What is the deadline for a Noodles & Company franchisee to provide a certified statement of EBITDA, distributions to owners, and indebtedness?
Noodles_Company Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You agree to provide within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year a statement certified by one of your executive officers setting forth the amount of your EBITDA and distributions to Owners (if any) for such year and your indebtedness at year end.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 98–99)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Noodles & Company Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee must provide a certified statement of their EBITDA, distributions to owners, and indebtedness within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year. This statement must be certified by one of the franchisee's executive officers. The EBITDA determination must follow generally accepted accounting principles.
This requirement is tied to restrictions on the amount of debt a Noodles & Company franchisee can carry. The franchisee's total indebtedness at any time during a fiscal year cannot exceed 4.0 times their EBITDA, minus any distributions to owners for that fiscal year. The debt should also have an initial amortization schedule of no more than 10 years from when it was incurred.
Noodles & Company retains the right to approve any borrowing or debt incurred by the franchisee, except for lease obligations for the restaurant's land and building and trade payables in the ordinary course of business. The franchisee also needs to obtain written consent from Noodles & Company before extending, renewing, refinancing, modifying, or amending any permitted debt.