From the filings

HQ-led decisions

Binghamton HOTS

Quick service restaurant

Binghamton HOTS is a single-unit quick-service restaurant based in New York. The FDD does not disclose a dedicated IT buyer; purchasing decisions likely rest with the owner-operator. The franchise currently mandates Instagram, LinkedIn, QuickBooks, Twitter, and Facebook, and operates one company-owned location with an AUV of $414,194.

For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.

Live signals

Total units
1
0 franchised
Unit growth YoY
vs prior filing
AUV
$414K
Item 19, 2023
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
0.5%
national + local
Initial fee
$25K
per unit
Investment range
$142K–$253K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing

Ongoing fee load

What the operator pays every month

The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.

5.5%of gross sales (FY2023)

Ongoing fees: 5.5% of gross sales (FY2023)Royalty 5%, Ad fund 0.5%. Total 5.5% of gross sales. Drawn against a 15% reference scale.

15% reference

Royalty 5%Ad fund 0.5%

Mandated & recommended tech

The systems vendors compete with

1 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.

QuickBooks
Mandatory
AccountingItem 6

cludes the costs for the online ordering and loyalty programs in which you are required to participate. Binghamton HOTS FDD 2023 9 (1) (2) (3) (4) Fees (1) Amount Due Date Remarks QuickBooks Support $

Facebook
MarketingItem 11

similar to the Proprietary Marks. You are not permitted to promote your Restaurant or use any of the Proprietary Marks in any manner on any social or networking websites, such as Facebook, Foursquare,

Instagram
MarketingItem 11

ut the Restaurant or the System, other than on a website established or authorized by us (“social media” includes personal blogs, common social networks like Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram and MySpac

LinkedIn
MarketingItem 11

. You are not permitted to promote your Restaurant or use any of the Proprietary Marks in any manner on any social or networking websites, such as Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter,

Twitter
MarketingItem 11

t permitted to promote your Restaurant or use any of the Proprietary Marks in any manner on any social or networking websites, such as Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter, without our

Franchisor behaviours

What the franchisor requires

23 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 2 explicit no's; 9 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.

Accounting

Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You shall, at your expense, provide to us a complete annual financial statement (which shall be reviewed) prepared by an independent certified public accountant by April 15th of each year during the term hereof showing the results of the Restaurant’s operations during the previous calendar year.

How the franchisor buys

Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?

Yes

Item 11

We may, in our discretion, form an advisory council to work with us to improve the System, the products offered by Binghamton HOTS Restaurants, advertising conducted by the Fund, and any other matters that we deem appropriate.

Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?

Yes

Franchise agreement

We reserve the right, at our option, to re-inspect from time to time the facilities and products of any such approved supplier and to revoke our approval upon the supplier’s failure to continue to meet any of our then-current criteria.

Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You understand and acknowledge that we may periodically receive payments from approved suppliers, such as in the form of rebates, based on such approved suppliers’ sales of products and services to our franchisees.

Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?

80

Item 8

approximately 80% of your total purchases in the continuing operation of the Restaurant.

Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You shall reimburse the reasonable expenses we incur related to our evaluation of the proposed product or supplier, but not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000).

Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?

Yes

Item 8

If you wish to purchase, lease or use any products that we have not previously approved, or purchase or lease from a supplier we have not previously approved, you must submit a written request for approval or you must request the supplier to do so.

Franchise management

Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You shall participate in all customer surveys and satisfaction audits, which may require that you provide discounted or complimentary products, provided that such discounted or complimentary sales shall not be included in the Gross Sales of the Restaurant.

Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?

Yes

Item 11

As we reasonably determine necessary, visits to and evaluations of the Restaurant and the products and services provided to make sure that our high standards of quality, appearance and service of the System are maintained.

Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?

Yes

Franchise agreement

We may from time to time revise the contents of the Manuals and the contents of any other manuals and materials created or approved for use in the operation of the Franchised Business.

Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?

Yes

Franchise agreement

No site may be used for the location of the Restaurant unless it is first accepted in writing by us.

Marketing

Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?

Yes

Item 11

You may not maintain your own website; otherwise maintain a presence or advertise on the internet or any other mode of electronic commerce in connection with your Restaurant; establish a link to any website we establish at or from any other website or page; or at any time establish any other website, electronic…

Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?

Yes

Item 11

You must conduct a marketing campaign announcing the grand opening of your Restaurant, and you must spend between $2,500 and $5,000 for this campaign.

Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?

Yes

Item 11

You must conduct local marketing in your Designated Territory, and you must spend at least 1% of Gross Sales each month on local marketing for your Restaurant.

Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?

Yes

Item 11

The monthly charge includes the charges for our online ordering and loyalty programs in which you are required to participate.

Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?

