Disclosures and independence

TrueFranchiseCost is an independent research platform. We publish disclosures to ensure complete transparency regarding how this site operates, how it is funded, and what our boundaries are.

1. Monetization & financial relationships

TrueFranchiseCost does not accept franchisor payment for coverage.

• No affiliate links: We do not include affiliate tracking links, referral codes, or bounty redirects to franchise sales portals.
• No lead generation deals: We do not capture user names, phone numbers, or emails to sell to franchisor sales teams or lead brokers.
• No paid rankings or placement: No franchisor pays to be included, to be ranked higher, or to alter how its disclosed costs are presented.
• Future advertising policy: If non-intrusive contextual advertising (such as Google AdSense) is added in the future to offset server hosting and filing acquisition costs, ads will be clearly labeled, kept strictly separate from editorial data tables, and will have zero influence on our research, calculations, or brand selection.

2. Independence from brokers and lenders

To preserve our objectivity, TrueFranchiseCost maintains strict operational boundaries:

• We are not franchise brokers: We do not represent franchise brands, broker franchise sales agreements, or earn success commissions when a reader buys a franchise.
• We are not lenders or loan originators: We do not issue loans, partner with SBA lenders, or earn referral fees from financial institutions. Our loan and ROI calculators are educational arithmetic tools only.
• Editorial independence: Our research team operates independently of any commercial franchise industry organization, franchise association, or marketing agency.

3. Not financial, legal, or investment advice

The information provided on TrueFranchiseCost is for general informational and educational purposes only:

• All cost schedules, fee percentages, and outlet figures represent franchisors’ own disclosures extracted from official regulatory filings. We report them; we do not audit the franchisor’s underlying business records.
• Nothing on this website constitutes legal, accounting, tax, financial, or investment advice.
• No content on this site should be construed as a recommendation to purchase, or refrain from purchasing, any specific franchise.
• The FTC’s consumer guide to buying a franchise discusses professional review of the disclosure document, agreement and financial information. Our summaries do not replace that review.

4. Information for franchisors

Franchisors can submit updated annual FDDs, material amendments, or data corrections to contact@truefranchisecost.com. Submissions must link to or attach the official state-filed PDF. We do not accept paid edits, sponsored listings, or marketing revisions.