IntuitIntuit
Mandatorytaken care of by Real Green each night, and also weekly by the NaturaLawn of America Corporate IT Department. You are responsible for your QuickBooks backup. You may choose to use Intuit’s offsite bac
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
NaturaLawn of America
Home servicesSoftware purchasing at NaturaLawn of America is controlled at the headquarters level, where President Philip Catron and the executive team oversee a system of 88 franchised and 10 company-owned units. The franchisor mandates QuickBooks by Intuit Inc. and Service Assistant 5 across the network, creating a defined addressable market of 98 locations for vendors whose solutions complement or replace these core systems. With an average unit volume of $2,192,129 and a lean, single-unit operator base, the opportunity lies in selling directly into a centralized decision-making structure.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
98
88 franchised
Unit growth YoY
-2.222%
vs prior filing
AUV
$2.19M
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
9%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1%
national + local
Initial fee
$40K
per unit
Investment range
$88K–$153K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
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.
10%of gross sales (FY2025)
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.
Real GreenReal Green
Mandatoryof the initial license fee. You must purchase additional technology, computer hardware and software in accordance with our specifications. You are required to use the cloud-based, Real Green, Service
QuickBooksIntuit
program. We have used and recommended the use of Service Assistant 5 software for more than a dozen plus years. 4. Intuit QuickBooks Software: Whereas we purchase and install your QuickBooks software
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
22 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 3 explicit no's; 9 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
You may not substitute a comparable software package for these functions.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We own all of the customers and their data and information that pertains to the Franchise Business, and we will have independent access to electronically access, inspect, monitor and retrieve information stored on your computer system related to the operations of the Franchised Business.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall provide Franchisor monthly reports, including a statement of Gross Sales, a profit and loss statement, balance sheet and an inventory statement for the immediately preceding month.
How the franchisor buys
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
Our specifications and requirements for supplies and services, including “designated products, equipment and services,” may be modified or changed by us, in our sole discretion.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
1409212Item 8
During the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, we derived $1,409,212, or 15.4% of our total revenues of $9,190,651, from the sale of products, supplies, equipment, paper and promotional materials and other inventory to our franchisees, as well as certain rebates/remunerations we received from our suppliers.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We currently receive rebates/ remunerations from certain suppliers of equipment, products, promotional materials and paper products.
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?
5Item 8
We estimate that required purchases and leases represent 80% to 90% of all purchases and leases to be made by you in establishing the Franchised Business and less than 5% as you are operating the Franchised Business.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
You may propose additional or different specifications or suppliers for any products or services by submitting a written request to us.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor has the right and authority to disconnect “NaturaLawn of America” telephone numbers and to transfer calls coming to the disconnected numbers to any other telephone number issued by the telephone company to Franchisor.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor shall have the right to inspect (in person or remotely) the Franchised Business, including any and all customer records and files (computer or written) during business hours and at all reasonable times to ensure that the Franchisee’s operation of the Franchised Business is in compliance with the standards…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees to promptly adopt and use, exclusively, the methods, procedures and policies contained in the Manual, now and as it may be modified by Franchisor from time to time.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You need our approval for the site(s).
Marketing
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 11
This is a mandatory first year expense and will vary based on marketing plans.
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
A minimum of $60,000 must be directed towards the marketing and advertising of the business during each of the next four years.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall purchase Franchisee's supplies, equipment and services from Franchisor, from approved suppliers or in accordance with other requirements specified by Franchisor.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
In order to maintain the high quality of operations, you must purchase all products, equipment, inventory and services used in the Franchised Business from us or other approved suppliers, or according to our standards, specifications and requirements as described in the NaturaLawn of America Manual ("Manual").
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 11
This fee is collected weekly by ACH.
People
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Cause all employees of Franchisee, while working in the Franchised Business, to wear uniforms or other dress as approved or prescribed by Franchisor, present a neat and clean appearance, and render competent and courteous service to all Franchised Business customers and clients;
Point of sale
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 electronically access, inspect, monitor and retrieve information stored on your computer system related to the operations of the Franchised Business.
Sales and CRM
Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
800-422-7478). You will use this software for database management, marketing, financial management, reporting data, and other business functions to run the Franchised Business.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
After the opening of your business, when we develop new procedures or techniques which we believe require additional training, we will provide this training to you.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must attend one (1) or more franchise owner training meetings each year, to be conducted by Franchisor in various locations.
