Is Card My Yard required to have the Marketing Fund's statements audited?
Card_My_Yard Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We will prepare an annual statement of the Fund's operations and will make it available to you if you request it. Any amounts in the Fund that are not spent in the fiscal year in which they accrue will be applied toward advertising activities or our expenses incurred in administering the Fund and its programs in the following fiscal year. We are not required to have the Fund's statements audited.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND TRAINING (FDD pages 34–43)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Card My Yard's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the company is not required to have the Marketing Fund's statements audited. However, Card My Yard will prepare an annual statement of the Fund’s operations and make it available to franchisees upon request.
This means that while franchisees can request to see how the Marketing Fund is being managed, there is no independent audit to verify the accuracy of the statement. This is a potential risk for franchisees, as they must rely on the franchisor's self-reported data.
In the franchise industry, it is not uncommon for franchisors to maintain control over marketing funds. While some franchisors provide audited statements, others, like Card My Yard, only offer unaudited statements. Prospective franchisees should consider this when evaluating the level of transparency and accountability in the franchise system.