Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
We require you to use Quickbooks accounting software using our chart of accounts.
From the filings
Software purchasing for the Crimson Coward NY Area Representative territory is controlled at the area level, with key decision-makers including President and Founder Ali Hijazi and CEO Nabil A. Asad. The most recent Franchise Disclosure Document (2025) does not mandate any specific technology systems, leaving the current tech stack undefined for vendors. The addressable market consists of 4 franchised units, with no company-owned locations disclosed.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Franchisor behaviours
25 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 3 explicit no's; 6 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
We require you to use Quickbooks accounting software using our chart of accounts.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We will have independent access to your sales information and other store information.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Within ninety (90) days following the end of each calendar year, Franchisee shall provide Franchisor with a copy of Franchisee's balance sheet and an income and expense statement for the prior year.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
There is no supplier which an officer owns an interest in, except us, the Franchisor.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 12
We reserve the right to change any part of the Crimson Coward System, menu items, required inventory, supplies or equipment, including changing the required POS system, and introducing new systems, and reserve the right to delete any parts of the System or add new technologies or new services, new trainings, new…
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
neither we nor our affiliate derived any revenue based on required purchases or leases by franchisees made in accordance with our specifications.
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?
80Item 8
approximately 80% to 85% of your total ongoing purchases in connection with operating your Crimson Coward restaurant.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor may charge a reasonable fee to cover its costs in evaluating a proposed supplier.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor will approve other suppliers of non-proprietary items if Franchisee or the supplier request the approval in writing and if the supplier demonstrates to the satisfaction of Franchisor that it is financially capable and can provide Item(s) or service(s) that meet Franchisor's standards and that it is willing…
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee/Assignor, in consideration of CRIMSON COWARD, INC. Franchisor/Assignee granting a Crimson Coward franchise contemporaneously herewith, and other valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, hereby Assigns to CRIMSON COWARD, INC. all telephone numbers and listings…
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor shall have the right, at any time, to enter the Premises (either physically or electronically) for purposes of auditing the accuracy of reports submitted and to otherwise verify compliance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to modify, add, delete and revise the Manual at any time in our sole discretion, and if we do we will provide you with updates sections either electronically or hard copy or both.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
We must approve any site selected, but our approval in no way serves as a guarantee of success for the location, only that it meets our general criteria.
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 may not create a separate webpage without Franchisor’s express consent.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 7
You must spend a minimum of between $6,000 to $7,500 depending on these factors.
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
You are required to spend at least $500 per month on local area advertising and must provide us with proof of expenditures upon our request.
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If at any time, there are two or more Crimson Coward restaurant franchisees within a marketing area we may form a local marketing cooperative and you must participate.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesFranchise agreement
As to all equipment, inventory, supplies, and branded items and inventory (“Items”) necessary to operate the Crimson Coward restaurant, Franchisee must purchase such items from Franchisor’s approved vendor.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase from approved vendors all the equipment, supplies, inventory, and branded items necessary to start or operate the Crimson Coward restaurant.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
You will pay by electronic funds transfer and must sign an authorization allowing direct transfers from your bank.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 11
You are required to participate in any gift card program we institute.
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 obtain and use the following hardware and software: Our current POS system is Toast;
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We will have independent access to your sales information and other store information.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
We may require you or your employees to attend additional training at a location we determine at $300 per day.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
When Franchisor puts on these training events and venues Franchisee and/or it’s general manager, or other employees, as the case may be, must attend such events and training venues, at Franchisee’s cost.
Who buys here
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 franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
Crimson Coward NY Area Rep is a quick-service restaurant concept with headquarters in California. The system consists of 4 franchised units, and the most recent FDD (2025) reports no company-owned locations. For software vendors, the total addressable market is small—just 4 units—but the area representative structure means a single relationship could cover the entire territory. Average unit volume (AUV) and royalty percentages are not disclosed in the FDD, so vendors must size the opportunity based on unit count alone. The initial franchise term is 15 years, suggesting long-term stability once a contract is in place.
The FDD lists four individuals in leadership roles: Ali Hijazi (President and Founder, and Training Supervisor), Nabil A. Asad (CEO), John A. Filipiak (President of Restaurant Management Group Mid-Atlantic LLC dba Crimson Coward Nashville Hot Chicken), and Hassan Bawab (Area Representative). With both a CEO and an Area Representative named, purchasing authority likely sits at a mixed level—some decisions may flow through HQ, while others are made locally. Vendors should prepare to engage both the executive team and the area representative when pitching software solutions.
No mandated or recommended technology systems are captured in the 2025 FDD. This means there is no publicly disclosed POS provider, no required back-office platform, and no specified online ordering or delivery integration. For a vendor, this represents a blank slate: the brand has not locked itself into any particular ecosystem. However, it also means you will need to discover the incumbent systems through direct outreach, as the FDD provides no starting point.
Item 8 of the FDD, which typically outlines procurement restrictions, contains no extract in our corpus. The procurement model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or fully open—is therefore not disclosed. Renewal conditions, drawn from Item 17, require the area representative to be in good standing, sign a new agreement (which may contain materially different terms), provide 12 months' notice, and pay the then-current territory fee. The renewal term is 15 years. With no year-over-year unit growth data available, vendors cannot easily predict expansion-driven buying cycles. The long renewal window and small unit base mean contract opportunities will be infrequent and relationship-dependent.
The 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document is the primary source for all the data points above. It is filed with state franchise regulators and contains the legal and operational disclosures required by the FTC Franchise Rule. For software vendors, the most relevant sections are Item 8 (procurement), Item 11 (mandated technology), and Item 17 (renewal and termination). Because the FDD discloses no mandated tech stack, vendors should use the document to confirm the absence of restrictions and then focus direct sales efforts on the named executives. Review the embedded PDF below to verify these details and identify any updates in subsequent filings.
For a ranked target list of franchise systems that match your software category, reach out to FranCloud.
Questions vendors ask
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
View only A one-time purchase: the original filing, yours to keep.
FDD alert
We’ll email you the moment Crimson Coward NY Area Rep files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Crimson Coward NY Area Rep’s FDD on file does not disclose a franchisee directory.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.