Who is responsible for the actions of Support Resources hired by a Focus Cfo franchisee?
Focus_Cfo Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
"public facing role" that utilizes the Focus CFO Marks. Such approval by Focus CFO is necessary in order to protect the Focus CFO brand. Franchisee shall take full responsibility for all Support Resources Franchisee hires and shall comply with all federal, state and local employment laws and regulations. Franchisee shall require each Support Resource to execute a confidentiality, non-solicitation and non-competition agreement whereby the Support Resource acknowledges being bound to the same covenants as the Equity Owner of the Franchise under the terms of this Agreement. The Franchisee will provide a copy of this executed agreement to Focus CFO within ten (10) business days of Franchisee hiring the Support Resource. Franchisee agrees that Focus CFO is not the employer for any Support Resource Franchisee hires. Franchisee shall ensure that all Support Resources understand that they are employees of Franchisee and have no relationship, employment or otherwise, with Franchisor. All management, personnel and training requirements are at Franchisee's discretion and are Franchisee's sole responsibility. As set forth in Section 10 below, Franchisee shall be responsible for ensuring it has all appropriate insurance in place to cover the services performed by all Support Resources of Franchisee. Focus CFO shall have the right to hold Franchisee solely liable and responsible for any breach of this Agreement caused by the failure by any Support Resource of Franchisee to follow the Focus CFO System.
- 1.6. If Franchisee is a Certified Public Accountant ("CPA") or has been a licensed CPA in the past, Franchisee agrees not to represent itself as a CPA in any way in connection with the marketing or offering of CFO Services under the Focus CFO Marks.
Source: Item 23 — Receipts (FDD pages 37–126)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Focus Cfo Franchise Disclosure Document, a Focus Cfo franchisee is fully responsible for the Support Resources that they hire. This means the franchisee must comply with all federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations related to those Support Resources. The franchisee is considered the employer of the Support Resources, and Focus Cfo is not. The franchisee also handles all management, personnel, and training requirements for their Support Resources.
To further protect Focus Cfo, the franchisee must ensure that each Support Resource signs a confidentiality, non-solicitation, and non-competition agreement, acknowledging they are bound by the same covenants as the franchisee. A copy of this agreement must be provided to Focus Cfo within ten business days of hiring the Support Resource. The franchisee is also responsible for having appropriate insurance coverage for the services performed by all Support Resources.
Focus Cfo retains the right to hold the franchisee solely liable for any breach of the Franchise Agreement caused by a Support Resource's failure to follow the Focus Cfo System. This underscores the importance of franchisees properly managing and training their Support Resources to adhere to Focus Cfo's standards and procedures. Additionally, if a Support Resource has a "public facing role" that utilizes the Focus Cfo Marks, the franchisee must obtain prior written approval from Focus Cfo before hiring that Support Resource, to protect the Focus Cfo brand.