Brink POS
MandatoryFront of House Position 0 27 Chicago, Illinois area at a Training restaurant we designate. Drive Thru Operations 0 18 Chicago, Illinois area at a Training restaurant we designate. Brink POS Platform 0
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Buona, Buona Beef
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Buona is controlled by a tight-knit HQ team in Illinois, led by Co-Managers Carlo and Joseph Buonavolanto Jr. and EVP Joseph Buonavolanto III. The brand mandates a specific stack including Brink POS, CTUIT, FranConnect, and ProfitKeeper across its 34 total units, but with only 1 franchised location, the addressable market for vendor sales is extremely narrow.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
34
1 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
$3.44M
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
4%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2.5%
national + local
Initial fee
$40K
per unit
Investment range
$3.90M–$5.85M
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.
6.5%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
2 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.
PAR Brink
Mandatoryt. We require you to purchase a POS system that we designate along with various web-based platforms, software and/or applications. We currently require you to purchase and use the Brinks POS system al
Ctuit
uona Beef Use of the Manual 1 Pre-Opening Procedures 1 Food Safety/Sanitation 3½ Procedures Store Safety and Security 3½ Product Orientation 4 Guest Service Procedures 4 Operating CTUIT Platform 5½ Op
FranConnect
processing, phone support, inventory, labor and accounting, restaurant security, third party delivery, and catering. As part of the technology fee, you will be provided access to Franconnect training
ProfitKeeper
security, third party delivery, and catering. As part of the technology fee, you will be provided access to Franconnect training and internet software, Meazure Up for checklists, ProfitKeeper for fina
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
26 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 4 explicit no's; 4 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
During the first twelve (12) months of operation, Franchisee is required to engage and use an accounting service designated by Franchisor for preparation of financial statements and financial reporting.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We have the right to independently access your electronic information through the cloud and to retrieve and use your electronic information and data in any manner we deem necessary or desirable to promote or develop the System and the sale of franchises.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall, at its expense, submit to Franchisor during the Term of this Agreement, unaudited financial statements for the preceding Period and for the preceding fiscal year (“Financial Statements”), together with a certificate executed by Franchisee certifying that such financial statement, as applicable, is…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Our affiliate Authentic Brands of Chicago, LLC is currently the only designated supplier for Italian beef and related products.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor may from time to time modify the list of designated suppliers, list of approved suppliers and list of approved products, furniture, fixtures, signs, play equipment, and other equipment, materials and supplies, and Franchisee may not, after receiving written notice of modification of the lists, reorder any…
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?
30Item 8
between 30% to 45% of the total ongoing costs to operate your Buona Business.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor has the right to charge Franchisee or the supplier a non-refundable fee to cover its costs of inspection and testing incurred in making a suitability determination.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you desire to purchase any such items from an unapproved supplier, you or the supplier must submit to us a written request for approval.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee acknowledges that all telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, telephone directory listings, e-mail addresses, social media accounts, websites, internet addresses, listings or other presence on the Internet (collectively “Identifiers”) used in the operation of the Franchised Business constitute Franchisor’s…
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee’s point-of-sale system and related payment processing systems must be compliant with current Payment Card Industry Data Security standards, all applicable data privacy laws, and any procedures required by the Manual to prevent credit card fraud.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
May periodically as we deem advisable, conduct directly or through third parties, inspections of your Buona Business and evaluate its operations (Franchise Agreement, Sections 5.11, 10.15 and 10.16).
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor retains the right to modify, change, add to, delete, or supplement the Manual and to specify other systems, procedures or forms in any manner it deems necessary, in its sole discretion, and shall notify Franchisee about changes in writing by mail, electronic mail or postings on Franchisor’s intranet system…
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must obtain Franchisee’s written approval of a proposed site before entering into a lease.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee is strictly prohibited from establishing or maintaining any Websites, Social Media accounts or domain names which incorporate any of the Marks, name or initials into its web address.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 11
You must spend a minimum of $20,000 on grand opening advertising and marketing.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
beginning on the date of opening of your Buona Business, you must spend a minimum of 1% of the Gross Sales during each period of the fiscal year on local advertising, marketing and promotion.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees: (a) to offer for sale gift cards and/or the loyalty program, which must be in the form and version designated by Franchisor ("Official Gift Card/Loyalty Program"), as it may be amended from time to time;
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all Italian beef, Italian sausage and other ingredients and food products, beverages, packaging, equipment, signs, furniture, fixtures, point-of-sale system, software, marketing materials, marketing and promotional services, online/gift card/loyalty program services, architectural services…
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must purchase all fixtures, furniture, signs, equipment, and other equipment, materials, products and supplies, and certain services, including but not limited to design and architectural services, from distributors and suppliers that Franchisor has designated or approved (which may include Franchisor or…
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
We currently require you to purchase and use the Brinks POS system along with software and applications for customer feedback, online ordering, third party delivery, loyalty/gift programs, payment processing, phone support, inventory, labor and accounting, restaurant security, third party delivery, and catering.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
Unless otherwise designated by us, we currently require you to pay fees and other amounts due to us or our affiliates through electronic funds transfer via Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) or similar means.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees: (a) to offer for sale gift cards and/or the loyalty program, which must be in the form and version designated by Franchisor ("Official Gift Card/Loyalty Program"), as it may be amended from time to time;
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees to staff the Franchised Business with the number of managers, assistant managers and employees sufficient to operate the Franchised Business in compliance with this Agreement and the standards and specifications in the Manual and to provide proper customer service during all hours of operation.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
We require you to purchase a POS system that we designate along with various web-based platforms, software and/or applications.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We have the right to independently access your electronic information through the cloud and to retrieve and use your electronic information and data in any manner we deem necessary or desirable to promote or develop the System and the sale of franchises.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
We may charge a tuition fee for any such training, seminars, meetings or webinars and you will be responsible for all expenses incurred by you and your owners and/or managers in attending these programs.
