When will Chocolate Fish Coffee provide the Brand Fund financial statement to franchisees?
Chocolate_Fish_Coffee Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
We will administer the Brand Fund (Section 5.5). We will prepare an unaudited annual financial statement of the Brand Fund within 120 days of the close of our fiscal year and will provide the financial statement to you upon request. (Section 9.3)
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING (FDD pages 20–27)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to the 2024 Chocolate Fish Coffee FDD, the franchisor will prepare an unaudited annual financial statement of the Brand Fund within 120 days of the close of their fiscal year. This financial statement will be provided to franchisees upon request.
This means that Chocolate Fish Coffee franchisees can request to see how the Brand Fund, which is funded by franchisee contributions of 1% of gross sales per week, is being managed and spent. The Brand Fund is used for marketing and related purposes. However, the financial statements are unaudited, meaning they have not been verified by an independent accounting firm.
It is important for prospective franchisees to understand that while they have the right to request these financial statements, the information provided is not guaranteed to be completely accurate due to the lack of an independent audit. Franchisees should consider requesting these statements regularly to stay informed about the Brand Fund's financial activities and how their contributions are being utilized.