Service Experts franchise unit economics
Service Experts franchisees install and service residential HVAC across a territory of single-family households. Keeping the same general manager for 24 months is the change that matters most: across 48 outlets, the fifteen that held on earned $1,183,856 of projected profit against $484,911 at the thirty-three that turned over, 2.4 times the money on 23% more revenue.
- Primary source
- Service Experts Franchising LLC, 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
- the locations the filing reports on
- 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.
The profit and loss splits on a variable almost every brand leaves alone: whether the outlet kept the same general manager for 24 months. Fifteen of 48 did, and they earned $1,183,856 of projected profit against $484,911 at the other thirty-three, 2.4 times the money on 23% more revenue.
- Keeping the same general manager for two years is worth $698,945 of projected profit. $1,183,856 against $484,911, on revenue only 23% higher.
- Gross profit is 41.8% with stable leadership and 35.7% without. Labor costs 28% against 31% of revenue and equipment 22% against 25%.
- Only 15 of the 48 outlets had continuous leadership. So the 8% projected margin describes roughly seven outlets in ten.
- Revenue per single-family household covered runs $11.97 to $29.25 across the quartiles. A standard franchise territory covers up to 60,000 households.
- The average HVAC replacement ticket is $14,224, and a leased job averages $15,190 against $13,406 paid directly. 13% more, on 41% of transactions.
How much does a Service Experts franchise make?
The average Service Experts unit reported $6,881,668 of revenue in the 2026 FDD. The brand’s disclosure document discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. 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.
Revenue and households
What a territory produces.
| quartile | Outlets | Average revenue | Median | High | Low | Above average | Households covered | Revenue per household | Per 60,000-household territory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st quartile | 12 | $14,283,971 | $11,817,990 | $25,585,759 | $8,285,605 | 5 (42%) | 488,281 | $29.25 | $1,755,215 |
| 2nd quartile | 12 | $6,333,421 | $6,456,283 | $8,278,266 | $4,946,970 | 6 (50%) | 362,362 | $17.48 | $1,048,690 |
| 3rd quartile | 12 | $4,351,749 | $4,527,784 | $4,845,327 | $3,535,760 | 7 (58%) | 229,333 | $18.98 | $1,138,541 |
| 4th quartile | 12 | $2,557,530 | $2,583,613 | $3,513,530 | $1,426,807 | 7 (58%) | 213,583 | $11.97 | $718,464 |
| All disclosed outlets | 48 | $6,881,668 | $6,346,417 | $25,585,759 | $1,426,807 | 16 (33%) | 323,390 | $21.28 | $1,276,787 |
Revenue, medians, ranges, counts and household coverage are as the brand reported it. The last two columns are marked *, dividing each quarter's revenue by its household coverage and by the coverage expressed in standard 60,000-household territories.
An average disclosed outlet scaled to a standard territory bills $1,276,787. $6,881,668 across 5.39 territories' worth of households *. That is the number a prospective franchisee should have instead of the headline $6,881,668, and by quartile, it runs $718,464 to $1,755,215.
Revenue per household runs $11.97 to $29.25. 2.4 times, on a measure that already controls for territory size. The first quartile covers 488,281 households and earns $29.25 from each; the fourth covers 213,583 and earns $11.97. So the leading outlets are both bigger and denser, and the density is worth as much as the size.
The second and third quartiles invert on the per-household measure. $17.48 against $18.98. The third quartile earns more per household than the second, on 37% fewer households. Which says territory size is the difference between those two groups, and that a smaller well-worked territory beats a larger thin one.
Only 33% of outlets reach the all-outlet average. Because the first quartile stretches to $25,585,759 against an all-outlet median of $6,346,417. Inside the lower three quartiles the medians sit at or slightly above their averages, 101% to 104%. So those groups are evenly distributed and the skew is entirely at the top.
The ticket.
| Transaction type | Share of transactions | Average sale | Median | High | Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct payment | 46% | $13,406 | $11,340 | $95,890 | $1,313 |
| Leasing | 41% | $15,190 | $14,500 | $41,880 | $1,360 |
| Financing | 13% | $14,057 | $12,599 | $59,895 | $2,000 |
| All transactions | 100% | $14,224 | $12,999 | $95,890 | $1,313 |
As the brand reported it, reordered here by share of transactions.