The filing answers no to 4 questions
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 20
- Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Franchise agreement
- 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.
The franchisor's owner/CEO decides; an ops or franchise-development lead may evaluate.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- 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%.
- 82.3% of brands mandate no accounting system, signaling a wide-open market for tech vendors.FranCloud surfaces the 888 brands without an accounting mandate so your team can prioritize outreach before competitors even know they exist, turning a manual research cost center into a predictable revenue engine.
- 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.
The vendor opportunity at Buona
Buona, also known as Buona Beef, is a quick-service restaurant chain headquartered in Illinois with a total footprint of 34 units. The critical number for any software vendor is the franchised unit count: just 1 location. The remaining 33 units are company-owned. This means the total addressable market for third-party software sales into the franchise system is effectively a single store. The average unit volume sits at $3,435,660, and the royalty rate is 4.0% on a 10-year initial term. For vendors, the opportunity is less about scaling across a large franchise network and more about displacing or integrating with mandated systems at the corporate level, where all real purchasing power resides.
Who controls software purchasing
The buying center at Buona is concentrated within the founding family’s leadership. The FDD lists Carlo Buonavolanto and Joseph Buonavolanto, Jr. as Co-Managers, with Joseph Buonavolanto III serving as Executive Vice President. Donald Buonavolanto holds the title of Franchise Operations Manager, a role that likely touches operational technology decisions. Laurie Cairns is the Senior Vice President of Marketing, making her the probable owner of any guest-facing or retention software evaluation. There is no separate CIO or CTO named in the FDD, so pitches should assume that technology decisions are made by this small executive group rather than a dedicated IT procurement function.
Mandated and current tech stack
Buona’s FDD mandates a specific set of technology systems. The point-of-sale system is Brink POS, listed multiple times in the disclosure. For back-of-house and operational intelligence, the CTUIT Platform is mandated. FranConnect, provided by FranConnect, handles franchise management. The brand also requires a guest retention software, though the specific vendor for that category is not named in the FDD extract. Finally, ProfitKeeper is mandated for financial reporting and benchmarking. Any vendor pitching into this account must address how their solution coexists with or replaces one of these entrenched systems, particularly Brink and CTUIT, which form the operational core.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The procurement model itself is not detailed in the available FDD extract. Item 8, which would normally specify whether Buona uses designated suppliers, approved suppliers, or an open procurement model, was not captured in our corpus. Vendors should verify this directly in the full FDD. On the renewal side, the franchise agreement provides some timing signals. The initial term is 10 years. Franchisees in good standing can renew for three additional terms of 5 years each, provided they pay a $7,500 renewal fee, execute the then-current Franchise Agreement, and complete a required reimaging and modernization of the restaurant. The clause explicitly states that the new agreement may contain materially different terms, including technology mandates. This creates potential windows where corporate could impose new software requirements on the single franchised location at each renewal event.
How to read the Buona FDD
The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document for Buona is the definitive source for all mandated supplier relationships, executive contacts, and contractual obligations. It was filed with state franchise regulators and is available in the embedded viewer on this page. When reviewing the FDD, pay close attention to Item 11 for the full list of mandated technology systems and Item 17 for the precise renewal conditions that could force technology changes. Item 1 lists the executives who control purchasing, and Item 8, once obtained, will clarify whether you need franchisor approval to sell into the system. For a ranked target list of franchise brands that match your software’s ideal customer profile, FranCloud can help you prioritize your outreach.
Questions vendors ask
Buona, Buona Beef, answered from the filing
The buying center sits with the Buonavolanto family leadership: Co-Managers Carlo and Joseph Buonavolanto Jr., EVP Joseph Buonavolanto III, and SVP of Marketing Laurie Cairns. Franchise Operations Manager Donald Buonavolanto likely influences operational tech decisions.
The FDD mandates Brink POS, the CTUIT Platform for back-of-house, FranConnect for franchise management, an unspecified guest retention software, and ProfitKeeper for financial reporting.
34 total units: 33 are company-owned and only 1 is franchised. This is a predominantly corporate-operated quick-service restaurant chain based in Illinois.
The procurement model is not disclosed in the most recent FDD. Item 8, which typically outlines designated or approved supplier requirements, was not extracted in our corpus.
The initial franchise term is 10 years. Renewals can add three additional 5-year terms, contingent on a $7,500 fee, reimaging, and executing the then-current Franchise Agreement, which may materially change tech requirements.
The 2026 FDD was filed with state franchise regulators. You can read the full document in the embedded PDF viewer below to verify all mandates and executive contacts directly from the source.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Buona, Buona Beef files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
1 operators run 1 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit1
Top states by locations
| IL | 1 |
|---|
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.