QuickBooksIntuit
Mandatoryare required to use all software and applications that we specify and pay any subscription or access fees associated with them. The current required software and applications are QuickBooks, Square CC
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
The Cook's Studio
EducationThe Cook's Studio's most recent FDD, from 2024, discloses 3 US locations, all 3 company-owned, which makes software purchasing a single-desk decision at the New York headquarters with no franchisee body to sell around. Item 1 names one officer, Victor McNulty, President & CEO — he is the evaluator and the signer, and no CIO or CTO is disclosed. The filing mandates exactly one system, QuickBooks, while Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Square, Twitter and YouTube are named in it without being required.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
3
0 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1%
national + local
Initial fee
$40K
per unit
Investment range
$385K–$655K
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.
7%of gross sales (FY2024)
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.
SquareBlock
Mandatorysale system (“POS System”) we specify, and have the latest versions of hardware, software and computer platforms to operate the POS System. The current requirement is a POS System developed by Square,
FacebookMeta
u must furnish us with a quarterly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, I
InstagramMeta
ith a quarterly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn,
LinkedInLinkedIn
erly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, blogs and
TwitterX
nish us with a quarterly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
YouTubeGoogle
tising with other The Cook’s Studio franchisees in your area, with our prior written approval. You may not maintain any business profile on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube or any other
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
21 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 6 explicit no's; 7 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?
YesItem 11
The Square POS System allows us to independently and remotely access all of your sales data, including your Gross Revenue, through the Internet.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Within thirty (30) days after the close of each calendar quarter and within ninety (90) days after the close of each fiscal year, Franchisee will furnish Franchisor a full and complete written statement of income and expense and a profit and loss statement for the operation of the Franchised Business during said…
How the franchisor buys
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?
35Item 8
We estimate that your purchase or lease of products, supplies and services from approved suppliers (or those which meet our specifications) will represent approximately 75% of your costs to establish your Franchised Business and approximately 35% of your costs for ongoing operation.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor reserves the right to charge Franchisee a fee equal to the actual cost and expense for inspection and testing.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you would like us to consider another supplier, you must make such request in writing to use and have the supplier give us samples or its product or service and such other information that we may require.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Upon the expiration or termination of this Agreement, Franchisor may exercise its authority, pursuant to such documents, to obtain any and all of Franchisee’s rights to the telephone numbers of the Franchised Business and all related telephone directory listings and other business listings, and all Internet listings…
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
conduct inspections of your Franchised Business, at the frequency and duration that we deem advisable.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 17
Modification of the agreement Sections 9.4, 14.6, No oral modifications generally, but we may 19.1.4 and 22.4 change the Operations Manual and System standards at any time.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
No site may be used for the location of the Franchised Business unless it is consented to in writing by Franchisor.
Marketing
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
during the thirty (30) days prior to and sixty (60) days following the opening of the Franchised Business, Franchisee shall conduct a grand opening marketing campaign in the Territory in which Franchisee must spend at least Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) on marketing, promotion, and awareness-generating activities.
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
Thereafter, you are required to spend at least Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per month on advertising for the Franchised Business in your territory as outlined in our Operations Manual.
Operations
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must also purchase your ingredients, prepped and/or packaged foods, paper/disposable goods, 14 | Page The Cook’s Studio FDD 2024 A equipment, and furnishings from our designated suppliers and contractors.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must purchase and use the point-of-sale system (“POS System”) we specify, and have the latest versions of hardware, software and computer platforms to operate the POS System.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
At Franchisor’s request, Franchisee must execute documents, including but not limited to, the Authorization attached as Attachment 4, that allow Franchisor to automatically take the Royalty Fee and Brand Fund Contribution due as well as other sums due Franchisor, from business bank accounts via electronic funds…
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees to participate in any System-wide gift card program Franchisor currently utilizes, or that Franchisor may institute in the future, including any reasonable revenue recognition policies associated therewith.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
Your general manager must successfully complete our Initial Management Training Program and all other training courses we require.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must purchase and use the point-of-sale system (“POS System”) we specify, and have the latest versions of hardware, software and computer platforms to operate the POS System.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
The Square POS System allows us to independently and remotely access all of your sales data, including your Gross Revenue, through the Internet.
Sales and CRM
Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You are required to use all software and applications that we specify and pay any subscription or access fees associated with them.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to impose a reasonable fee for tuition and/or attendance for all additional training programs, including the annual business meeting or convention.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee’s failure to attend and/or complete mandatory additional training or failure to attend Franchisor’s national business meeting or annual convention is a default of this Agreement.
