7. You must license and use the various computer programs, system documentation manuals, and other materials comprising Dale Carnegie’s proprietary DCT Client Builder™ system, sublicense Microsoft Office 365, sublicense Salesforce from Dale Carnegie and sign Dale Carnegie’s standard form Software License Agreement (Exhibit C to the Franchise Agreement). These three systems work together to create a single view and process enabling you to manage the entire customer life cycle. You must also license and use Qvinci. Dale Carnegie has the non-exclusive right to sublicense Microsoft Office 365 to its franchisees. Dale Carnegie has this right for one-year periods which are generally renewed annually. Dale Carnegie uses Microsoft Office 365 as its e-mail system to maintain a computer network through which you can communicate with Dale Carnegie and other franchisees. The e-mail system is used, among other things, for asking questions, discussing common issues and disseminating information from Dale Carnegie, including promotional materials. You can sublicense the use of Microsoft Office 365 from Dale Carnegie and access the network for $51 USD per person, per year, invoiced by Dale
From the filings
Dale Carnegie
EducationSoftware purchasing at Dale Carnegie is controlled at the corporate level, with President and CEO Joseph Hart and the board overseeing technology decisions. The franchise system mandates DCT Client Builder™ and Salesforce, creating a defined tech landscape for vendors. With 142 franchised locations across the US, the addressable market is concentrated among single-unit operators, offering a targeted opportunity for software sales.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Ordinary royalty terms
12% component; full terms unconfirmed
Complete royalty terms are not confirmed for the selected filing.
Recorded percentage components
These are recorded percentage components. Each has its own base and conditions; the chart does not state the total payment or confirm ad-fund completeness.
1recorded components (FY2022)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
2 technology requirements are recorded in this filing. A required choice lists alternatives for one obligation. Read each cited clause for its conditions.
Other than proprietary required materials, you may be required to purchase certain non-proprietary supplies, equipment, materials and services from an approved supplier (see information on supplier approval below). Dale Carnegie may offer to sell you non- proprietary required materials (directly or through a designee), but you have no obligation to purchase them from Dale Carnegie. If Dale Carnegie offers to sell you and you decide to purchase from Dale Carnegie, you must pay the prices Dale Carnegie (or its designee) determines and sets forth at the time of sale, in the Operations Manual or in any other written materials. Dale Carnegie reserves the right to earn a profit from sales to you of proprietary and non-proprietary required materials. You will be under no obligation to purchase any non-proprietary required materials from Dale Carnegie. You must annually sublicense Office 365 and Salesforce from Dale Carnegie and license the proprietary DCT Client Builder™ software from Dale Carnegie. Dale Carnegie estimates that purchases of required materials represent approximately 2% of the cost to establish your Business and approximately 5% of your ongoing operating expenses. Dale Carnegie is the only approved supplier for the proprietary required materials. Dale Carnegie is an approved supplier for the non- proprietary materials. For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2021, Dale Carnegie’s revenues from the sale of proprietary and non-proprietary required materials to its franchisees was $1,282,000 or approximately 6.6% of Dale Carnegie’s total revenues of $19,544,000.
Qvinci is a financial reporting and benchmarking system which allows Dale Carnegie & Associates and franchisees to gain accurate and meaningful financial insights across the franchise network in real time. Qvinci integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, MYOB and Excel and automatically consolidates accounting files from different locations into a Standard Chart of Accounts, providing users with instant, custom financial reports and benchmarking insights based on peer analysis. Qvinci is provided for free to franchises during their initial term of the franchise agreement. Upon franchise agreement renewal franchisees are charged the cost of the Qvinci license and the cost of a subscription is approximately $500 USD.
Qvinci is a financial reporting and benchmarking system which allows Dale Carnegie & Associates and franchisees to gain accurate and meaningful financial insights across the franchise network in real time. Qvinci integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, MYOB and Excel and automatically consolidates accounting files from different locations into a Standard Chart of Accounts, providing users with instant, custom financial reports and benchmarking insights based on peer analysis. Qvinci is provided for free to franchises during their initial term of the franchise agreement. Upon franchise agreement renewal franchisees are charged the cost of the Qvinci license and the cost of a subscription is approximately $500 USD.
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
20 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 3 explicit no's; 11 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 10
Specify in the Operations Manual the electronic or written accounting and information systems, procedures, formats and reporting requirements which you must use to account for your Business, maintain your financial records and generate reports for both you and us.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 10
Dale Carnegie will have independent access to and may retrieve from your computer system any Office 365 and DCT Client Builder™ information pertaining to your Business that it deems necessary, desirable or appropriate, but not other information.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Dale Carnegie or its designee is the only approved supplier of proprietary required materials and you must purchase all proprietary required materials from Dale Carnegie or its designee.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesFranchise agreement
We will regularly consult and collaborate with at least the following committees: (i) Global Account Steering Committee; (ii) Strategic/Preferred Accounts Committee; (iii) Board of Conduct; (iv) Operating Standards Committee; and (v) Regional Marketing Committees.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
You will use DCT Client Builder™ or such other system as we may designate in the Operations Manual to report Gross Revenues and maintain your financial records and merchandising data; and, generate reports for both you and us.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
To obtain Dale Carnegie’s written approval for a supplier: • You must submit a written request to Dale Carnegie for approval of the supplier.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Cease using the telephone numbers you used in the operation of the Business or, at our option, direct the telephone company to transfer those telephone numbers to us or to any other person and location that we direct.