A leased job averages $15,190 against $13,406 paid directly, 13% more. On 41% of transactions. The median tells the same pattern more sharply: $14,500 leased against $11,340 direct, a 28% difference *. Whether that reflects bundled maintenance, larger systems or a different customer, the mix between these three payment methods moves the average ticket materially.
At an average ticket of $14,224, an average outlet's revenue is roughly 484 replacements. *, and an upper bound, since service and maintenance revenue is included in the total. Scaled to a standard 60,000-household territory that is about 90 installations a year, or fewer than two a week.
The ticket range runs $1,313 to $95,890. Seventy-three times. Direct payment has both the lowest and the highest transaction in the table. Is what an unbundled price looks like. The customer buying the cheapest possible fix and the customer buying a whole-house system sit in the same column.
Top performers
What separates the top Service Experts performers
Service Experts publishes one average, $6,881,668, and nothing else. The gap between its best and worst locations is not in the filing.
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 60,000 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 $148,750 to $288,900, 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
- Installations, the operating driver.This model bills on installations. The sale happens in the customer’s home, so the owner works on how many appointments are booked, how many close, and what the average install is worth. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking.A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
Context you underwrite around
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median, no performance bands, no attainment figure. The brand’s own locations are the only margin signal in the document, and they are run by the people who wrote the playbook.
- 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.
Fees and what it costs to open
What the fees come to. (Items 5 and 6)
| Territory equivalent | Revenue | Royalty at 6% | Brand fund at 1% | Local marketing at 6% | Technology and accounting | Total | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st quartile equivalent | $1,755,215 | $105,313 | $17,552 | $105,313 | $13,260 | $241,438 | 13.8% |
| All-outlet equivalent | $1,276,787 | $76,607 | $12,768 | $76,607 | $13,260 | $179,242 | 14.0% |
| 3rd quartile equivalent | $1,138,541 | $68,312 | $11,385 | $68,312 | $13,260 | $161,269 | 14.2% |
| 2nd quartile equivalent | $1,048,690 | $62,921 | $10,487 | $62,921 | $13,260 | $149,589 | 14.3% |
| 4th quartile equivalent | $718,464 | $43,108 | $7,185 | $43,108 | $13,260 | $106,661 | 14.8% |
| At the minimum marketing charge | $530,000 | $31,800 | $5,300 | $31,800 | $13,260 | $82,160 | 15.5% |
Ours, applying the filed rates to each quarter's revenue scaled to a single 60,000-household territory.
The percentage stack is 13% of sales before anything flat. 6% royalty, 1% brand fund and a 6% local marketing requirement. The company statements show marketing already running at 6.07% and 6.33% of revenue, so the requirement is being met, even though the franchisor recommends 10%.
The weekly royalty minimum reaches $500 from month nineteen. $26,000 a year, which is 6% of $433,333, so a territory below that revenue pays a fixed royalty. Add the $31,800 minimum marketing charge at 60,000 households and a slow-starting territory owes $57,800 of royalty and marketing before a single percentage point applies *.
Zero royalty is charged in the first six months. The minimum royalty is nil through the sixth full calendar month and steps to $200 a week thereafter. That is a genuinely gentle opening structure by the standards of this library. It recognizes that an HVAC territory takes a season or two to build a customer base.
What it costs to open a territory.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Franchise fee | $59,900 | $59,900 |
| Additional funds, three months | $30,000 | $70,000 |
| Pre-opening and grand opening marketing | $25,000 | $35,000 |
| Building work | $0 | $20,000 |
| Vehicles and vehicle signage | $6,000 | $15,000 |
| Interior and exterior signage | $2,500 | $15,000 |
| Rent | $0 | $12,000 |
| Office furniture and equipment | $1,500 | $10,000 |
| Business insurance | $4,000 | $9,000 |
| Machinery, tools and equipment | $4,500 | $9,000 |
| Travel for initial training | $4,000 | $6,000 |
| Information technology systems | $3,600 | $6,000 |
| Training fee | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Professional fees | $2,000 | $5,000 |
| Business licenses | $250 | $5,000 |
| Initial inventory | $0 | $5,000 |
| Security and utility deposits | $500 | $2,000 |
| Total | $148,750 | $288,900 |
As the brand reported it, reordered here by size.
