Breakdown

CertaPro Painters franchise unit economics

Q: How much does a CertaPro Painters franchise make?

The average CertaPro Painters unit reported $2,102,015 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $1,294,333. The filing puts the profit line at 9.3% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 9.4% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid,

CertaPro Painters franchisees sell residential and commercial painting jobs from a small office, running subcontracted or employed crews across a territory sized by household count. Revenue across 291 owners runs from $75,389 to $15,731,772, and across 74 of them 9.3% of revenue survives costs. The minimum royalty schedule is the performance criteria priced. Every figure in it is exactly 6% of the sales hurdle beside it.

By Scott Engler · Averan Advisors · Source: Certa ProPainters, Ltd., 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), issued March 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026

Where these figures come from

Primary source: Certa ProPainters, Ltd., 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Items read: Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
Population: 291 of 299 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

Every one of the 291 reporting franchisees is printed here with their 2025 gross sales, from $75,389 to $15,731,772. Set that list against the contract and one thing jumps out: the minimum royalty for each year is exactly 6% of that year's sales requirement. So the two obligations are a single hurdle wearing two hats, and 82 owners sit below the one that applies from year seven.

Owners reporting291 reporting

Average gross sales$2,102,015

Profit plus owner pay9.3% of revenue

Total investment$171,000–$320,500

Every minimum royalty figure equals 6% of the sales hurdle beside it, in every row of the schedule. $51,000 is 6% of $850,000; $39,000 is 6% of $650,000. Miss the sales figure and the royalty arrives anyway.
82 of 291 franchisees, 28.2%, bill below the $850,000 required from year seven. A year-seven owner at $600,000 pays $51,000 against $36,000: an 8.5% effective royalty, and 9.1 days of revenue handed over.
The 74-owner panel reports brand fees at 4.31% of revenue where the current schedule produces 6.23%. $55,730 a year at the panel's own average revenue, which takes the $269,721 profit line to $213,991 *.
The top 73 franchisees take 59.6% of system revenue. They average $4,994,038. The bottom 73 average $529,076, below the hurdle that applies from year five.
Commercial work is 45% of system volume, up from 42% in 2023, and it has zero territory protection. Residential ground is exclusive; every other franchisee may sell commercial inside it.

How much does a CertaPro Painters franchise make?

The average CertaPro Painters unit reported $2,102,015 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $1,294,333. The brand’s disclosure document puts the profit line at 9.3% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 9.4% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.

Where the revenue sits

291 figures, 209 times apart.

Top quarter

$4,994,038

Third quarter

$1,857,686

Second quarter

$1,023,912

Bottom quarter

$529,076

2025 gross sales by quarter of the 291 named franchisees, built from the filed list *Averan calculation
Quarter	Franchisees	Average gross sales	Range	Share of system revenue
Top quarter	73	$4,994,038	$2,579,383 – $15,731,772	59.6%
Third quarter	72	$1,857,686	$1,294,431 – $2,570,632	21.9%
Second quarter	73	$1,023,912	$803,572 – $1,294,333	12.2%
Bottom quarter	73	$529,076	$75,389 – $794,879	6.3%
All 291	291	$2,102,015	$75,389 – $15,731,772	100%

All 291 figures are as the brand reported it individually; the quarters, shares and ranges here are marked *, ranked by gross sales.

The top 73 franchisees take 59.6% of system revenue. $364,564,754 of $611,686,254 *. The bottom 73 take 6.3%. Put in time: a bottom-quarter franchisee's entire year of billing equals 5.5 weeks at a top-quarter one. This is a brand where the same trade, the same brand and the same playbook produce nine-fold outcomes.

The median is $1,294,333 and the average is $2,102,015, a gap of $807,682. Which is what happens when 25 franchisees bill over $5m and 30 bill under $500,000. Only 93 of 291 reach the average, so the average describes about a third of the system. The median is the figure to plan against.

106 franchisees, 36.4%, bill under $1m. And 9 bill under $250,000. Opening costs $171,000 to $320,500. An owner selling $529,076 spends a third to two-thirds of a year's revenue, with 54% of that revenue going straight back out as direct cost.

Where the build-up goes.

Average revenue by time in production, 2025, as the brand reported it
Groups of shops opened in the same year	Franchisees	Top third	Middle third	Bottom third	All	Median
Production year 1 (agreement signed 2024)	3	$1,351,819	$1,130,896	$288,041	$923,585	$1,130,896
Production year 2 (agreement signed 2023)	4	$1,037,377	$806,700	$715,581	$853,219	$806,700
Production year 3 and beyond	152	$4,734,863	$1,393,534	$590,692	$2,228,563	$1,278,657

As the brand reported it.

