Accounting software for franchisors has a job most small-business packages were not built for: billing a network of franchisees on a percentage of their sales while running company-owned units of your own. Lucentive helps franchisors choose a system that handles both, then implements it.
What a franchisor needs from its finance system
- Royalty and marketing-fund billing driven by franchisee sales reports.
- Franchisee receivables and collections tracked by agreement.
- Company-owned units consolidated with the franchisor’s own books.
- Reporting by region, location and brand from one ledger.
Choosing on the merits
Several platforms serve franchisors, from small-business packages with add-ons to mid-market cloud ERP. The fixed-fee advisory compares them against your franchise agreements and your reporting, and it can end with keeping what you have.
Implementation around your agreements
The chart of accounts and billing rules are built from your actual franchise agreements. Franchisee records and open balances move across, and a parallel close proves royalty billing before go-live. The same principal consultants stay on for support after launch.
Consultant or software?
If you already know the platform and need someone to set it up across your network, see ERP consultant for franchises.
Common questions
Is QuickBooks enough for a franchisor?
For a small network, sometimes. Once royalty billing, several company-owned units and consolidated reporting all run through workarounds, a proper system usually costs less than the spreadsheets.
Can the system bill the marketing fund separately?
Yes. Marketing-fund contributions can be billed and tracked separately from royalties, so the fund’s balance and spending are reported on their own.
How are royalties calculated?
From the sales figures franchisees report, using the rates and rules in each agreement. The same records produce the invoice and the receivable, so the two always match.
What happens to our franchisee history?
Open balances and the history you report on move across. Older detail stays in an archive, so past disputes can still be answered.
How we work
- Assess: a fixed-fee advisory, usually two to four weeks, built from your actual close and ending in a recommendation you can act on.
- Implement: chart of accounts, integrations and data migration, proved by a parallel close before go-live.
- Support: the principal consultants who built the system stay on after launch.
See all our ERP consulting services.