347,542. General and administrative runs $168,965 and cost of goods 50.7%. A single territory growing past about $500,000 adds overhead faster than it adds margin, which is the case for the multi-territory structure.

The bottom single quartile keeps $3,994 on $250,699 of revenue, 1.6%. Twenty territories. Their expenses run 45.7% of revenue against 34.3% at the best multi-territory group, and their general and administrative alone is $55,029. At that level the owner is working for the craftsmen.

Inside each quarter, by sales

The single-territory profit and loss, line by line.

2025 profit and loss for the 77 single reporting territories by quartile, as the brand reported it
Line	Top quartile	2nd quartile	3rd quartile	Bottom quartile
Territories	19	19	19	20
Labor revenue	$579,276	$401,376	$273,629	$177,122
Materials, trash and equipment revenue	$144,029	$87,144	$47,664	$50,146
Service charge revenue	$52,032	$45,335	$26,250	$23,431
Total sales	$775,337	$533,854	$347,542	$250,699
Craftsman personnel	$237,076	$190,677	$99,286	$81,374
Materials, trash and equipment	$151,270	$85,843	$57,736	$49,347
Mileage	$4,845	$1,991	$337	$1,534
Total cost of goods sold	$393,191	$278,511	$157,360	$132,254
Gross profit	$382,146	$255,343	$190,183	$118,445
General and administrative	$168,965	$96,212	$71,326	$55,029
Local marketing	$48,639	$39,299	$25,950	$17,842
Royalties	$46,934	$30,016	$22,421	$14,906
Automobiles	$25,364	$18,925	$11,019	$7,875
Rent	$19,945	$12,446	$6,907	$6,698
National brand fund	$13,413	$9,671	$4,865	$5,430
Software	$8,202	$6,948	$7,154	$6,081
Tools, card fees and permits	$891	$1,639	$1,051	$590
Total expenses	$332,353	$215,155	$150,694	$114,451
Owner discretionary income	$49,793	$40,188	$39,489	$3,994
Owners beating their quartile average	11 (58%)	12 (63%)	9 (47%)	9 (45%)
Owner income at the highest-revenue territory	$165,201	$47,466	$140,878	$21,082
Owner income at the lowest-revenue territory	$110,146	$96,336	$102,306	$64,779

As the brand reported it, reordered here by size within each section.

In all four quartiles, both the highest and the lowest-revenue territory beat the quarter average on owner income. Top quartile: $165,201 and $110,146 against an average of $49,793. Bottom quartile: $21,082 and $64,779 against $3,994 *. That is arithmetically possible only if territories in the middle of each group are earning very little or losing money. Is also what the attainment counts say, 45% to 63% beat the average.

Labor is 70.7% to 78.7% of revenue at every quartile. $579,276 of $775,337 at the top and $177,122 of $250,699 at the bottom, with the third quartile highest at 78.7% *. Materials and equipment revenue runs 13.7% to 20.0% and service charges 6.7% to 9.3%. The mix is stable, so this is a business that sells craftsman hours and passes materials through at close to cost, materials revenue of $144,029 against materials cost of $151,270 in the top quartile is a negative margin on that line.

Materials cost more than materials revenue in three of the four quartiles. $151,270 against $144,029 at the top, $57,736 against $47,664 at the third and $49,347 against $50,146 at the bottom, only the second quartile charges more than it pays, $87,144 against $85,843 *. Whatever the intent, this system is subsidizing materials out of labor margin, and it is a line worth repricing.

Rent is $6,698 to $19,945 a year. 2.6% of revenue at the top quartile and 2.7% at the bottom. This is an office and a yard, which is what makes the entry price low. It means the fixed-cost problem in this model sits in general and administrative.

Software is $6,081 to $8,202 whatever the revenue. The franchisor charges $599 a month, which is $7,188 a year, and the quarter figures bracket it. At the bottom quartile that is 2.4% of revenue; at the top, 1.1%. It is the only genuinely flat charge in the structure, and it is small relative to the marketing requirement.

The network of locations

The network of locations. (Item 20)

Franchised territories, 2023 to 2025, as the brand reported it
Year	Start	Opened	Terminations	Non-renewals	Reacquired	Ceased, other	End	Net change
2023	305	82	8	3	5	4	367	+62
2024	367	35	7	6	5	15	369	+2
2025	369	40	10	2	0	14	383	+14

As the brand reported it; every row reconciles exactly.

Departures ran 20, 33 and 26 across three years while openings fell 82, 35, 40. The network added 62 territories in 2023, 2 in 2024 and 14 in 2025. Growth has essentially stopped, and the departure rate has settled at about 7% of the territory base a year.

26 territories closed in 2025, held by 22 owners. Every one had traded over twelve months, so these were established businesses. Set beside a bottom quartile of single territories keeping $3,994 on $250,699 of revenue and a $500,000 minimum revenue requirement in the agreement, the mechanism is visible in the tables.

383 territories are held by 214 owners, 1.8 each. And the performance tables say the 77 multi-territory groups in the reporting population hold 232 territories, an average of 3.0. So the system already leans multi-territory, and the owner-income figures say that is where the money is.

5 signed agreements sit unopened against 32 projected openings. A thin pipeline on paper against an ambitious projection. Implies the coming year's openings would have to come substantially from agreements yet to be signed or from existing owners taking adjacent ground.