The mature top third averages $4,734,863 against $590,692 in the bottom third, eight times. A gap of $4,144,171 among franchisees who have all been trading at least 25 months. Years in business account for little of it. The middle third sells $1,393,534, closer to the bottom than the top.

Year-two franchisees average $853,219, below the year-one average of $923,585. On 4 and 3 businesses respectively, so treat it as anecdote. It does show that the first two years land near $850,000 to $925,000, above the $450,000 required in year two and within reach of the $500,000 year-three one.

The mature median is $1,278,657 while the mature average is $2,228,563. Half the mature system bills under $1.28m. An owner comparing their own figure against the headline $2,102,015 average is measuring against the top third of the brand.

The network of locations.

Franchised outlets, 2023 to 2025, as the brand reported it, Item 20 of the 2026 FDD
Year	Start	Opened	Terminations	Non-renewals	Reacquired	Ceased, other	End	Transfers
2023	330	4	2	1	1	6	324	23
2024	324	3	13	2	0	9	303	19
2025	303	15	6	5	1	7	299	21

As the brand reported it; every row reconciles exactly.

22 openings against 53 departures across three years. The system ran 330 franchised outlets at the start of 2023 and 299 at the end of 2025, down 9.4%. 2025 was the highest-selling recruiting year of the three at 15 openings and the second-highest for departures at 19, so the shrinkage slowed to 4 outlets.

63 outlets changed hands in three years on a base of roughly 300. Better than one in five. A seller who uses the franchisor to find a buyer pays a Listing and Referral Fee of the greater of $50,000 or 9% of the purchase price. A seller who finds their own buyer pays a $25,000 transfer fee. On a business selling at one times the $1,294,333 median, that is the difference between $116,490 and $25,000.

93 franchisees hold 227 of the 425 territories, 2.4 each. The revenue table counts franchisees, so a $2.1m average franchisee may be covering two or three territories. Revenue per territory across the whole system works out at $1,439,262 *, which is the figure to use when sizing what one piece of ground should produce.

Top performers

What separates the top CertaPro Painters performers

CertaPro Painters splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $4,994,038 a year. The worst averaged $529,076. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $1,294,333. The average was $2,102,015. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.

Decided before you open

Trade area and site.A 9.4× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building. 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 $171,000 to $320,500, a 1.9× 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

Cost of what you sell.Products and materials take 54.1% of sales, against 9.3% kept at the end. Buying terms, price discipline and waste are where this is won, and each of them compounds at volume. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
Jobs, the operating driver.This model bills on jobs. Every job is won again, so the owner works on how many quotes turn into work and what the average job is worth when it does. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 9.4% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
The first year.This filing shows how a new location builds up, so the ramp can be underwritten from the document rather than assumed. Read two things out of it: the month sales cross the point where costs are covered, and how much cash you fund before that month arrives. Everything before break-even is paid for by you.

Context you underwrite around

The reporting screen.291 of 299 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.

Top performers

How far apart the locations are

Top quarter

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

Fees and what it costs to open

What the fees come to at each size.

Annual fees payable to the franchisor and its funds, at points across the reported revenue range *Averan calculation
Franchisee	Gross sales	Royalty	Effective royalty rate	Technology fee	Advertising fund	Total	Share
Largest reporting franchisee	$15,731,772	$704,271	4.48%	$55,061	$339,635	$1,099,448	7.0%
Top quarter average	$4,994,038	$274,702	5.50%	$17,479	$124,881	$417,542	8.4%
System average	$2,102,015	$126,121	6.00%	$7,357	$63,060	$197,018	9.4%
System median	$1,294,333	$77,660	6.00%	$4,530	$38,830	$121,500	9.4%
Bottom quarter average	$529,076	$31,745	6.00%	$1,852	$15,872	$49,949	9.4%
Lowest-selling reporting franchisee	$75,389	$4,523	6.00%	$264	$2,262	$7,529	10.0%

Ours, built from the filed rates and applied to filed revenue figures.

The effective royalty falls from 6.00% to 4.48% across the reported range. Crossing $2.5m cuts the marginal rate to 5%, crossing $5m cuts it to 4%. The largest franchisee keeps $239,635 a year that a flat 6% would take, close to the entire $269,721 profit line of the average panel business *. Across all 291, the tiering leaves $2,613,733 with franchisees.

