If a Belocal franchisee manages more than one N2 publication, how are commissions calculated?
Belocal Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
A. Commission Payments. Franchisor shall calculate Commissions on an issue-by-issue basis and shall pay Franchisee a monthly Commission based on the aggregate of all monthly Commissions earned for each of Franchisee's N2 publications (if Franchisee manages more than one N2 publication), unless the calculation of the Commission equals a Negative Commission, in which case, Franchisee shall not receive a Commission in such month, and the amount of the Negative Commission shall continue to be due and shall be deducted from Cash Received in subsequent month(s) as part of the Commission(s) calculation for such subsequent month(s). Franchisor reserves the right to make Commission payments based upon estimates of payments it or its affiliate will receive in connection with Advertising Contracts (defined below), and it and its affiliate reserve the right to refund, for any reason, payments made by advertisers. Commission payments shall be accompanied by a Commissions accounting and reconciliation report. If the Commissions report reflects that Franchisee has been paid a Commission in an amount that is more than Franchisee is due, then Franchisee must return to Franchisor the amount of overpayment ("Returnable Commissions"). Franchisee shall not be entitled to receive any payment after the final Commission payment that Franchisor makes to Franchisee following the termination, expiration, or transfer of this Agreement, for any reason. Franchisee shall not be entitled to receive any payment based upon past due monies associated with the Franchised Business that are collected by Franchisor or its affiliates after the termination, expiration, or transfer of this Agreement, for any reason. In addition to all requirements related to the printing of the first issue of the Publication and Franchisee's compliance with this Agreement generally, payment of Franchisee's first Commission is specifically conditioned upon Franchisee being a legal entity rather than an individual and securing and producing evidence of all insurance coverage required pursuant to Section 12 of this Agreement.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 71)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Belocal's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, if a franchisee manages more than one N2 publication, commissions are calculated on an issue-by-issue basis. Belocal will pay the franchisee a monthly commission based on the aggregate of all monthly commissions earned for each of the franchisee's N2 publications.
However, if the commission calculation results in a negative commission, the franchisee will not receive a commission for that month. The negative commission amount will be carried forward and deducted from cash received in subsequent months as part of the commission calculation for those months. Belocal reserves the right to make commission payments based on estimates of payments it or its affiliate will receive in connection with advertising contracts and also reserves the right to refund payments made by advertisers for any reason.
Commission payments will be accompanied by a commissions accounting and reconciliation report. If the report shows that the franchisee was overpaid, the franchisee must return the overpayment to Belocal. The franchisee is not entitled to any payments after the final commission payment following termination, expiration, or transfer of the agreement, nor are they entitled to payments based on past due monies collected after the termination, expiration, or transfer of the agreement. Payment of the first commission is conditional upon the franchisee being a legal entity and securing required insurance coverage.