The build is 0.12 to 0.23 times a year of a standard-territory-equivalent revenue. $148,750 to $288,900 against $1,276,787 *. That is among the lightest ratios in this library. That is because the business is trucks and technicians, rent runs $0 to $12,000 and building work $0 to $20,000.
$25,000 to $35,000 of opening marketing is 17% to 12% of the build. The second-largest line after the franchise fee and working capital. On a business whose ongoing marketing requirement is 6% of revenue and whose franchisor recommends 10%, the opening spend is a down payment on a customer base.
Cash to run the business day to day is $30,000 to $70,000 across three months. Against a standard-territory-equivalent cost base: at all-outlet ratios, cost of sales and overhead on $1,276,787 would run roughly $1,058,000 a year, so three months is about $265,000 *. The reserve covers a quarter of that at the high end. Is the gap to plan around. Though the nil royalty and marketing minimums in the first six months soften the opening.
Leadership and the profit line
The same manager for two years.
| Line | Continuous leadership (15 outlets) | Share | Leadership gap (33 outlets) | Share | Difference in dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | $7,896,409 | 100% | $6,420,421 | 100% | $1,475,988 |
| Cost of sales, labor | $2,240,428 | 28% | $1,977,506 | 31% | $262,922 |
| Cost of sales, equipment and parts | $1,759,940 | 22% | $1,634,060 | 25% | $125,880 |
| Cost of sales, other | $595,565 | 8% | $518,714 | 8% | $76,851 |
| Gross profit | $3,300,476 | 42% | $2,290,141 | 36% | $1,010,335 |
| Compensation | $695,420 | 9% | $638,756 | 10% | $56,664 |
| Marketing | $499,608 | 6% | $389,512 | 6% | $110,096 |
| General office | $226,470 | 3% | $200,883 | 3% | $25,587 |
| Vehicles and facilities | $129,113 | 2% | $113,389 | 2% | $15,724 |
| Total selling, general and administrative | $1,550,611 | 20% | $1,342,541 | 21% | $208,070 |
| profit | $1,749,865 | 22% | $947,600 | 15% | $802,265 |
| Imputed royalty at 6% | $473,785 | n/a | $385,225 | n/a | n/a |
| Imputed brand fund at 1% | $78,964 | n/a | $64,204 | n/a | n/a |
| Imputed technology and accounting fees | $13,260 | n/a | $13,260 | n/a | n/a |
| Pro-forma profit | $1,183,856 | 15% | $484,911 | 8% | $698,945 |
Dollar figures and the rounded share percentages are as the brand reported it; the difference column is marked *.
Two years with the same general manager is worth $698,945 of projected profit. $1,183,856 against $484,911, 2.4 times, on revenue only 1.23 times higher *. Very few filings in this library isolate a management variable at all, and fewer still put a number on it. This one does, and the number is larger than most brands' entire annual profit.
Gross profit is 41.8% with continuous leadership and 35.7% without, 6.1 points. Worth $484,000 a year at the higher revenue level *. The gap sits in both cost-of-sales lines: labor at 28% against 31% of revenue and equipment and parts at 22% against 25%. A settled manager is buying better and scheduling better, and the two effects are roughly equal in size.
Only 15 of the 48 outlets kept a manager for the full two years. 31%. So the 8% projected margin describes the ordinary case and the 15% describes the exception. For a prospective owner-operator that reframes the whole model. The franchisor's preferred structure has the owner in the general manager's seat. Is precisely the continuity the better column is measuring.
Marketing runs 6% of revenue in both columns. $499,608 and $389,512. That matches the contractual local marketing requirement exactly, which is the greater of 6% of sales or a per-household minimum. So these outlets are spending to the requirement and the filed percentages confirm it.
Selling, general and administrative is 20% and 21%, almost identical. So the whole of the leadership difference is above the gross profit line. This is unusual: at most brands in this library the higher-selling owners differ in overhead. Here they differ in how well the work is bought and delivered, which is a harder thing to fix from a spreadsheet.