The filing answers no to 6 questions
- Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
- 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 11
- Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
The vendor opportunity at The Cook's Studio
The Cook's Studio is an education segment brand headquartered in New York, and the most recent FDD on file is from 2024. That filing reports 3 total locations, all 3 of them company-owned; the franchised unit count is not disclosed in the most recent FDD, and year-over-year unit growth is not available. The royalty is 6.0% and the initial term runs 10 years. Average unit volume is not disclosed in the most recent FDD. Three company-owned studios is not a seat-count opportunity; it is a franchisor at the stage where the standards later franchisees inherit are still being written — and this one already writes a named vendor into the agreement.
Who controls software purchasing
Item 1 names a single officer: Victor McNulty, President & CEO. No CIO, CTO, operations director, or second executive is disclosed in the most recent FDD, which makes the buying center unusually simple: one person evaluates and signs. No parent company is on file, so there is no portfolio IT function above him and no holding-company procurement to clear. With every disclosed unit company-owned, there is no franchisee association or multi-unit operator to route around, and our corpus maps no operators for this brand at all — consistent with a system that has not yet placed units with independent owners. The entire sale is one conversation, and the whole standard can change in it.
Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required
One system is mandated: QuickBooks, which the FDD obliges the franchisee to use. That is an accounting requirement, and it tells you the franchisor cares enough about reporting consistency to compel a specific product — and has set the precedent of naming a vendor in the agreement. Six other names appear: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Square, Twitter and YouTube, every one of them named only. The FDD mentions them, nothing in it requires anyone to adopt them, and none should be treated as an installed vendor. Square deserves the specific caution, because a payments name in an FDD is easily misread as an incumbent POS: this filing names Square, does not mandate it, and mandates no point-of-sale system at all. Outside accounting, the categories an education franchise needs — scheduling and enrollment, payments, CRM, marketing automation, parent communications — are uncommitted here.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 — where designated-supplier and approved-supplier requirements normally sit — produced no extract from this filing, so the procurement model is not established by the data we hold. The QuickBooks obligation is the only named requirement in our extract. Item 17 is long and specific. The initial term runs 10 years, and a franchisee in good standing may sign up to one additional 10-year successor term, unless the franchisor decides in its sole discretion to withdraw from that geographic area. Conditions include full compliance, no more than three events of default, written notice at least six months before the end of the term, executing a new franchise agreement that may carry materially different terms, a successor fee of 25% of the then-current initial franchise fee, maintained location and trade dress, a general release, and completing the then-current qualification and training requirements. The retraining and materially-different-terms conditions are the pair to watch: both are how a new system requirement reaches operators.
How to read The Cook's Studio FDD
The 2024 document was filed with state franchise regulators, and the full PDF is embedded in the viewer below. Item 1 gives the entity and the single officer named above; Item 8 covers supplier obligations; Item 11 covers computer systems and required technology, where the QuickBooks obligation should be read in full including who pays and what data the franchisor can access; Item 17 covers the successor term and its conditions; Item 20 carries the unit tables behind the 3-unit count. If you want The Cook's Studio scored against the rest of the US franchise corpus and returned as a ranked target list, talk to FranCloud.
Questions vendors ask
The Cook's Studio, answered from the filing
Victor McNulty, President & CEO — the only executive named in Item 1 of the most recent FDD, and therefore both the evaluator and the signer. No CIO, CTO, or operations officer is disclosed, and no parent company is on file, so there is no portfolio IT function above him.
One system: QuickBooks, which the 2024 FDD obliges the franchisee to use. Nothing else is required. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Square, Twitter and YouTube appear in the filing but are named only — Square is mentioned, not mandated, so point of sale and payments remain open categories.
The 2024 FDD discloses 3 total locations, all 3 company-owned, in the education segment; the franchised count is not disclosed in the most recent FDD and year-over-year unit growth is not available. No operators are mapped in our corpus, so we cannot place those units at physical addresses.
Not established. Item 8 — where designated-supplier and approved-supplier requirements live — produced no extract from this filing, so we cannot say whether The Cook's Studio runs a designated, approved, or open model. The one named requirement anywhere in our extract is QuickBooks.
The initial term is 10 years, with up to one 10-year successor term. Renewal requires full compliance, no more than three defaults, six months' written notice, a new franchise agreement, a successor fee of 25% of the then-current initial franchise fee, maintained trade dress, a release, and completing additional training.
It was filed with state franchise regulators in 2024. The full PDF is embedded in the viewer below — read Item 1 for the officer named above, Item 8 for suppliers, Item 11 for computer systems and the QuickBooks obligation, Item 17 for the successor term and its conditions, and Item 20 for unit counts.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment The Cook's Studio files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
No franchisee network yet. The Cook's Studio’s latest FDD reports no franchised locations.
Related Education brands
Primary franchise filings · updated August 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.