QuickBooks OnlineIntuit
Mandatoryyees, sales, work orders, key performance indicators, and other metrics. We require you to use Vonigo to track and complete work orders, sales activity, and invoices. You must use QuickBooks Online fo
From the filings
+18.391% units YoYHQ-led decisions
Surface Experts
Home servicesSoftware purchasing at Surface Experts is controlled at the franchisor level, with a mandated tech stack that touches hiring, operations, accounting, field service, and support. The brand operates 103 franchised locations, all single-unit operators, and grew units by 18.4% year-over-year. This creates a concentrated addressable market for vendors who can align with HQ mandates or fill gaps in the current stack.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
103
103 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+18.391%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
8%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$2.5
per unit
Investment range
$156K–$273K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
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 (FY2026)
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.
VonigoVonigo
Mandatoryments systems, marketing, and fleet management. It generates and stores data on employees, sales, work orders, key performance indicators, and other metrics. We require you to use Vonigo to track and
CareerPlugCareerPlug
ith access for six users to the ExpertNet software package. The package currently includes Vonigo management software, Office 365, an e-mail address, an applicant tracking system (Careerplug) and a VO
QuickBooksIntuit
quire you to use Vonigo to track and complete work orders, sales activity, and invoices. You must use QuickBooks Online for your accounting and bookkeeping. Vonigo integrates with QuickBooks. We estim
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
25 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 6 explicit no's; 3 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee acknowledges that Surface Experts Franchising has the right to remotely access Franchisee’s software systems to calculate Gross Sales.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall provide such periodic financial reports as Surface Experts Franchising may require in the Franchise Operations Manual or otherwise in writing, including: (i) a monthly profit and loss statement and balance sheet for the Business within 30 days after the end of each month; (ii) an annual financial…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
We are currently an approved supplier of goods and services that we source and supply to you, including initial equipment, uniforms, ExpertNet portal, marketing materials and Support Center.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Surface Experts Franchising may change any such requirement or change the status of any vendor.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
1791669Item 8
In our last fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, we earned $1,791,669 in revenue from required purchases and leases from franchisees representing 18.59% of our total revenue of $9,635,764 in our last fiscal year.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
Surface Experts Franchising may receive rebates, payments, or other consideration from vendors in connection with purchases by franchisees.
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?
10Item 8
We estimate that the required purchases and leases of goods and services to operate your Surface Experts Business are 10% to 20% of your total purchases and leases of goods and services to operate your Surface Experts Business.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
We permit you to contract with alternative suppliers who meet our criteria only if you request our approval in writing, and we grant approval.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must at all times comply with payment card industry data security standards (PCI-DSS).
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall participate at its own expense in programs required from time to time by Surface Experts Franchising for obtaining customer evaluations, managing customer feedback, and/or reviewing Franchisee’s compliance with the System, which may include (but are not limited to) a customer feedback system…
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Surface Experts Franchising may accompany Franchisee or its personnel on any services performed for a customer to conduct an evaluation.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Surface Experts Franchising may supplement, revise, or modify the Franchise Operations Manual, and Surface Experts Franchising may change, add or delete System Standards at any time in its discretion.
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 shall not conduct any marketing, advertising or public relations activities (including websites, online advertising, social media marketing or presence, blogs and sponsorships) that have not been approved by Surface Experts Franchising.
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
After you open, you must maintain a full time Business Development person other than yourself to promote your Franchised Business pursuant to our guidelines.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
At its own expense, Franchisee shall sell or otherwise issue gift cards, certificates, or other pre-paid systems, and participate in any customer loyalty programs, membership/subscription programs, or customer incentive programs, designated by Surface Experts Franchising, in the manner specified by Surface Experts…
Operations
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase and use the computer software and hardware that we specify.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall purchase or lease all equipment and enter into all business relationships necessary to accept payments as required by Surface Experts Franchising.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
We currently require you to pay fees and other amounts due to us or our affiliates via electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) or other similar means.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
At its own expense, Franchisee shall sell or otherwise issue gift cards, certificates, or other pre-paid systems, and participate in any customer loyalty programs, membership/subscription programs, or customer incentive programs, designated by Surface Experts Franchising, in the manner specified by Surface Experts…
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
You must also hire one full-time Lead Technician and one Business Development person.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall cause its personnel to comply with any dress attire, uniform, personal appearance and hygiene standards set forth in the Franchise Operations Manual.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall acquire and use all software and related systems required by Surface Experts Franchising.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
You must give us independent access to the information that will be generated or stored in these systems.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
If you send your Lead Technician or other Additional Training fee training employee to our training program after you open, we have the right to charge a training fee.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
The Principal Executive shall use reasonable efforts to attend all in-person meetings and remote meetings (such as telephone conference calls) that Surface Experts Franchising requires, including any national or regional brand conventions.
