Regarding Ella Cafe's financial statements, has an independent certified public accountant audited the figures or expressed an opinion on their content or form?

According to Ella Cafe's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, some of the included financial statements have not been audited by an independent certified public accountant. Specifically, the balance sheet as of June 30, 2024, and the profit and loss statement from January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024, are unaudited.

However, the FDD does include audited balance sheets as of December 31, 2023, and 2022, along with related statements of operations, changes in stockholders' equity, and cash flows for the years then ended. This means that while some financial data is verified by an independent accountant, other data is presented without such verification.

The FDD explicitly advises prospective franchisees that no independent certified public accountant has audited the unaudited figures or expressed an opinion regarding their content or form. This is a critical disclosure, as it means a potential franchisee must exercise their own due diligence and potentially seek independent financial advice to evaluate the unaudited financial statements. It is common practice for franchisors to include audited financial statements to provide a level of assurance to potential franchisees, but the inclusion of unaudited statements means the franchisee bears more responsibility for assessing the accuracy and reliability of that information.