Frequently asked questions

What the reports are, what they cover, where the numbers come from, and what to do if something goes wrong. Short version: every figure comes from a franchisor's own Franchise Disclosure Document as filed with state regulators, cited to its filing, item and page — as filed, verify.

The reports

What is an FDD?

A Franchise Disclosure Document is the disclosure a franchisor must give prospective franchisees in the United States before selling a franchise. It has 23 numbered items in the same order for every brand — initial and recurring fees, the estimated initial investment, litigation history, financial performance representations where the franchisor chooses to include them, and outlet counts. Same items, same order, every brand: that is what makes brands — and filing years — comparable. Everything this desk sells is built from those filed documents. New to them? Start with How to read an FDD.

What do I get in a Multi-Year Redline & Risk Audit?

One brand, diffed across the filing years we hold. The audit lines up the brand's FDDs year over year and marks what changed: the Item 5 & 6 fee diff, Item 7 investment-range shifts with calculated changes and their formulas, Item 3 litigation and bankruptcy changes, and Item 20 openings, closures, transfers and turnover — the churn under the headline count. Every figure is cited to its filing, item and page; restatements are shown with both numbers, never overwritten; and the report closes with a “What this report does not include” section naming every gap. The source FDDs the audit cites are bundled with it. Price: $79.

How is the Category Benchmark Pack different?

The audit goes deep on one brand; the pack goes wide across a category. A pack contains the multi-year redline audit for every brand in it, plus the side-by-side work a buyer would otherwise assemble by hand: Item 7 buildout comparison across the brands, Item 19 comparison where a franchisor chooses to include one, and three-year outlet survival and churn from Item 20, brand by brand. All figures cited to filing, item and page. Price: $179. A pack is sold only when every brand in it has a verified multi-year filing set — until then it stays on the waitlist.

Can I read a report before I buy one?

Yes — the Dogtopia sample audit is a complete, real audit (its 2023 vs 2026 FDDs) published free in the exact format of the paid product: same sections, same citations, same named gaps. Read it the way you would read one you had paid for. Every brand page also carries a free Item 5/6/7 teaser and an outlet-trend chart, and the comparison table is free.

Coverage and data

Which brands and years are covered?

The table below is the whole catalog — nothing is covered that is not listed here. An audit goes on sale only for a brand whose verified multi-year filing set we actually hold; we never relabel a single year as a multi-year diff. Every brand in the table now meets that rule — each holds a verified multi-year set — so every audit listed is on sale on its brand page. New brands join the table only when their sets verify the same way.

Every brand in the table has its own brand page with a free Item 5/6/7 teaser and an outlet-trend chart, and all 15 appear in the free comparison table.

Where does the data come from?

From each brand's own FDD as filed with state regulators — the public state franchise registries and filing archives. Filings are machine-read one by one, and every figure in a report is cited to its filing, item and page so you can check it against the source document yourself. We never source figures from a franchisor's sales brochure or marketing material.

How current is it?

Franchisors refile the FDD at least once a year. The filings in the coverage table are the brands' current annual filings as retrieved from the state registries and verified against the filed documents — 2026 FDDs for the brands listed, except Pet Supplies Plus (2024), which is labeled as such wherever it appears. When a franchisor files a new FDD, it is added to that brand's set only after it has been retrieved and passed the same verification — the coverage table always shows what we actually hold.

Why is a year missing from a report?

Because that filing could not be retrieved — and gaps are named, not filled. Example: the Dogtopia audit compares the 2023 and 2026 FDDs because the 2024 edition is listed in the archive index we source from, but the archived document itself could not be retrieved, so no 2024 figure appears anywhere in the audit. Every report's closing section names its gaps the same way.

Buying and delivery

How do I buy, and how do I receive my report?

Checkout is processed by Stripe. Your report is delivered by email: when your payment completes, the desk prepares your report — the audit plus the source FDDs it cites, bundled — and emails it from support@fddredline.com to the address you used at checkout. There is no download on the confirmation page; delivery is by email. Save the files somewhere safe; if your report hasn't arrived or a file won't open, email us and we will sort it out.

I was charged but never got my download — what now?

Email support@fddredline.com with the email address you used at checkout. We will verify the order and re-deliver your files.

What is your refund policy?

Four cases, stated plainly:
Wrong report or defective file — your choice: a corrected or replacement file, or a full refund. There is no time limit on reporting a defective file.
Duplicate purchase of the same report — the duplicate is refunded.
Bought the wrong brand's audit and haven't downloaded it yet — we swap it for the intended report.
Change of mind after a successful download — no refund. A report is a digital document that can't be un-read once downloaded, and the Dogtopia sample audit is a complete audit in the exact paid format, published free so you can judge what you're buying before you pay.
Refunds go back to the original payment method. Questions about any of this: support@fddredline.com.

Reading your report

What is Item 7 — and is it what I will actually spend?

Item 7 is the franchisor's estimated initial investment: a low–high range covering everything it takes to open, including the Item 5 initial fees. It is an estimate drawn from the franchisor's experience, not a quote and not a guarantee — your lease, market and buildout can land outside it. In an audit, Item 7 is where quiet repricing shows up first: a low end that drops while the high end holds is a different story from a range that simply widened, and the audit shows both ends, for every year, with the changes calculated and labeled.

What is Item 19?

Item 19 holds a franchisor's financial performance representations — the only place in the FDD where a franchisor may make earnings claims, and the basis for any such claim must be stated. Item 19 is optional: some franchisors include detailed tables, many include nothing at all, and that absence is itself information. Item 19 figures are not Item 7 costs, and neither item promises what you will earn.

What is Item 20?

Item 20 reports outlets: how many opened, closed, were transferred, terminated or reacquired, by year, plus contact information for current and former franchisees. It matters because a system can grow its headline count while churning heavily underneath. Our reports read the full tables, not just the total — openings, closures, transfers and turnover, year by year.

What does “calculated” mean in a report?

Figures read straight from a filing are shown as filed. Anything we derive — a change between years, a percentage move — is labeled calculated, with the formula printed next to it, so you can redo the math from the cited pages yourself. If a later filing quietly restates an earlier figure, the report shows both numbers and says so.

Accuracy

The franchisor told me different numbers. Who is right?

Check the citation. Our reports reproduce the franchisor's own FDD as filed with state regulators, and every figure names its filing, item and page — the filed FDD is the controlling disclosure document, and it is the document you will be held to. Numbers quoted in a sales conversation may come from a different filing year, or from material that is not a filing at all. If you believe a figure in one of our reports misreads its source, email us the report name and the citation: we will re-check it against the source document, and if we got it wrong we will correct the report and send you the corrected copy.

Do you ever estimate or fill in a missing figure?

No. Calculations are labeled and derived only from figures in the filings; anything that could not be retrieved or extracted is named as a gap in the report's closing section. A gap in a report is a true statement about the record — it is never papered over with an estimate.

What these reports are not

Is a report advice on whether I should buy a franchise?

No. A report is a document diff: what changed between a brand's filings, cited to the source. It is not legal, accounting or investment advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy or to pass. For the decision itself, take the report to a franchise attorney or CPA — a professional FDD review commonly runs $2,000–$5,000, and an audit gives that review a running start. This desk is paid by buyers only; no franchisor or broker money, ever.

Problems and refunds

What if something is wrong with my order?

If we deliver the wrong report or a defective file, contact support@fddredline.com and we'll make it right. For anything else about an order, email us at the same address and we'll look at it with you.

How do I reach you?

Email support@fddredline.com — every message is read and answered by the desk. To get a brand added to the coverage list, use the request form on any brand page; requests are the signal we use to decide which filings to verify next.