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesItem 6
At the conclusion of each Carnegie Program, you must give each participant a “DC Listens” program end evaluation (“Survey”) designed to measure participant satisfaction.
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Following any inspection and operational audit, we will provide you with a written report of our findings, our recommendations to improve the Business and any corrections and modifications we require to maintain the standards of quality and uniformity prescribed in the Operations Manual.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
We retain the right to modify and revise the Operations Manual in the manner described in Section 23.7 C. and all such modifications to the Operations Manual will become binding on you as if originally in the Operations Manual, upon being delivered to you.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 10
You must secure your Office and any Training Facility locations, in accordance with guidelines stated in the Operations Manual, within 120 days after the date the Franchise Agreement is entered into, and in sufficient time so that you can begin providing your first Carnegie Program in that time.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
Your Sub Site must be your sole web site and you shall not host or maintain any additional web site(s) for the Business or any competing business.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
Dale Carnegie or its designee is the only approved supplier of proprietary required materials and you must purchase all proprietary required materials from Dale Carnegie or its designee.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Dale Carnegie or its designee is the only approved supplier of proprietary required materials and you must purchase all proprietary required materials from Dale Carnegie or its designee.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
On the fifteenth day of every month, you must pay to Dale Carnegie, by electronic funds transfer, the Royalty due to Dale Carnegie based on the prior month’s Gross Revenues.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You will use DCT Client Builder™ or such other system as we may designate in the Operations Manual to report Gross Revenues and maintain your financial records and merchandising data; and, generate reports for both you and us.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 10
Dale Carnegie will have independent access to and may retrieve from your computer system any Office 365 and DCT Client Builder™ information pertaining to your
Sales and CRM
Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 10
You also agree to use the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software program that Carnegie designates as a tool for you to further manage your business effectively.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
period a Trainer will be required to attend refresher events annually and certification renewal events at least every three (3) years.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
While we strongly recommend, but do not require, that you attend all Conventions, we do require that you attend a Convention at least once every two years during the Term.
The filing answers no to 3 questions
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Item 7
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Item 10
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 10
The vendor opportunity at Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie operates 143 total units, of which 142 are franchised and 1 is company-owned, according to the 2022 Franchise Disclosure Document. The system shows modest year-over-year unit growth of 0.709%, with a footprint concentrated in states like California (4 units), Illinois (3), and Florida (3). All 35 mapped operators are single-unit franchisees—there are no multi-unit operators in the 2-9, 10-24, or 25+ bands. This structure means software vendors face a market of 142 individually owned locations, but purchasing power sits at the top.
For vendors, the opportunity lies in a system where technology mandates are already in place, signaling a top-down approach to software adoption. The lack of multi-unit operators simplifies the sales landscape: you're not navigating complex franchisee hierarchies, but you must align with HQ's directives.
Who controls software purchasing
Software purchasing decisions at Dale Carnegie are centralized at the headquarters level. The FDD lists Donna Dale Carnegie as Chairman of the Board of Directors, with Joseph Hart serving as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director. Additional directors include J. Oliver Crom, Suzanne Sutter, and Michael Crom. This group, led by Hart as CEO, forms the buying center for technology. Vendors should direct pitches to the C-suite, particularly the CEO's office, as the franchisor mandates core systems and controls procurement. There is no parent company on file; Dale Carnegie appears independently owned, which means decisions are made without external corporate influence.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2022 FDD explicitly mandates two systems: DCT Client Builder™ and Salesforce by Salesforce, Inc. These are the only named technologies in the disclosure, indicating a focused stack likely supporting client management and sales operations. No other operational, POS, or back-office systems are specified as mandated or recommended. For software vendors, this creates a clear picture: Salesforce is entrenched, and DCT Client Builder™ serves a specific function, but gaps may exist in areas like learning management, HR, or analytics. Any pitch must account for the existing Salesforce integration and the franchisor's preference for mandated, system-wide solutions.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD provides no extract on procurement, leaving the supplier selection process unspecified. It is not clear whether Dale Carnegie uses designated suppliers, approved supplier lists, or an open model. This lack of transparency means vendors should inquire directly about procurement protocols during initial outreach. On renewals, Item 17 states that compliant franchisees can renew for consecutive 10-year terms using the then-current franchise agreement. With a 10-year initial term and slow unit growth, contract windows may be infrequent but predictable, tied to renewal cycles. The absence of recent large-scale expansion suggests that software evaluations could coincide with these renewal events or HQ-driven tech refreshes.
How to read the Dale Carnegie FDD
The Dale Carnegie 2022 FDD is embedded below for full review. It contains the legal and operational disclosures filed with state franchise regulators, including the executive team, unit counts, and mandated technology. Key sections for software vendors include Item 1 (the franchisor and its officers), Item 11 (the mandated systems), and Item 17 (renewal terms). Use this document to verify the decision-makers and tech stack before crafting your pitch. For a ranked target list of franchise systems aligned with your software, FranCloud can help you prioritize opportunities based on real FDD data.
Ordinary royalty terms
Complete royalty terms are not confirmed.
Questions vendors ask
Dale Carnegie, answered from the filing
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Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
35 operators run 35 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Top states by locations
| CA | 4 |
|---|---|
| IL | 3 |
| FL | 3 |
| TX | 2 |
| NC | 2 |
Related Education brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Read the original filing for definitions, conditions, and qualifications.