Franchise Comparison Spreadsheet Template

How to compare, not just transcribe

Filling the grid is the easy part. Making the columns comparable is where buyers slip. A few rules keep the comparison consistent.

• Normalize before you compare. A royalty percent means little without its base, and two Item 7 ranges can include different things.
• Turn churn into a rate. Add the exits from Item 20, then divide by average units (worked example below). The FTC rule requires the tables, not a benchmark, so there is no official healthy level. Compare brands with each other, and ask each franchisor about any outlier.
• Do not average an Item 19. Read its metric and its sample size instead. A figure with no "X of Y units" behind it tells you very little.
• Weight each column by what matters to you. Give the financial and legal columns (Item 7, Item 19 credibility, Item 20 churn, Item 3 litigation) more weight than brand appeal, and set the weights yourself. If you need SBA financing, Directory-listed status becomes a gating filter rather than one more point.
• Check the FDD is current before its numbers go in the sheet, and validate against people: call current and former franchisees from the Item 20 list.

Method notes: what this template is and is not

The download is a plain CSV with a disclaimer row, a blank row, one header row of 24 columns (the same 24 listed in the table above), and six blank rows. It has no formulas, no macros, and no scoring math. Every calculation on this page, including the churn rate and the royalty comparison below, is one you do yourself in a spare column. The columns follow the order of the FTC Franchise Rule's disclosure items in16 CFR 436.5: Item 3 litigation, Item 4 bankruptcy, Item 5 initial fees, Item 6 other fees, Item 7 estimated initial investment, Item 12 territory, Item 17 renewal and termination, Item 19 financial performance, and Item 20 outlets and franchisee information. Three columns do not come from the FDD: the SBA Directory check, your call count, and your own weighted score.

Currency matters more than layout. The rule requires a franchisor to prepare a revised disclosure documentwithin 120 days after its fiscal year ends(16 CFR 436.7), so a brand's numbers change at least yearly. That is why the sheet has an FDD issue date column. The receipt at the back of the FDD (Item 23) must state the issuance date, so you can read it there.

Worked example: two hypothetical brands, three columns

Brand A and Brand B below are invented for the arithmetic. They are not real franchisors, and none of the figures describes any real brand or any shop's results.

Churn, from Item 20's status table

Item 20 Table 3 (status of franchised outlets, by state, for three fiscal years) has separate columns for terminations, non-renewals, outlets reacquired by the franchisor, and outlets that ceased operations for other reasons. The rule defines a termination as the franchisor ending the agreement early without giving the franchisee any consideration, and a reacquisition as the franchisor buying an outlet back for consideration during its term. A franchisor that buys back struggling units therefore shows them under reacquired, not terminations, so add all four columns.

• Brand A: 40 franchised units at the start of year one, 16 opened, 52 at the end of year three. Exits over three years: 1 terminated + 0 non-renewed + 1 reacquired + 2 ceased for other reasons = 4. Check: 40 + 16 - 4 = 52.
• Brand B: 200 units at the start, 20 opened, 190 at the end. Exits: 9 + 6 + 5 + 10 = 30. Check: 200 + 20 - 30 = 190.

Average units: Brand A (40 + 52) / 2 = 46; Brand B (200 + 190) / 2 = 195. Three-year exit rate: Brand A 4 / 46 = 8.7 percent; Brand B 30 / 195 = 15.4 percent. Per year, divide by three: about 2.9 and 5.1 percent. Raw counts (4 against 30) mislead because the systems differ in size. The rates show Brand B losing units at roughly twice Brand A's pace, and the net change column tells the same story from another angle (+12 against -10). Transfers, which Item 20 reports in its own table, are not exits in this arithmetic because the outlet keeps operating under a new owner, but a high transfer count is still a question for validation calls.

Royalty base, from Item 6

Suppose Brand A charges 5 percent of gross sales and Brand B charges 6 percent of net sales after discounts and refunds. On $1,000 of gross sales with $100 of discounts and refunds, Brand A collects 5% x $1,000 = $50, and Brand B collects 6% x $900 = $54. The bigger headline rate is not always the bigger bill, and the smaller one is not always cheaper, which is why the column asks for the base as well as the percent. Item 6 asks the franchisor to include any formula used to compute a fee, and the rule calls for a remark on whether fees are uniformly imposed. If a fee may increase, the formula or the maximum increase must be disclosed. Record both in the "Other required fees" cell.

Investment totals, from Item 7

Item 7 lists each category of spending, including the franchise fee, training, real property (purchased or leased), equipment and buildout, inventory, and deposits, plus a line called "Additional funds" for a stated initial period. The rule calls a reasonable initial period at least three months or a reasonable period for the industry, so brands may choose different periods. If a franchisor cannot give a range for real property, it may describe the size and probable location of the building instead of a dollar figure. Suppose Brand A shows a total of $300,000 to $500,000 with $40,000 of additional funds for 3 months, and Brand B shows $340,000 to $520,000 with $70,000 for 6 months. Brand A looks $40,000 cheaper at the low end, but its runway is half as long: $40,000 / 3 = about $13,333 a month against $70,000 / 6 = about $11,667 a month. Record the initial period and whether real property is a dollar range or a description in your notes cell before you compare the totals.

Sourced analysis: what the rule gives you to compare

• Item 19 is voluntary, and its sample is spelled out. When a franchisor makes a financial performance representation, the rule requires it to state whether the figure covers all outlets or a subset, how many outlets existed, how many were used, and the number and percent that actually reached or beat the stated result. The FTC's Consumer's Guide says any sales, income, or profit claim must appear in Item 19. Copy the sample figures into the sheet, and treat a missing "number that reached it" as a follow-up question.
• Item 5 can be a range. If initial fees are not uniform, the franchisor must disclose the range or formula and the factors that set the amount. Record the range and the factor, not one number.
• Item 20 lists outlets, not just brand strength. The FTC's Consumer's Guide says that if the charts show more than a few franchised outlets in your area closing or changing hands, the cause could be problems with franchisor support or unprofitable franchises. Use the churn column to find which brands to ask.
• The SBA Directory is not an endorsement. The SBA's Directory page says lenders and CDCs use it when evaluating eligibility, and says placement is not an endorsement or approval of the brand and does not ensure the success of the business. The version shown when we checked on September 29, 2026, was dated September 21, 2026. Use it as a pass or fail filter if you need SBA financing, and never as a quality score.

Once the grid narrows your list, our agreement red flags checklist and due diligence checklist take the finalists apart clause by clause, and thehow to read an FDD guide explains any item you are unsure about.