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Over the past year, many of our franchisor clients have raised concerns about the length of time that it takes for their FDD and Franchise Agreement to be approved by the Small Business Administration (SBA), which is a requirement to listing a franchisor on the SBA Franchise Registry.  Being listed on the Registry greatly facilitates the approval process for franchisees that seek SBA financing because the franchise agreement doesn’t need

Last week at the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference in Las Vegas, a panel of restaurateurs discussed the concept of no tipping at restaurants.The panelists discussed the main benefit of doing away with tipping – that it equalizes pay among restaurant staff.  When tipping is permitted, front of house staff like servers and bartenders can often earn significantly more than the members of the kitchen staff.  This inequality can cause

A recent change in Federal Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) guidelines threatens to alter the way in which franchisors can recognize initial franchise fees in their audited financial statements.Historically, franchisors have recognized the revenue from initial franchise fees as an asset upon the opening of the franchised unit, as accountants view the initial franchise fee as consideration for the franchisor completing its pre-opening obligations. Until opening, the initial franchise fee would

As you wrap up sales activities this fiscal year and begin preparing for an audit of your 2016 financials, we think it is important to keep in mind capitalization requirements imposed by state regulatory authorities and the effects of last minute sales on the company’s financials so that the company can avoid impound conditions or other delays in registration caused by inadequate capitalization.  Below is a brief summary of capitalization

As we mentioned in a previous blog post, the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) published a notice of request for public commentary regarding financial performance representations (“FPRs”) that franchisors disclose within Item 19 of their franchise disclosure documents (“FDDs”).  The request by NASAA was a follow up to a similar request they made a year ago.  In both requests, NASAA has sought feedback from the public regarding a proposed

Even if your franchise is in its nascent stages, it is not too early to organize your business for a strategic buy-out or for an infusion of private equity in the future. This is not to say that a budding franchise would be able to enter into such an agreement before proving itself; rather, much of what investors look for can be cultivated early on in the business and are

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a lower court’s decision to permit a group of franchisees to file a class action lawsuit against a franchisor; a decision that could potentially lead to franchisees being deemed employees of a franchisor. In the matter of Darryl Williams; Howard Brooks v. Jani-King Of Philadelphia Inc., et al., No. 15-2049 (3d. Cir., September 21, 2016), two Philadelphia area Jani-King franchisees brought claims

The onboarding process often comes down to the franchisor attempting to pack as much information as possible into the training session and overwhelming the franchisee. In order to have a less frustrating and more meaningful orientation process, however, onboarding should begin as early as the recruitment stage. This includes imparting the vision and the culture of the business upon prospective franchisees early on, as well as managing their expectations. Transparency

One of the most repeated pieces of advice given to emerging franchisors is to make sure that the first twenty franchise units have as few financial problems as possible. The strength or weakness of the initial franchisees will be what the franchisors will be reporting in their Item 19’s for years to come, and it has enormous long-term impact on the value of the brand. It can ultimately impact future

Some of the more difficult decisions facing emerging franchisors involve technology — the level of development needed in the early stages of growth; which types of systems to tackle first; and whether to buy from outside sources or to build platforms internally.  Often, significant up-front costs must be balanced against the multitude of advantages that are enjoyed by an advanced, integrated technology system.   A recent study by the Boston