Introduction

Franchises operate under a delicate paradox where each franchisee operates independently, yet there is a need to achieve and manage uniformity across various locations. Financial management using off-the-shelf accounting software is made more difficult by the lack of integration and customisation. The process of bookkeeping with these generic accounting tools leads to ineffectiveness and fragmentation due to lack of cohesion. This is exactly the scenario that Intersoft Systems Inc. solves with its franchise-specific accounting software solutions. It automates major processes like royalty calculations, centralises financial reporting, and completes other standardised reporting across franchise locations, making it an invaluable asset for franchise owners and operators.

In this post, we will look into how franchise accounting software is vital to financial control in franchising and why it is better than the generic accounting software solutions.

 

Franchise Issues Associated with Using Non-Specialised Tools

For franchise owners, generic accounting tools in multi-location operations can be incredibly challenging. Here’s a breakdown of issues that franchises typically face when using non-specialised software.

Royalty Mayhem: One of the most inefficient royalty calculation processes in franchising needs multifaceted accuracy. Most franchises still rely on manual calculations, which is A, error-prone and B, results in delayed payments. The beauty of automation is lost and stagnation is seemingly dead on arrival. This disconnect often ends up fracturing business relationships. The advusive lack of compatibility results in the trios of discord, confusion and anxiety.

Lack Of Consistent: In-Depth Reporting Using Non-Specialised Software Generates New Yet Avoidable Difficulties: The inability to consolidate finances over multiple locations makes inadequate reporting possible thanks to generic software. Because of generic tools, every franchisor and franchisee possesses conflicting data sets creating barriers in performance matrix reconciliation over various locations. The dysfunction stunts effective decision-making and key business metrics like sales, labour, and profit indeed suffer along with organised tracking.

Compliance Risks: Every franchise must observe local guidelines concerning tax submissions, payroll, and general employment regulations. Standard accounting software does not cater to these specific needs, and document neglect combined with non-compliance with legal obligations can result in very expensive audits. The risk is greater for franchise businesses since each outlet may operate under differing policies and systems.

 

How Accounting Software for Franchises Operates

Dedicated systems disable the aforementioned barriers and reduce mistakes by automating intricate procedures, offering critical information in real time, and guaranteeing compliance. This is how franchise-specific software improves the efficiency of managing finances: 

Automated Royalty Management

It can be challenging to handle sales and royalties from several locations, particularly when franchisees manually submit their sales reports. Franchise accounting software simplifies the management of royalty calculations by automating them and applying percentage-based metrics. The deductive calculation of sales to be paid to franchisors is executed without requiring manual input.

Along with the automated deduction of royalties from total sales, this function fosters more trust between franchisors and franchisees because human error is minimal. The accuracy of figures becomes more reliable due to automation, thus earning trust on the part of both franchisors and franchisees.

 

Franchise Accounting Software Features

With the stretch of franchise accounting software, automation is an embedded feature. Franchisees can have a bird’s eye view of their royalty dashboards in real time, enabling them to check how well they are doing and how royalties are being computed. Such a level of detail creates the fist of trust that enhances the synergy between franchisors and franchisees because both share in the same reality as far as finances are concerned.

Multi-Location Insights

Having franchise accounting software is one of the greatest technological advantages to a franchise since it integrates various branch financials, giving a rounded insight into an organisation’s performance across different tiers.

Consolidated Financials: Franchise owners can view financial data across all their locations in one unified dashboard. This allows comparison of sales, labour expenditures, and profit margins, enabling trends to be established and tackling areas requiring performance elevation.

Location-Specific Dashboards: In addition, the software provides location-specific dashboards that enable franchisees and franchisors to look deeper into the financial metrics of each specific area. By knowing which locations perform well and those that do poorly, franchises will know where to allocate a lot of resources and where to withdraw resources.

 

Compliance & Brand Control

Every franchise will always be concerned with promoting an image that is well considered to brand pertaining to consistency and compliance. Franchise accounting software aids in meeting all these two areas by designing rules that inhibit deviation from standards on practices across locations.

Standardised Chart of Accounts: A separate, franchise-specific accounting software comes with a standardised chart of accounts. This guarantees financial reporting uniformity across all locations because data can easily be compared and decisions made at a macro level. This works even when cross-unit reporting is needed.

Tax Automation: Tax compliance for multi-state sales tax and payroll is a logistical challenge for franchises. There are many local rules and autonomous restrictions respective to each state jurisdiction. Instead of dealing with these troublesome features manually, the software automates tax computations like franchise sales tax allocation while enforcing franchise compliance with local tax requirements minimising audit exposure.

 

Intersoft vs. Generic Software

The distinction between Intersoft Systems Inc. and all-encompassing accounting packages such as QuickBooks is quite stark. Suffice it to say that generic tools could work for small businesses, but when considering franchises there are particular attributes that need to be tailored to their complex and distinct structures.

Royalty Automation: QuickBooks makes manual royalty estimates that are prone to many estimation errors. Unlike competitors whose level of integration is shallow, Intersoft’s dedicated franchise software captures this need by streamlining royalty payments entirely through intelligent automation.

Multi-Unit Reporting: Intersoft’s software has customizable real-time multi-unit reporting capability which is beyond the reach of QuickBooks. Franchise owners can access holistic data for what they want and need, ranging from subordinate units sales results, labour, profitability, etc.

Franchisee Portals: Considering that QuickBooks does not provide a dedicated franchisee portal, it does pose some communication challenges for franchisors and franchisees. Intersoft’s software comes with a specialised portal for franchisees that allows them to view payment information, compliance reports, and other critical financial data in real-time.

 

Case Study:

A food franchise with over 30 locations became a client of Intersoft’s franchise accounting software with the intention of streamlining its financial operations. They now process royalties in less than a quarter of the time, which translates to much quicker, accurate payments. The franchise was also able to cut weeks of audit preparation down to days, which translates to a significant amount of time and resources.

 

Final Thoughts

With regards to the franchising industry, there is a need for consistency, precision, and timeliness when it comes to effective financial control. With the accounting software specific to the franchise provided by Intersoft Systems Inc, franchise owners are able to put complex processes on autopilot, maintain compliance, and gain deep visibility over the performance of their locations. This, in turn, enhances the operational efficiency and profitability of franchises. If you are on the lookout for an easy-to-scale solution, Intersoft Systems Inc is your answer.

Visit Intersoft Systems Inc now and schedule a demo.