The filing answers no to 3 questions
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 20
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?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
- 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 NaturaLawn of America
NaturaLawn of America operates 98 total units—88 franchised and 10 company-owned—across a footprint concentrated in North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware. The system is entirely single-unit: all 48 mapped operators run exactly one location, with no multi-unit owners on file. This structure means software vendors face a single, centralized buyer at headquarters rather than a fragmented field of independent decision-makers.
The average unit volume sits at $2,192,129, with a 9.0% royalty rate on gross sales. Year-over-year unit growth declined 2.22%, suggesting a mature network where retention and operational efficiency are likely priorities. For a vendor, that translates into an addressable market of 98 locations where a successful HQ-level sale can deploy across the entire system in one motion.
Who controls software purchasing
Purchasing authority rests with the executive team in Maryland. The 2025 FDD Item 1 lists Philip Catron as President, Treasurer, and Director—the most likely ultimate decision-maker for enterprise software agreements. Vice Presidents Jesse Catron and Theresa Smith round out the senior leadership, while Blaine R. Young (Franchise Sales and Development) and John Steiner (Regional Operations Manager) may influence or champion operational tools.
Because the franchisee base consists exclusively of single-unit operators, there is no multi-unit owner class with independent procurement power. Vendors should route all outreach through the corporate office and expect a top-down adoption model.
Mandated and current tech stack
Item 11 of the 2025 FDD mandates two systems across the network: QuickBooks by Intuit Inc. for accounting and Service Assistant 5 for operational management. No other required or recommended technology vendors are disclosed. This creates a clear integration and displacement landscape—any solution that touches accounting, field service management, scheduling, or CRM must either integrate with or replace one of these two mandated platforms.
The absence of a mandated POS, payroll, or marketing automation system in the FDD does not mean those categories are unoccupied; it means the franchisor has not codified a requirement. Vendors in adjacent categories should probe for incumbent tools during discovery.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD contains no extract regarding designated suppliers, approved vendor lists, or purchasing cooperatives. In the absence of a published procurement signal, the default assumption is an open model where the franchisor retains approval authority but has not pre-negotiated supplier relationships. This can work in a vendor's favor: there is no locked-in preferred vendor to unseat, but it also means the sales cycle must educate HQ on why a system-wide mandate benefits the brand.
Item 17 outlines renewal mechanics that create natural software evaluation windows. The initial franchise term is 5 years, with three additional 5-year renewal terms available. Franchisees must provide 6 months' notice, remain compliant with the Franchise Agreement, meet minimum gross sales thresholds, and sign a new Franchise Agreement that may contain materially different terms—including, potentially, updated technology requirements. With the system showing negative unit growth, franchisor-led initiatives around operational efficiency or compliance may trigger technology reviews tied to these renewal cycles.
How to read the NaturaLawn of America FDD
The embedded FDD viewer below contains the full 2025 disclosure document. For software vendors, the critical sections are Item 1 (executive team and ownership structure), Item 8 (procurement restrictions—notably silent here), Item 11 (mandated systems: QuickBooks and Service Assistant 5), and Item 17 (renewal conditions and timing). The single-unit operator footprint and negative growth rate in Item 20 provide context on the urgency and scale of any potential deployment. Use these sections to build a precise account plan before engaging the headquarters team. For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
NaturaLawn of America, answered from the filing
President & Treasurer Philip Catron leads the buying center, supported by Vice Presidents Jesse Catron and Theresa Smith. Franchise Sales and Development head Blaine R. Young and Regional Operations Manager John Steiner may influence operational tool decisions.
The 2025 FDD mandates QuickBooks by Intuit Inc. for accounting and Service Assistant 5 for operational management. No other systems are disclosed as required.
98 total units: 88 franchised and 10 company-owned. All 48 mapped operators are single-unit, with top state concentrations in North Carolina (5), New Jersey (5), and Pennsylvania (4).
The FDD does not disclose a designated or approved supplier program in Item 8. Absent a published procurement signal, vendors should assume an open model with HQ-level approval likely required for system-wide adoption.
Initial franchise terms run 5 years, with three additional 5-year renewal options requiring 6 months' notice. With unit growth at -2.22% YoY, renewal-triggered tech evaluations may be the primary window for new vendor entry.
The 2025 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can review the embedded PDF viewer below for full Item 1, Item 8, Item 11, and Item 17 disclosures relevant to software sales planning.
Source
Read the filing itself
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Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
48 operators run 48 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit48
Top states by locations
| NC | 5 |
|---|---|
| NJ | 5 |
| PA | 4 |
| CT | 3 |
| DE | 3 |
Related Home services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.