From the filings
Software purchasing at MRCOOL Franchising is controlled at the headquarters level by a tight executive team including President Nathan Rowton and CFO Derek Richards. The franchisor has not disclosed any mandated or recommended technology systems in its 2026 FDD, leaving the current tech stack unknown to outside vendors. The addressable market is small: just 3 franchised units, all located in Kentucky.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Ongoing fee load
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
8%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Franchisor behaviours
30 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 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
At all times, Franchisee shall exclusively use the Business Management Systems designated by Franchisor, in Franchisor’s Reasonable Business Judgment, and as may be modified, supplemented or replaced by Franchisor from time to time.
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 all of the information and data that is electronically transmitted on your business management system and will have access to all data related to the financial performance of your Center.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
within 30 days of the end of each calendar month Franchisee shall submit to Franchisor monthly financial statements and other reports related to the operations of the Franchised business
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
We may designate ourselves, our parent and our affiliates as exclusive suppliers of source restricted goods and services.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
We may designate a supplier, including ourselves, or our affiliates, as the exclusive supplier for the System.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
2857567.11Item 8
During the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, we earned revenues in the amount of $2,857,567.11 from franchisee purchases.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We and our affiliates may receive rebates, payments and other material benefits from suppliers based on your purchases and we reserve the right to institute and expand rebate programs 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?
25Item 8
We estimate that your purchase of goods and services from suppliers according to our specifications, including your purchase of goods or services from our designated exclusive suppliers, to represent approximately 85% of your total purchases and leases in establishing the Franchised Business and approximately 25% of…
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
We may charge you a fee equal to the costs and expenses that we incur in reviewing and evaluating an alternate supplier, product, and/or service requested by you.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you want to purchase or lease a source restricted item from a supplier that has not been previously approved or designated by us in writing, you must send us a written request for approval and submit additional information, samples, and testing data that we may request.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
In the event of the termination of this Agreement, for any reason, that the accounts related to all telephone numbers associated with the Franchised Business and all rights in and to the telephone numbers associated with the Franchised Business, shall, at Franchisor’s election, be transferred to Franchisor.
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor, in Franchisor’s Reasonable Business Judgement, shall exclusively select the Reputation Management Services to be used by Franchisee and to determine and select the websites, social media sites, reporting services, surveys, and service platforms to be included in any evaluation and/or determination of…
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor has the right at any and all times during business hours, throughout the terms of this Agree and without prior notice to Franchisee, to inspect Franchisee’s Center.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
At all times, we reserve the right to supplement, modify and update the Manuals.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
Although you are responsible for selecting a site for your Center Location you must obtain our approval of your Center Location.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesItem 11
You may not use any websites, web-based media or digital media unless expressly approved by us in writing.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 7
You must spend a minimum of $5,000 prior to the opening of your Center to promote your grand opening.
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
On an on-going calendar year quarterly basis, you must not spend less than 2% of your quarterly Gross Sales on the local marketing of your Center.
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If we establish a cooperative within a market that includes your Center, you must contribute to the cooperative in such amounts and frequency as determined by the cooperative.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase the System Supplies, as designated by us, from us, our affiliates, and/or our designated suppliers.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You may only use those products, supplies, equipment, technology systems, and services that we authorize and designate in writing.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
Credit Card Processing – You must use our designated supplier and vendor for credit card processing which may be integrated with the business management system that we designate.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
Will be debited automatically from your bank account by ACH or other means designated by us.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
At all times, your Center must be managed and supervised on-site by either a Managing Owner or Operating Manager.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
For the protection of the System, you must ensure that all employees wear and maintain the proper uniforms with our approved System branded apparel and uniforms including, but not limited to, the apparel and uniforms comprising System Supplies.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
7. Online Ordering – You must use our designated supplier and vendor for the ability to access and use online, point-of-sale integrated, web-based, and/or app based, and/or ordering systems.
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 all of the information and data that is electronically transmitted on your business management system and will have access to all data related to the financial performance of your Center.
Sales and CRM
Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
“Business Management System” refers to and means the software, internet, web-based and/or cloud- based system or systems, business management system or systems and customer relationship management system or systems as same may be individually, or collectively, designated by Franchisor, in Franchisor’s Reasonable…
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor reserves the right to assess Franchisee reasonable charges for such training.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 6
If we offer a franchisee annual conference in a given year you will be required to attend the conference on the dates and at the location that we designate.
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.
MRCOOL Franchising operates a tiny franchise system: 3 total units, all franchised, all in Kentucky. No company-owned locations are reported in the 2026 FDD. For a software vendor, the immediate addressable market is exactly those 3 locations, with no multi-unit operators on file—each unit is independently owned by a single-operator franchisee. Average unit volume is not disclosed, and year-over-year unit growth is not available. The royalty rate is 4.0% of gross revenue, and the initial franchise term runs 10 years.
This is not a volume play. The opportunity here is either a land-and-expand bet on future growth or a niche sale into a very small, HQ-controlled environment where a single decision-maker conversation could cover the entire system.
The FDD lists five executives in Item 1: Managing Members Jason Ingram and Doug Ingram, President Nathan Rowton, Chief Financial Officer Derek Richards, and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Jerry Wheeler. With no field operations team or IT leadership named, software purchasing authority almost certainly sits with this group. The CFO and Deputy CFO are the most natural entry points for any vendor selling financial, operational, or back-office software. The President is the likely decision-maker for any system-wide operational platform.
Because there are only 3 units and no multi-unit franchisees, there is no distributed buying center. Franchisees may have input, but the franchisor’s small size and centralized management structure point to HQ as the sole buyer.
The 2026 FDD does not disclose any mandated or recommended technology systems. No POS vendor, no scheduling platform, no accounting package, no CRM, no field-service management tool is named. This absence is itself a signal: either MRCOOL has no standardized tech stack, or it considers that information proprietary and does not disclose it in the FDD. Vendors should approach this as an unknown-stack environment and be prepared to conduct discovery directly with the executive team.
Item 8 of the FDD—which typically outlines designated suppliers, approved suppliers, and procurement obligations—contains no extract in the available data. The procurement model is therefore not publicly known. Vendors should ask whether MRCOOL requires franchisees to purchase from specified suppliers or whether they are free to choose their own software.
Renewal terms from Item 17 provide one timing signal. To renew, a franchisee must give 180 days’ prior written notice, sign the then-current form of franchise agreement, pay a renewal fee, and remodel or upgrade the center to meet current standards. With a 10-year initial term and only 3 units, renewal-driven software evaluation windows will be rare. The remodel requirement, however, could trigger technology upgrades, creating a natural opening for vendors offering operational or facility-management software.
The full 2026 MRCOOL Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. It was filed with state franchise regulators and contains the legal and financial disclosures that underpin every data point on this page. Software vendors should review Item 1 (the franchisor and its executives), Item 8 (procurement obligations), and Item 11 (franchisor assistance, including any technology requirements) to validate the landscape before outreach. If you need a ranked target list of franchise systems that match your software category, FranCloud can help.
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 MRCOOL Franchising files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
2 operators run 4 mapped locations. 2 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Top states by locations
| KY | 4 |
|---|
Related Home services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.