Yes

Item 11

If a Cooperative has been established for a geographic area where your Restaurant is located when the Franchise Agreement is signed, or if any Cooperative is established during the term of the Franchise Agreement, you must become a member of the Cooperative.

Operations

Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Item 8

You must obtain all food and beverage items, ingredients, supplies, materials, fixtures, furnishings, equipment (including point of sale system and communication systems), and other products used or offered for sale at the Restaurant solely from suppliers who demonstrate, to our continuing reasonable satisfaction…

Payments

Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?

Yes

Item 6

The Royalty Fee and Brand Development Fee will be withdrawn from your designated bank account by electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) weekly on Wednesday based on the Restaurant’s Gross Sales for the preceding week ending Sunday.

Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You shall sell, issue, and redeem (without any offset against any Royalty Fees) Gift Cards in accordance with procedures and policies specified by us in the Manuals or otherwise in writing

People

Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You affirm, warrant and understand that you may staff the Franchised Business with as many employees as you desire at any time so long as our minimal staffing levels are achieved.

Point of sale

Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 11

You must purchase or lease and use the Toast POS point of sale system, and certain computer hardware and software that meet our specifications and that are capable of electronically interfacing with our computer system.

Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?

Yes

Item 11

The computer system is designed to enable us to have immediate access to the information monitored by the system, and there is no contractual limitation on our access or use of the information we obtain.

Training

Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?

Yes

Franchise agreement

We reserve the right to conduct additional or refresher training programs, seminars and other related activities regarding the operation of the Restaurant.

The filing answers no to 2 questions
  • Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
  • Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?Franchise agreement

Who buys here

The buyer at this brand

The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.

Sales LeaderSingle 1 19

The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.

OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
  1. 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
  2. Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
  3. 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.

The vendor opportunity at Binghamton HOTS

Binghamton HOTS presents a minimal addressable market for software vendors, with just one company-owned quick-service restaurant. The brand reported an AUV of $414,194 in its 2023 FDD and does not disclose any franchisee units, suggesting it is essentially a single-location operation. For vendors, this means the entire software purchasing decision rests with a single entity.

Who controls software purchasing

The FDD does not name any HQ executives, so the buyer is likely the owner-operator. With no multi-unit operators and no franchised locations, there is no separate franchisee buying center. Any software pitch must be directed at the individual who runs the single unit.

Mandated and current tech stack

The franchisor mandates five platforms: Instagram, LinkedIn, QuickBooks, Twitter, and Facebook. These are all social media and accounting tools; no POS, scheduling, or inventory management systems are mentioned. This suggests the operation may be using consumer-grade or off-the-shelf solutions for other functions, leaving potential gaps for vendors to fill—if they can convince the owner to switch.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

Item 8 of the FDD provides no procurement signals, so there is no designated supplier list or approved vendor program. The franchise agreement has a 10-year initial term, with renewal conditions that include a notice requirement, compliance, possible remodeling, and a general release. Renewal may also involve a revised territory for urban settings. For software vendors, the renewal window could be an opportunity to propose new systems, but with only one unit, the decision cycle is likely informal and ad hoc.

How to read the Binghamton HOTS FDD

The full 2023 FDD is available in the embedded viewer below. It was filed with state franchise regulators and contains the legal and financial disclosures required by the FTC Franchise Rule. Key sections for software vendors include Item 11 (mandated technology), Item 8 (procurement restrictions), and Item 17 (renewal and termination). Because Binghamton HOTS is a single-unit operation, the document is relatively short and straightforward.

For a ranked target list of franchise systems with higher unit counts and clearer buying signals, reach out to FranCloud.

Questions vendors ask

Binghamton HOTS, answered from the filing

The FDD does not list a dedicated IT buyer. With a single company-owned unit, purchasing decisions likely rest with the owner-operator.
The FDD mandates Instagram, LinkedIn, QuickBooks, Twitter, and Facebook. No POS or operational tech is specified beyond these social and accounting platforms.
Binghamton HOTS operates 1 company-owned quick-service restaurant, as disclosed in its 2023 FDD.
The FDD does not disclose a procurement model (Item 8). There is no information on designated or approved suppliers.
The initial franchise term is 10 years. Renewal requires notice, compliance, and possible remodeling. Contract windows are not publicly disclosed, but renewals may trigger re-evaluation of tech.
The 2023 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view it in the embedded PDF viewer below.
Source

Read the filing itself

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Binghamton HOTS2023 FDDView only

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The brands you can actually sell into, from the filings.

Operator footprint

Who runs the locations

4 operators run 4 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.

Operators by units owned

Single-unit4

Top states by locations

NJ1
HI1
IN1
NY1

Related Quick service restaurant brands

Primary franchise filings · updated August 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.