Franchise accounting for the whole network
Royalty and fee automation, an ad-fund ledger, location benchmarking, royalty-integrity detection, and franchisor rollups - because Fintra is the accounting for each location, not a layer on top of it.
Why franchises break generic accounting
A franchise isn’t one business - it’s a network of them plus a franchisor that governs the brand and collects fees on their sales. Generic accounting sees each location in isolation. It can’t compute royalties off a location’s real revenue, run an ad-fund ledger, compare locations, or tell whether a franchisee is underreporting sales.
- Royalties are a percentage of each location’s revenue, with per-location overrides.
- Fees stack: royalty, marketing/ad-fund, and technology, often with a minimum royalty floor.
- The ad fund is a shared ledger that contributions flow into and campaigns out of.
- Franchisors need to compare locations and roll them up, not just close one set of books.
- Because the franchisor rarely sees the POS, underreported sales are hard to catch - unless the accounting is shared.
What the franchise module actually does
| Capability | What it does | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty accounting | Compute, accrue, and report royalties off each location’s revenue | Royalties |
| Fee automation | Royalty + marketing + tech fee runs, auto-invoiced to franchisees | Fee runs |
| Ad-fund ledger | Contributions in, campaign spend out, rolled-forward balance | Marketing fund |
| Benchmarking | Health scores, quartiles, top/bottom performers across locations | Benchmark |
| Royalty integrity | Risk score flagging likely sales underreporting | Royalty risk |
| Franchisee rollups | System revenue, AR, royalties, and leads aggregated to the franchisor | Rollup |
| FDD Item 19 | Anonymized performance for the disclosure document | Item 19 |
A worked example
Total franchise fee
total_fee = max(gross × royalty_pct, min_royalty) + gross × marketing_pct + (tech_flat + gross × tech_pct)
Illustrative. A per-location schedule can override the franchise defaults, and a minimum royalty floor applies when a location’s revenue is low.
What Fintra does - and doesn’t - do
Fintra rolls locations up to a franchisor view and can translate a location’s statements into a reporting currency. It does not perform full GAAP multi-entity consolidation with intercompany elimination, and it doesn’t yet automate initial franchise-development-fee recognition. We’re explicit about the edges so you can plan around them.
Frequently asked questions
What is franchise accounting software?
Franchise accounting software handles the finance patterns unique to franchising: computing royalties off each location’s revenue, running marketing and technology fees, managing a shared ad fund, comparing location performance, and rolling locations up to a franchisor view. Fintra does this while also being the accounting system each location runs on.
How does Fintra calculate royalties?
Royalty equals the revenue basis times the royalty percentage, where the revenue basis comes from each franchisee’s own invoices for the period (excluding voids and drafts). Each location can carry its own royalty-percentage override, and Fintra can compute a preview, accrue the royalties, and report them by status.
Can a franchisor and franchisees use the same system?
Yes. Access is scoped by role: a franchisor sees the whole network - rollups, benchmarks, royalty risk - while each franchisee sees only its own workspace. Because both run on Fintra, the franchisor’s royalties and comparisons come from real ledgers rather than self-reported figures.
Does Fintra do multi-entity consolidation?
Fintra rolls locations up to a franchisor summary and can translate a single location’s reports into a chosen reporting currency for presentation. It does not perform full GAAP consolidation across entities with intercompany elimination, so if you need a single eliminated group statement, that’s outside the current module.
Stay in the loop
One practical finance briefing a week - new guides, checklists, and benchmarks.
Run the whole network on one system
Start free, no card required. Compute a royalty run and roll your locations up to a franchisor view.
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