The advertising fund drops from 3% to 2% above $2.5m, and that money stays local. The 8% local advertising requirement includes the national fund. A larger owner sends one point less to the fund and spends one point more on their own market, $49,940 of redirected budget at the top-quarter average *. Scale here buys control of the marketing spend as much as a cheaper rate.

Below $2.5m the total lands at 9.4% of gross sales, whatever the size. $49,949 at the bottom-quarter average and $197,018 at the system average. The rate only starts moving once a franchisee is billing more than the third quarter of the system does. For three quarters of the network, franchise fees cost a flat 9.4% plus software users.

The software is charged per person, at $90 a month each. A business running an office manager, two estimators and a production manager pays $4,320 a year before the owner's own license. That is a cost that rises with headcount, so it lands hardest on a franchisee building capacity ahead of the work.

Two ways in, $149,500 apart at the top.

Estimated initial investment, both operating models, as the brand reported it, Item 7 of the 2026 FDD
Item	Subcontractor, low	Subcontractor, high	Employee, low	Employee, high
Initial franchise fee	$65,000	$65,000	$65,000	$65,000
Advertising and marketing	$45,000	$45,000	$45,000	$45,000
Additional funds, 3 to 6 months	$19,500	$52,500	$35,000	$75,000
Commercial services fee	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000
Real estate and improvements	$9,000	$24,000	$9,000	$24,000
Computer system and software	$9,000	$11,500	$9,000	$11,500
Insurance	$5,000	$7,500	$7,500	$12,500
Vehicle	$2,500	$10,000	$10,000	$40,000
Travel and living while training	$2,250	$5,000	$2,250	$5,000
Miscellaneous opening costs	$2,000	$5,000	$2,000	$5,000
Equipment	$1,000	$3,000	$5,000	$15,000
Office equipment	$500	$5,000	$500	$5,000
Contractor license	$250	$2,500	$3,000	$7,500
Total	$171,000	$246,000	$203,250	$320,500

As the brand reported it, reordered here by size.

The employee model costs $74,500 more at the top of the range. $320,500 against $246,000. Vehicles are $30,000 of that, working cash $22,500, equipment $12,000, insurance $5,000 and licences $5,000. In four states that choice is effectively made for the owner, so a California build starts $32,250 to $74,500 above a subcontractor build elsewhere.

$82,500 of the low column goes to the franchisor before a wall is painted. $65,000 of franchise fee, $10,000 of commercial services fee and $7,500 of technology setup, 48% of the $171,000 entry. The veteran discount takes it to $69,500, and buying an existing business takes it to $15,000 plus whatever the seller charges for the business itself.

Cash to run the business day to day runs three to six months at $19,500 to $75,000. Against a year-one average of $923,585, the $75,000 figure is 4.2 weeks of revenue and the $52,500 figure is 3.0 weeks *. On a trade where crews are paid weekly and commercial customers settle on terms, that is the line to plan generously.

The $45,000 advertising line covers the first three months. The contract requires 12% of gross sales across the whole first year. At the year-one average of $923,585 that is $110,830, so a further $65,830 falls due over the remaining nine months *. The investment table shows the opening burst; the contract sets the rest, and the requirement drops to 8% only from year two.

The build is 0.13 to 0.25 times the median franchisee's revenue. $171,000 to $320,500 against $1,294,333. That is low for a business this size. There is no shop, no fit-out and no stock. The capital goes into fee, marketing and working cash. Which also means the barrier to entry protecting an established owner is low.

Profit and loss

Where $2.9m goes.

2025 profit and loss for 74 franchisees, as the brand reported it, with shares of revenue added *Averan calculation
Line	Average	Share of revenue *	Median	Reaching the average
Revenue	$2,903,461	100%	$2,053,934	25 (34%)
Cost of goods sold	$1,570,385	54.1%	$1,087,574	23 (31%)
Gross profit	$1,333,076	45.9%	$935,047	24 (32%)
Operating expenses	$762,404	26.3%	$478,188	23 (31%)
Marketing expense	$239,509	8.2%	$183,742	23 (31%)
CertaPro royalty and fees	$125,085	4.3%	$96,162	25 (34%)
profit plus owner's associate compensation	$269,721	9.3%	$142,921	24 (32%)

Dollar figures, the 45.9% gross profit share and the 9.3% profit share are as the brand reported it; the remaining share column is marked *.

Direct cost takes 54.1% of revenue, leaving 45.9%. Paint, materials and the crews who apply them, whether they are subcontractors or employees. At the median the same line takes 53.0%. One point of gross margin is worth $29,035 at the panel average, which is 10.8% of the whole profit *. Estimating discipline is the single highest-leverage habit in this model.

