FranConnect, the system of record for franchisors, is a vital tool for both franchisees and franchisors. As the backbone of many franchise operations, it's crucial to understand the nuances of its features, particularly when it comes to documenting unit ownership. Whether you're a seasoned user or just starting out with the platform, this article will ensure that you know how to record and manage unit ownership with precision and ease.
Note: If you have any entities you wish to set as owners for a unit, you will first need to create them in FranConnect. You can learn more about that by reading our How to Create Entities in FranConnect article.
Topics
- Assigning Owners to a New Unit
- Modifying Owners and Ownership Stake of an Existing Unit
- Viewing Ownership Details in FranConnect
Assigning Owners to a New Unit
To assign an owner to a unit, first log into your FranConnect environment. From the left-hand sidebar, click Info Manager and then select Unit Summary from the drop-down menu.
Click ADD NEW FRANCHISE LOCATION at the top of the page.
Proceed through the following page, filling in all of the necessary information. If you miss a required field, the system will prompt you to enter it before you can proceed.
Click ADD once you have confirmed that the entered information is correct. You will be taken to the following page where you can add all of the owners for your unit. To do so, click the ADD drop-down menu and then choose whether to add an entity or an individual.
Note: You can add as many owners as you wish to a given unit. For these use cases, you can also denote each owner's stake in the unit in the "Store Owned Percentage" field as seen below.
If you choose to add an individual owner, you can either create a new one, use an existing individual, or use an existing lead if you have the Sales module. If you choose to add an entity, you can either create a new one or use an existing one. For any choice you make, fill out the relevant information and click ADD when you are finished.
Once you have added all of your owners, click SUBMIT.
Next, you will be prompted to add a user for the franchise owner. You can skip this step by clicking Skip at the bottom of the page. If you wish to add a user now, enter the required information into the form and click Save at the bottom of the page.
Next, let's take a look at how to add an owner to an existing unit.
Modifying Owners and Ownership Stake of an Existing Unit
In order to assign owners to a unit that already exists, first log into your FranConnect environment. On the left-hand sidebar, click Info Manager and select Unit Summary from the drop-down menu.
On the ensuing screen, click the name of the unit to which you wish to add or delete owners.
On the top of the unit's profile, click OWNERS at the top of the page.
Note: The combined ownership percentage for all owners cannot exceed 100%. If the total ownership in the FranConnect system already amounts to 100%, you must decrease the stake of existing owners before adding a new one.
Once you have adjusted current owners to reflect their stake in the franchise, click ADD MORE at the top of the page. Then choose whether to add an entity or an individual from the drop-down menu.
Fill out the ensuing form to assign ownership to the entity or individual of your choice, and then click ADD once you have confirmed that the entered information is correct.
Now you will see all of the owners you have added reflected in the "OWNER DETAILS" table. If you have added an entity, you will see a drop-down where you can view the individuals associated with this entity as well as their ownership stake in the entity. It should look something like the example below.
You will always be able to edit ownership information for this unit on this page.
Viewing Ownership Details in FranConnect
You can view the ownership details of your unit FranConnect including on the FranConnect mobile app. First, navigate back to the Unit Summary page as we did above. Next, search for the unit whose ownership details you wish to view.
There are a few ways to drill further down into the ownership details directly from this page. First, to view all of the individual owners associated with a given unit, click the + icon next the the owner's name listed in the "OWNER(S)" column. You will see a drawer open that looks something like this:
This displays all the owners for a unit, but if you also wish to see the individuals who own the involved entities, you can view them by clicking the + More button under the "ENTITY INDIVIDUAL OWNER(S)" column. (An entity individual owner is an individual who owns all or part of the entity.) The following drawer will open.
Finally, you can also view all the entities with ownership interest in a unit by clicking the + icon under the "ENTITY NAME" column. The following drawer will open.
Ownership information can also be viewed in a read-only format in the FranConnect mobile app.
Conclusion
Having read this article, you should now be able to document ownership for your new and existing units in FranConnect.