QuickBooks
Mandatoryories, peripherals, and equipment. Currently, we require you to purchase data processing software (e.g., Microsoft Office suite products) and an accounting software program (e.g., QuickBooks Pro) to g
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Craters & Freighters Franchise
Home servicesSoftware purchasing control at Craters & Freighters appears centralized at the franchisor level, given mandated technology requirements. The system currently mandates a proprietary data management and intranet system alongside QuickBooks by Intuit Inc. With 65 total units, the addressable market for a vendor is concentrated but presents a clear integration or replacement opportunity around the mandated stack.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
65
64 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$207K–$390K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
10 years
from the filing
Item 19
No 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%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
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.
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
13 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 7 explicit no's; 14 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?
YesItem 11
Currently, we require you to purchase data processing software (e.g., Microsoft Office suite products) and an accounting software program (e.g., QuickBooks Pro) to go along with our Proprietary Software.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to independently access your electronic information and data through a proprietary data management and intranet system, and to collect and use your electronic information and data in any manner we choose to promote the development of the franchise system and the sale of franchises.
How the franchisor buys
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 20
No trademark-specific franchisee organization exists that is associated with the franchise system being offered.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
Neither we nor any of our Affiliates derived any revenue in 2025 from franchisee purchases or leases of products and services from our designated suppliers, but we and our Affiliates reserve the right to do so in the future.
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?
2Item 8
We estimate that the purchase of products and services from us or our designated or approved sources, or those meeting our standards and specifications, will be approximately 0% of your total cost to establish a Craters & Freighters Franchised Business, and 2% to 3% of your total cost of operating a Craters &…
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
We reserve the right to require you to pay or reimburse us for the reasonable cost of investigation in determining whether a proposed alternative supplier satisfies our specifications.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you desire to use suppliers other than those which have been approved by us, you must submit your request to us in writing.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesItem 17
discontinue use of telephone numbers associated with the Franchised Business
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 9
s. Inspections and audits Sections 6.18, 12 of Franchise Agreement Item 11
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You must select the area and Premises for your Franchised Business subject to our consent.
Marketing
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If a Cooperative has been established for a geographic area where your Craters & Freighters Franchised Business 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 and abide by the rules of the…
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to independently access your electronic information and data through a proprietary data management and intranet system, and to collect and use your electronic information and data in any manner we choose to promote the development of the franchise system and the sale of franchises.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
The cost of any training provided by us (upon your request or as determined by us) to any Designated Manager engaged by you after the opening of your Franchised Business will be paid by you based on our then-current daily rate for additional training;
The filing answers no to 7 questions
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?Item 11
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Item 11
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Item 11
- Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?Item 8
- Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
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
- 95.3% of home services brands mandate no POS, leaving a massive whitespace for tech vendors to target before competitors catch on.By identifying the 525 brands with no mandated POS, your sales team can prioritize high-fit targets and cut prospecting waste by 40%, converting weeks of manual research into a single query that surfaces ready-to-sell accounts.
- Teams spend weeks manually combing through FDDs to assess unit counts and financials across 554 active home services brands.Replacing manual FDD research with instant corpus search saves 15+ hours per brand evaluation, allowing your team to assess 10x more targets and accelerate pipeline velocity by 30%.
- Without instant access to AUV data, you cannot gauge franchisee ROI or brand health across 239 disclosed home services brands.Seeing median AUV of $661,803.61 at a glance lets you prioritize brands with strong unit economics, increasing win rates by focusing on financially healthy targets and avoiding low-ROI pursuits.
The vendor opportunity at Craters & Freighters
Craters & Freighters operates 65 total units, with 64 franchised and 1 company-owned location. The franchisor is headquartered in Colorado and appears independently owned, with no parent company on file. For a software vendor, the immediate addressable market is these 65 locations, all of which must adhere to the franchisor's technology mandates. The system's average unit volume (AUV) is not disclosed in the most recent FDD, but the royalty rate stands at 5.0% of gross revenue. The initial franchise term is 15 years, indicating long-term commitments that can lock in technology decisions for over a decade.
Who controls software purchasing
Technology purchasing at Craters & Freighters is driven by franchisor mandates, signaling a centralized, HQ-led decision-making model. The FDD lists Robert Holliday as the Agent for Service of Process, but no dedicated technology executives, such as a CIO or VP of IT, are named in the available Item 1 disclosures. Vendors should expect to engage directly with senior leadership at the franchisor level, as the mandated systems leave little room for individual franchisee discretion. The absence of mapped operators in our corpus further suggests a tight, centrally controlled network where software standards are enforced from the top.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2026 FDD explicitly mandates two technology components. First, a proprietary data management and intranet system is required, serving as the operational backbone for franchisees. Second, QuickBooks and QuickBooks Pro by Intuit Inc. are mandated for financial management. This dual mandate creates a clear picture of the existing stack: a custom, in-house operational platform paired with a widely used accounting solution. For vendors selling complementary or replacement software, the opportunity lies in integrating with or displacing these mandated tools, particularly if you can demonstrate added value around the proprietary system's functionality.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Procurement signals from Item 8 of the FDD are not available in our extract, leaving the designated supplier or approved vendor process unclear. However, the renewal conditions in Item 17 provide strategic timing insights. To renew for a successive 15-year term, a franchisee must sign the then-current Franchise Agreement, which may contain materially different terms, and meet all then-current system standards, including technology requirements. This creates a natural trigger point: as franchisees approach renewal, they must comply with any updated tech mandates, opening a window for vendors to engage with the franchisor about new solutions that will be rolled into the updated operations manuals and standards.
How to read the Craters & Freighters FDD
The Franchise Disclosure Document is the definitive source for understanding the legal and operational constraints on technology adoption within this system. The 2026 filing details the 15-year term, the 5.0% royalty, and the specific software mandates that shape the vendor landscape. Pay close attention to the conditions for renewal, as they grant the franchisor broad authority to impose new technology standards on existing franchisees. The full document is embedded below for your detailed review. For a ranked target list of franchise systems based on tech-stack fit and procurement timing, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
Craters & Freighters Franchise, answered from the filing
The FDD names Robert Holliday as Agent for Service of Process, but no CIO or technology buyer is listed. Given mandated systems, purchasing decisions likely rest with senior leadership at the franchisor level.
The franchise mandates a proprietary data management and intranet system, plus QuickBooks and QuickBooks Pro by Intuit Inc. for financial management.
The system has 65 total units, consisting of 64 franchised locations and 1 company-owned unit, according to the 2026 FDD.
The procurement model is not detailed in the available FDD extract. Item 8, which typically outlines designated or approved supplier requirements, provided no signal in our corpus.
The initial franchise term is 15 years. Renewal requires executing the then-current agreement and meeting updated standards, creating potential windows as franchisees approach renewal and must comply with new system standards.
The FDD was filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. You can review the full document using the embedded PDF viewer below to analyze the detailed legal and operational disclosures.
Source
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Operator footprint
Craters & Freighters Franchise’s FDD on file does not disclose a franchisee directory.
Related Home services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.