The profit line is 9.3% of revenue, and it still includes the owner's associate compensation. $269,721 on $2,903,461. At the median it is 7.0%, $142,921 on $2,053,934. Half this panel is running a business that bills over $2m and keeps under $143,000 before the owner's own pay is settled.

Marketing costs 8.2% of sales, against the 8% the agreement requires. $239,509 against $232,277 *. This line is a requirement: an owner looking to cut costs has to find them in the 26.3% of overhead or in the 54.1% of direct cost. Because the franchisor audits marketing spend twice a year and bills the shortfall into the advertising fund.

Brand fees show at 4.3% of revenue. $125,085 on $2,903,461. The current schedule charges 6% royalty on the first $2.5m plus a 0.35% technology fee. This panel’s median revenue of $2,053,934 sits entirely inside that first tier. Some existing franchisees still pay legacy royalty and advertising rates under earlier agreements. The likeliest reading of the gap, and the reason a new owner should model the schedule.

Overheads take 26.3% of revenue outside marketing and brand fees. $762,404. On a business with almost zero fixed plant (a small office, a leased vehicle or four, and software) that is people: estimators, production managers and office staff. It is also the line that separates the $4.7m mature third from the $590,692 one. The estimating and crew capacity for $4.7m of work has to be paid for before the sales arrive.

The target to clear

One hurdle, written twice.

Minimum royalty against sales requirement, by contract year, as the brand reported it, with the implied sales figure added *Averan calculation
Calendar year	Minimum royalty on total gross sales	Sales implied at 6% *	Gross sales required	Minimum royalty on residential sales	Residential sales required
2nd, agreement signed June to December	$15,000	$250,000	$250,000	$15,000	$250,000
2nd, agreement signed January to May	$27,000	$450,000	$450,000	$21,000	$350,000
3rd	$30,000	$500,000	$500,000	$24,000	$400,000
4th	$36,000	$600,000	$600,000	$27,000	$450,000
5th and 6th	$39,000	$650,000	$650,000	$30,000	$500,000
7th and 8th	$51,000	$850,000	$850,000	$30,000	$500,000
9th and 10th	$51,000	$850,000	$850,000	$36,000	$600,000

The brand reported the minimum royalty figures and the sales requirements, in Section 2.3 of the agreement and in the territory performance criteria respectively. The implied-sales column is marked *, dividing each minimum by the 6% first-tier royalty rate.

Every minimum royalty figure is exactly 6% of the sales requirement beside it. All fourteen of them. $51,000 is 6% of $850,000; $39,000 is 6% of $650,000; $15,000 is 6% of $250,000. The minimum royalty and the sales requirement are the same obligation written twice. Reach the sales figure and the minimum never applies. Miss it and the royalty arrives as though the sales had happened.

A year-seven owner billing $600,000 pays $51,000 against $36,000. An effective royalty of 8.5%, and $15,000 of cash against revenue the year failed to produce, 9.1 days of billing at that size *. The same owner is also in breach of the territory performance criteria, so the money and the territory are at risk on the same number.

82 of the 291 reporting franchisees, 28.2%, bill under $850,000. 48 bill under $650,000, 30 under $500,000 and 9 under $250,000 *. Those counts include franchisees in their early years, for whom the hurdle is lower. For everyone past year six, $850,000 of gross sales with $500,000 of it residential is the line to clear each calendar year.

The residential minimum holds at $500,000 through years seven and eight while total sales rise to $850,000. Which quietly permits the commercial share to grow: a year-eight owner may reach $850,000 with $500,000 residential and $350,000 commercial, or with $850,000 residential. From year nine the residential figure moves to $600,000. Commercial work counts toward the total hurdle and the residential one is measured separately. So the two minimums have to be planned as two separate books of business.

Residential ground is yours. Commercial ground is open.

Residential and commercial share of system volume, as the brand reported it
Year	Residential	Commercial
2023	58%	42%
2024	57%	43%
2025	55%	45%

As the brand reported it, covering all franchisees active at any time during each year, including partial years.

Commercial work reached 45% of system volume in 2025, up from 42% in 2023. Three points in two years. Territory exclusivity covers residential services alone, so every certified franchisee in the system may sell commercial work inside anyone else's ground. May the franchisor and any third party, with zero compensation to the territory holder.

Commercial certification costs $10,000 and is due at signing. Payable before an owner may perform commercial work at all, alongside completion of Commercial Services Level One Training. Until then, commercial jobs inside the owner's own territory are available to certified franchisees elsewhere. Buying an existing business that already holds the licence transfers it at no extra cost.

