Specialist advisory for three types of Australian business owner. Franchisors running an established system. Operators running multi-site businesses. And owners asking whether their business can grow beyond one site to multiple sites, and potentially into a national footprint. Grounded in the financial model that turns growth ambition into a real plan.
Multi-site and franchise operations sit inside a small set of accounting and strategic patterns that most generalist firms don't see often enough to get right. We do. Consolidated group reporting, site-level P&L, marketing fund trust accounting, royalty reconciliation, franchisor valuation. And on the front end, the strategic work of choosing the right structure before you scale.
You run 3, 10, 50 sites. Whether it's a franchise system, corporate-owned network, or a mix, the accounting complexity is the same. Consolidated reporting at head office. Site-level P&L that actually helps site managers. Cost allocation done properly. We build the accounting to match how your business actually runs.
You own and operate the franchise system. Consolidated reporting on the network so you can see which sites are working, which aren't, where the brand is leaking. Royalty stream reconciled site-by-site. Marketing fund accounted for as the trust it legally is. Disclosure documents prepared to the level the Franchising Code requires. And your own head-office group's financials run cleanly underneath all of that.
You have built a business that works, and you are wondering if it can be replicated. Franchisability assessment before you spend a dollar on the model. What actually franchises well, what does not. Unit economics that would need to hold at franchisee margins after royalties. Legal, financial and operational readiness. An honest read on whether to pursue franchising, corporate-owned expansion, or licensing, from a firm that works with all three.
Franchising is one option. It isn't the only one. The choice determines everything downstream. Capital requirement, control, speed to scale, unit economics, what happens when a site under-performs. We work through the trade-offs before you commit.
You own every site. Full control, higher capital requirement, faster P&L visibility. Best when unit economics are strong and capital is available.
Franchisees fund and operate each site under your brand and system. Lower capital burden on you, slower rollout, requires unit economics that still work after royalties.
Shared ownership with local operating partners at each site. Balances your capital exposure with local operator commitment. Adds shareholder complexity per site.
One franchisee takes the rights for a region and rolls out multiple sites themselves. Faster expansion into new geographies, less direct control, larger up-front franchise fee.
Others use your IP and brand without full franchise obligations. Simpler, less control, less recurring revenue.
Corporate-owned in metro, franchised in regional, or vice versa. Common in mature systems and often the right long-term answer once you know the unit economics.
Owners asking whether to franchise are really asking three questions at once. Can this business be replicated? Would the numbers still work at the second site, the tenth, the fiftieth? And is franchising even the right way to grow?
These are financial questions before they are strategic questions. A short list of what we work through before we recommend a structure or build a financial model. Yes to most of these means you're ready to consider franchising. No or unclear means work on the answer first.
Franchising in Australia is a regulated activity. The Franchising Code of Conduct sits under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and applies to any franchise agreement, no matter how small. Getting the compliance foundations right is not optional. The penalties for non-compliance are commercial as well as legal.
A formal document you must provide every prospective franchisee at least 14 days before they sign. Covers your business history, financial position, litigation record, franchisee list, marketing fund, and specific financial disclosures. Must be updated annually and prepared in the exact format the Code requires.
The legal contract between franchisor and franchisee. Term, territory, fees, obligations, renewal rights, termination triggers, dispute resolution. The legal drafting is your franchise lawyer's job. Our job is making sure the commercial terms (fees, marketing levy, renewal) actually work in the financial model.
If you collect a marketing levy from franchisees, it is legally a trust. Held on trust, spent on marketing, reported to franchisees annually with audited financials. Not a slush fund. We set up the trust accounting properly from day one.
A short summary of the franchise offer given to every prospective franchisee. Plus statutory cooling-off periods, franchisee associations, and dispute resolution processes that must be respected. The full Code applies from day one.
We work alongside specialist franchise lawyers to make sure the legal, financial and disclosure requirements all line up.
A franchise system only works when both parties are profitable. The franchisee and the franchisor. Not one or the other. We build a five-year financial model that shows the outcomes for both, so you can see whether the system supports both parties before you commit.
The model runs scenarios. Sales volumes, pricing, expense ratios, fee structures. It gives you a defensible view of what the numbers do at scale. The outcome is either a green light (proceed) or a red light (fix the economics before you franchise). Nothing in between.
We meet to learn about your business and document the assumptions that drive the model. Sales drivers, cost ratios, franchise fees, site setup costs, rollout pace.
We build the five-year model and test it across scenarios with dummy data before we present it back.
We meet again to walk through the model, adjust assumptions, and lock in the final version.
Key drivers of sales, impact of pricing and volume, marketing spend and customer cost of acquisition.
Cost of goods sold as a percentage of revenue, employment costs, rent, other overheads.
Royalty (fixed, tiered, or percentage), marketing levy, training fees, other recurring charges.
Capex and site-ready work, franchise equipment and fit-out, franchise fee, opening working capital.
Royalty income, marketing levy, training fees. Timeline for the rollout of new sites.
Head-office employment, business development, marketing, operations, other head-office overheads.
A high-level valuation of the franchisor entity at different site counts and different exit multiples.
A flexible model you own. Change the fee structure, the rollout pace, the assumptions. See the impact on both sides immediately.
Food-and-beverage owner running two sites (a large restaurant and a food court unit) with no production kitchen. Wanted to franchise. Financial model showed strong unit economics per site but weak franchisor economics under the proposed 6% flat royalty. The head-office losses would run into site 12 before turning profitable.
We restructured the fee schedule to a tiered royalty (8% first five sites, 6% thereafter, 4% at 20+ sites) plus a $30k up-front franchise fee. The franchisor turned profitable at site four rather than site twelve. Ready to franchise six months later.
Illustrative composite; specific numbers and details anonymised.
25-minute discovery call. Bring your unit economics and the questions you cannot answer yet.
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