The filing answers no to 6 questions
- Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?Item 11
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 11
- Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?Item 8
- Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?Item 11
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
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.
HQ leadership: CEO/President + VP Ops/Franchise + a first dedicated IT/systems owner.
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 Surface Experts
Surface Experts is a home-services franchise specializing in surface repair and restoration, headquartered in Washington state. The brand has grown to 103 franchised units, all operated by single-unit franchisees, with no company-owned locations disclosed. Year-over-year unit growth sits at 18.4%, signaling an expanding footprint that may soon require scaled software solutions. For vendors, the immediate addressable market is 103 locations, concentrated in Texas (12), Florida (10), North Carolina (7), Georgia (6), and Washington (5). The franchisee base is entirely single-unit operators, meaning any software sale must be simple enough for owner-operators to adopt without dedicated IT staff.
Who controls software purchasing
Purchasing authority is centralized at the franchisor level. The FDD lists five executives: Jacob Grady (CEO), Kristine Fisher (COO), Greg Hess (CFO), Erin Oranen (Chief Sales Officer), and Ben Downing (Director of Technical Development). For software vendors, Ben Downing is the most direct entry point as the technical lead, but any enterprise-level deal will require buy-in from the CEO or COO. The CFO is relevant for financial systems or anything impacting unit economics. There are no multi-unit operators to act as secondary buying centers, so the path to adoption runs exclusively through HQ.
Mandated and current tech stack
Surface Experts mandates five systems across its network. Careerplug handles hiring and applicant tracking. ExpertNet is listed as a mandated operational system, though its exact function is not detailed in the FDD. QuickBooks Online by Intuit serves as the accounting backbone. Vonigo provides field service management, likely covering scheduling, dispatching, and work-order tracking. Zendesk is mandated for customer support and ticketing. This stack leaves potential gaps in areas like CRM, marketing automation, inventory management, and business intelligence. Vendors offering integrations with QuickBooks Online or Vonigo may find a warmer reception.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The FDD does not include an Item 8 extract, so the formal procurement model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or open—is not disclosed. Franchise agreements run for an initial 10-year term, with franchisees eligible for up to two additional 5-year renewal terms. To renew, franchisees must conform their business to then-current standards for new franchisees, which includes adopting any updated technology mandates. This creates a forced upgrade cycle at each renewal window. With 103 units on 10-year initial terms, the first wave of renewals will begin roughly a decade after the brand started franchising, though the exact founding franchise date is not on file.
How to read the Surface Experts FDD
The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is the authoritative source for vendor due diligence. Item 1 lists the executives above and confirms the brand is independently owned with no parent company. Item 11 details the mandated systems named here. Item 17 outlines the renewal conditions and upgrade requirements. The full FDD is embedded below for direct review. For vendors building a ranked target list of franchise brands by tech-stack fit, decision-maker accessibility, and unit growth, FranCloud provides the structured data to prioritize your outreach.
Questions vendors ask
Surface Experts, answered from the filing
The FDD lists Jacob Grady (CEO), Kristine Fisher (COO), Greg Hess (CFO), Erin Oranen (Chief Sales Officer), and Ben Downing (Director of Technical Development). Ben Downing is the most likely technical buyer, with final budget authority resting with the C-suite.
Surface Experts mandates Vonigo for field service management, QuickBooks Online by Intuit for accounting, Careerplug for hiring, ExpertNet for operations, and Zendesk for customer support. No traditional POS is disclosed.
There are 103 franchised locations. All are operated by single-unit franchisees, with no multi-unit operators on file. The top states are Texas (12), Florida (10), and North Carolina (7).
The most recent FDD does not include an Item 8 extract detailing procurement restrictions. Without that signal, assume a designated or approved supplier model is possible, but the exact structure is not disclosed.
Initial franchise terms are 10 years. Franchisees can renew for two additional 5-year terms, contingent on upgrading to then-current standards. This creates natural hardware/software refresh cycles at renewal, though exact contract windows are not disclosed.
The 2026 FDD was filed with state franchise regulators. You can review the full document using the embedded PDF viewer below to analyze Item 11 tech mandates, Item 19 financials, and executive disclosures directly.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Surface Experts files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
101 operators run 101 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit101
Top states by locations
| TX | 12 |
|---|---|
| FL | 10 |
| NC | 7 |
| GA | 6 |
| WA | 5 |
Related Home services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.