National accounts sit outside the territory altogether. The franchisor holds the exclusive right to negotiate with any business operating across more than one franchisee's ground. May offer the work to the territory holder, to another franchisee, to a third party or keep it, with zero compensation to the territory holder either way. Program Services work operates on the same basis for franchisees outside a given program.

Questions we get asked

Questions owners ask.

What should a CertaPro business be billing?

The 291 franchisees who traded the full 2025 year averaged $2,102,015 of gross sales with a median of $1,294,333, ranging from $75,389 to $15,731,772. By quarter the averages were $4,994,038, $1,857,686, $1,023,912 and $529,076. 93 of the 291, 32.0%, reached the average. Among the 152 owners 25 months or more into production, excluding resales, the average was $2,228,563. Half sold less than $1,278,657. The top third at $4,734,863 and the bottom third at $590,692. The three franchisees in their first production year averaged $923,585 and the four in their second averaged $853,219.

What does a CertaPro profit and loss look like?

74 owners, most of them in the Flight Program peer group, averaged $2,903,461 of sales. Direct costs were $1,570,385, or 54.1% of sales. That left $1,333,076, or 45.9%. Running costs were $762,404, marketing $239,509 and the brand's fees $125,085, leaving $269,721 of profit plus owner's associate compensation, 9.3% of revenue. The medians were $2,053,934 of revenue, 47.0% gross profit and $142,921 of profit, 7.0%. Cost of goods sold includes direct labor whether subcontracted or employed, payroll taxes, discounts, paint, materials and equipment rental. Owner's compensation to the principal sits outside the general and administrative line.

What does the brand take?

Royalty is tiered by calendar-year gross sales: 6% on the first $2,500,000, 5% from there to $5,000,000, 4% above. A technology fee of 0.35% of gross sales, CertaPro University at $40 a month, and CertaOne software at $90 a month for every user sit alongside it. Local advertising and marketing must be 12% of sales in year one and 8% after that. The General Advertising Fund takes 3% of sales at or below $2,500,000 and 2% above, and any advertising cooperative payments count inside that requirement. Spend below the requirement is billed into the fund. The post-year-one advertising obligation appears in two forms, 10% and 8%; the 74-franchisee panel ran 8.2%, which matches the lower one.

What is the minimum royalty, and when does it bite?

From the second year the agreement sets a minimum royalty on total sales. A separate minimum on home sales, topping up whatever royalty was actually paid. The total gross sales figures run $15,000 or $27,000 in year two depending on when the agreement was signed. Then $30,000, $36,000, $39,000 for years five and six. $51,000 from year seven through year ten. Each figure is exactly 6% of the gross sales the performance criteria require in the same year. So the minimum stops applying at the moment the sales hurdle is cleared. Below it, the effective royalty rate rises: a year-seven franchisee at $600,000 pays $51,000, which is 8.5%. Minimums fall due by 31 December each year and rise on renewal.

Who does bookkeeping for a CertaPro franchise?

Three features of this model shape the monthly close. The first is that royalty is calculated on a calendar year with tiers that step down at $2,500,000 and $5,000,000 and reset every January. So the effective rate moves through the year and a December forecast that crosses a tier changes the cost of the last jobs of the year. The second is the minimum royalty, which falls due by 31 December and has to be accrued from the moment a year's sales pace suggests it will apply. The third is the 8% local advertising requirement, audited twice a year with any shortfall billed into the advertising fund. Makes classification of marketing spend a cash question, since the General Advertising Fund and cooperative payments count toward it while general overhead sits outside. Underneath all three sits one figure. Direct costs take 54.1% of sales at the panel average, and one point of it is worth $29,035. Job-level costing against estimate is where that point is found or lost. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.

Questions worth putting to CertaPro Painters

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

Is the profit figure in Item 19 before or after owner pay, and how many locations sit below it?
What separates the highest-selling locations from the lowest: trade area, years open, size, or the owner?
How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
How many CertaPro Painters locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?

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

Run your own numbers.

The Franchise Finance Diagnostic runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.

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Where does your year land against $850,000?

A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast, and reporting, built around the royalty tiers and the minimum that decide this model.

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Where these figures come from.

Every figure here comes from Certa ProPainters, Ltd.’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. CertaPro Painters® 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

CertaPro Painters reads against the rest of the painting group: 360 Painting · Five Star Painting · Fresh Coat · WOW 1 DAY PAINTING. The painting 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 Items 5 and 6 must disclose
Checking the franchisor’s own finances
What one location earns and spends
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.