General manager wages sit outside these statements entirely. The compensation line covers management and administrative staff other than the general manager, because the franchisor expects the owner to fill that seat. An owner who hires one instead should deduct that salary from the projected profit figures above before comparing them with anything.
The network of locations
The network of locations.
| Year | Franchised at start | Franchised at end | Company at start | Company at end | Total at end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 83 | 83 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 91 | 91 | +8 |
| 2025 | 0 | 2 | 91 | 82 | 84 | −7 |
As the brand reported it.
This is a franchise system with two franchised units. Offering began in April 2025. Every figure in the performance section describes company-owned outlets run by the franchisor's affiliate, with franchise fees imputed. That is an honest way to disclose a new offering, and it is also the most important caveat on the page.
Company outlets fell from 91 to 82 during 2025. A reduction of nine, against an increase of eight the year before. Some of that movement is the refranchising program, under which company centers are sold to franchisees. So a prospective owner should ask how many of the nine left the group that way and how those units have since performed.
The 48 disclosed outlets are 63% of the 76 corporate businesses. The other 28 were excluded because a significant share of their revenue comes from services outside the franchise offering, commercial work in the main. So the published figures describe the residential-weighted end of the company estate.
Territory is measured in single-family households, up to 60,000 for a standard license. Beyond that the franchise fee rises by a dollar a household and both the royalty minimum and the marketing minimum scale with it, $0.0083 a week per household above 60,000 on the royalty and $0.53 a year per household on marketing.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What should a territory be billing?
The 48 disclosed outlets averaged $6,881,668 of sales with a median of $6,346,417, ranging from $1,426,807 to $25,585,759. But those outlets cover an average of 323,390 single-family households. Is 5.39 standard franchise territories. So scaled to a standard 60,000-household territory the average is $1,276,787. By quartile $1,755,215, $1,048,690, $1,138,541 and $718,464. Revenue per household runs $11.97 to $29.25.
What is a realistic margin?
Outlets that kept the same general manager for 24 months averaged 42% gross profit, 20% selling and administrative expense, 22% profit and 15% projected profit after imputed franchise fees. Outlets with a leadership gap averaged 36%, 21%, 15% and 8%, and only 15 of 48 sat in the first group. Those figures all sit before general manager wages, depreciation, amortization and lease payments, and before vendor rebates on equipment, which the affiliate keeps centrally.
What does the brand take?
A 6% royalty on sales collected weekly, a Brand Fund contribution currently 1% and capable of rising to 2%. A local marketing requirement of the greater of 6% of sales or $0.53 a year per single-family household, $31,800 at a 60,000-household territory. That is 13% of revenue plus $13,260 of imputed technology and accounting fees, or roughly 14% at a standard-territory-equivalent revenue of $1,276,787. The royalty has a weekly minimum of nil through month six, $200 from month seven and $500 from month nineteen.
What is the average job worth?
$14,224 across all HVAC replacement transactions, with a median of $12,999 and a range from $1,313 to $95,890. By payment method: leasing averages $15,190 on 41% of transactions, financing $14,057 on 13% and direct payment $13,406 on 46%. Leasing is provided by an affiliate under the Advantage name and bundles maintenance and repair cover. These figures cover replacements only and exclude service and maintenance revenue.
Who does bookkeeping for a Service Experts franchise?
The benchmark set here is unusually precise, so build the close to match it line for line. The three cost-of-sales lines are where the money is. Labor at 28% to 31% of revenue, equipment and parts at 22% to 25% and other at 8%. The whole difference between a 15% and an 8% projected margin sits in those first two. Two presentation points matter. General manager wages sit outside the filed statements, so an owner who hires one has to have that salary separately or the comparison breaks. And vehicle and premises lease payments sit outside them too. So a leased fleet needs its own line. On mechanics, royalty and brand fund are collected weekly against a monthly close, both have minimums that step at months seven and nineteen. The local marketing requirement is the greater of a percentage and a per-household amount, three schedules that each need testing. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- No median. Only an average is published, which a few large locations can lift on their own.
- 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 Service Experts
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 Service Experts locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
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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