Questions we get asked

Questions owners ask.

What should a territory be billing and earning?

The 77 single reporting territories averaged $473,921 of revenue and $32,985 of owner discretionary income. By quartile: $775,337 and $49,793, $533,854 and $40,188, $347,542 and $39,489, $250,699 and $3,994. The 77 multi-territory reporting groups averaged $806,795 and $116,627, by quartile $1,514,055 and $223,597, $810,449 and $150,662, $595,435 and $71,561, $332,217 and $25,486. Owner discretionary income is gross profit less total expenses and may include owner salary and distributions, so it sits before the owner is paid.

Is one territory enough?

A multi-territory group billing $810,449 keeps $150,662, while a single territory billing $775,337 keeps $49,793, nearly the same revenue and three times the owner income. The mechanism is general and administrative overhead: 14.4% to 17.6% of revenue at groups against 18.0% to 22.0% at single territories. Because one office and one back-office team cover more work. Gross profit is close, at 47.2% to 54.7% single and 48.6% to 52.9% multi, so the whole difference sits below the gross line.

What does the brand take?

A 6% royalty and a 2% National Brand Fee on actual gross revenues, both paid monthly on the 18th. $599 a month for software which may rise to $1,200. Critically, both percentage fees are subject to annual reconciliation against a Minimum Annual Gross Revenues requirement of $200,000 in year one, $400,000 in year two and $500,000 thereafter. So a territory billing $250,699 in its third year owes 8% of $500,000. Is $40,000, against $20,336 at the actual rate. There is also a minimum local marketing spend of $30,000, $40,000 and then $50,000 a year.

What does it cost to open?

$132,200 to $226,000, of which the franchise fee is $70,000 to $100,000, $70,000 for a territory of 70,000 households, rising by a dollar for each additional household up to 100,000. A Mini business has a $35,000 to $45,000 fee, taking the total to $97,200 to $171,000. Cash to run the business day to day is $30,000 to $45,000 for three months and initial marketing $11,000 to $20,000. Rent is $3,500 to $4,800 for three months, because this is an office-and-yard business.

Who does bookkeeping for an Ace Handyman Services franchise?

Three lines decide the close here. Materials: in three of the four single-territory quartiles the cost of materials, trash and equipment runs above the revenue charged for them. So test the mark-up every month, passing materials through below cost funds them out of labor margin. Minimum revenue: royalty and brand fee are charged monthly on actual revenue and reconciled annually against a minimum reaching $500,000 in year three. So a territory tracking below that needs the accrual. At bottom-quarter revenue the difference is $19,664, several times the owner income. Marketing: the requirement steps from $30,000 to $40,000 to $50,000 a year and belongs on its own schedule with the supporting invoices. Beyond those, the split between labor, materials and service-charge revenue is the operating dashboard. General and administrative as a share of revenue is the number that decides whether a second territory would pay. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.

What this filing does not disclose

No revenue figures. The filing makes no financial performance representation, so there is no disclosed sales number for any location.
No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
No cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.
No range. The filing does not show the highest and lowest locations, so the spread inside the system is unknown.
No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.

Questions worth putting to Ace Handyman Services

The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.

What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
What did the highest and lowest locations sell last year, and what explains the gap?
How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
What do the fees add up to as a share of sales at the average location, once minimums and technology charges are counted?
How many Ace Handyman Services locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?

Part of our Home & Commercial Services Franchise Finance guide and the Handyman And Home Repair Franchise Finance guide · Āveran Franchise Resource Center

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Where these figures come from.

Every figure here comes from Ace Handyman Services Franchising. LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. Ace Handyman Services® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.

Where this sits

the franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners

The same business, other brands

Ace Handyman Services reads against the rest of the handyman and home repair group: Mr. Handyman · TruBlue. The handyman and home repair guide compares all of them on the same figures.

Questions owners ask next

The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.

At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?Usually it is a revenue problem wearing a payroll costume.
Revenue was the highest it has been. Why did profit not move?Where the extra revenue went, line by line.
At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?What changes at around ten units, and why lenders care.

Where to next

Compare brands, every brand in the library on one screen
What changes at ten units
Running the books across several units
Item 19, how to read Item 19 of an FDD
Fractional CFO, for the forecast behind a second location and the cash plan that carries it
Bookkeeping for franchise owners, what this looks like when someone else keeps the books
Āveran Franchise Resource Center, every breakdown in the library
Bookkeeping, monthly close built around the way your brand reports
Controller, when the numbers need someone reading them as well as recording them

Scott Engler

Founder & Principal, Averan Advisors

Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team. More about the team →

If you want this done for you

What happens next

Everything above came out of a filing. Doing it on your own numbers means the books have to produce the same lines: sales, wages, occupancy, fees and what is left, by location, every month. That is the work.

The call, twenty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We tell you honestly whether we can help, and what we would start with. No pitch deck.
We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
A written scope and a priceWhat we do each month, what you get, the date it lands, and the fee. Agreed before anything starts, and it does not move without you agreeing it.
Transition, then the first closeAccess, systems, and the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.

Start with the call →How an engagement runs

Averan is not a CPA firm and does not file taxes. Your CPA keeps that, and we keep the books they file from.