Item 7 worksheet

This page is a paper tool. Copy the filing’s rows onto it, add site quotes in a later column, and write the reason for every difference. It does not add, rank, or correct Item 7. There is no calculator. If a filing’s high column does not equal its printed total — Shah’s fifteen lines add to $410,000 against a printed $405,000 — copy both numbers and leave the gap.

The how to read Item 7 chapter is the prose version of the same sequence. Use that chapter to understand the steps. Use this page to fill them in.

Reading order

Complete these steps in order, on paper or in a spreadsheet you control. Do not skip to the total.

1. Document. Issuance date, franchisor legal name, and whether this table is for one outlet, a development schedule, an express format, or a full restaurant.
2. Format line. Square footage and site type as printed above Item 7. GDK: 1,200–1,400 sq ft inside a five-outlet minimum. Shah’s: 1,200–2,000 sq ft full-sized restaurant. Great Greek: 1,800–2,000 sq ft in-line or end-cap. Mad for Chicken: 2,000–4,000 sq ft full restaurant (express is a different table at $242,500–$466,700). 375°: 800–1,500 sq ft. Döner Haus: 700–1,200 sq ft imbiss, issued range only.
3. Columns. Amount is not enough. Copy method of payment, when due, and to whom paid from the FDD.
4. Labels. Copy every row name exactly. Do not rename Fixture Package as equipment, or Restaurant Package as FF&E.
5. Footnotes. Zeros, discounts, used equipment, landlord contributions, training travel, and the additional-funds period live here. Great Greek’s $35,550 fee low is an affiliated-brand discount; first-time is $39,500.
6. Arithmetic. Add the low column. Add the high column. Write the printed total. If they disagree, write all three.
7. Cross-checks. Item 5 fee, Item 6 continuing fees, Item 8 required purchases, Item 11 training and computer systems.
8. Site evidence. Contractor scope, lease and TI, equipment quotes, permit estimate, inventory order, monthly cash forecast.
9. Franchisees. Actual opening cost and days to open, as the FTC’s FDD walkthrough recommends.

Blank reconciliation table

Print this table and fill it from the current FDD, not from memory. Leave a row blank if the filing has no such line. Do not invent a split for a package.

Type of expenditure (filing label)	Filing low	Filing high	When due / to whom	Site quote	Difference and reason
Column sums
Total printed in filing

Eighteen blank rows is enough for GDK’s twenty-line table if a few related rows share a line in your handwriting, and enough for Great Greek’s twelve lines with room to spare. If the filing is longer, add paper. Do not drop rows to make the sheet fit.

Labels to copy, not amounts to guess

When the FDD is in hand, the generated cost pages are a second check that the labels were copied completely:

• German Doner Kebab — Initial Franchise Fee; Lease, Utility & Security Deposits; Leasehold Improvements; Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing; Signage; Restaurant Equipment; Fit Out Materials & Installation; Hardware and Software; Furniture & Fixtures; Office Supplies & Misc.; Business Licenses; Professional Fees; Insurance; Initial Training; Opening Inventory; Pre-Launch, Soft Launch and Grand Opening Marketing; Property Agent; Architects and Project Manager Fees; Additional Funds (Approx. 3 months); Small Wares.
• Shah’s Halal Food — Initial Franchise Fee; Travel Expenses to Attend Training; Real Property; Build-Out/Construction; Fixture Package; Initial Inventory; Marketing Supplies; Signage; Computer Hardware, Software, and POS System; Insurance; Licenses, Permits; Grand Opening Campaign; Legal & Accounting; Miscellaneous Opening Costs; Additional Funds - 3 Months.
• The Great Greek — Initial franchise fee; Travel and Living Expenses (while attending training); Real Estate Lease Deposits; Real Estate Service Charge; Design and Project Management Fee; Leasehold Improvements; Restaurant Package; Opening Inventory; Insurance; Utility Deposits/Licenses; Opening Assistance; Additional funds (for 0 - 6 months).
• Mad for Chicken — Initial Franchise Fee; Your Training Expenses; Lease & Utilities deposits; Architectural Plans; Leasehold Improvements, Construction and/or Remodeling; Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment; Signage; Business Licenses and Permits; POS System; Initial Inventory; Professional Fees; Grand Opening Advertising; Insurance; Operating Expenses / Additional Funds - 3 months.
• 375° Chicken ‘n Fries — Initial Franchise Fee; Your Training Expenses; Lease & Utilities deposits; Architectural Plans; Leasehold Improvements, Construction and/or Remodeling; Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment; Signage; Business Licenses and Permits; POS System; Initial Inventory; Professional Fees; Grand Opening Advertising; Insurance; Computer Systems; Operating Expenses / Additional Funds - 3 months.

Döner Haus has an issued range of $359,500–$586,000 on the directory and no line-item schedule here. Copy the range onto the total lines and leave the row labels to the FDD the franchisor delivers. Do not fill the blank table from another brand’s rows.

How to use the last two columns

Site quote is a dated bid or a lease exhibit, not another FDD. A GDK fit-out quote belongs next to Fit Out Materials & Installation, not next to Shah’s Build-Out/Construction. A Great Greek restaurant-package invoice belongs on that one line even if the invoice happens to list equipment.

Difference and reason is a sentence. Useful reasons look like “second-generation hood reused,” “TI reimbursed 90 days after draw,” “first-time fee $39,500 not $35,550,” or “POS subscription is Item 6, opening terminals only in this cell.” Useless reasons look like “seems high” or “used Shah’s number.”

The FTC’s compliance guide defines Item 7 as an initial-investment disclosure through the initial operating period. The site quote column is allowed to run past that period — a twelve-month cash plan, as the SBA startup-cost worksheet suggests — but those later months should be marked as planning, not as a correction of the filing.

Checklist before calling the sheet done

1. Every filing row has a line, including zeros (GDK property agent $0–$0; GDK leasehold improvements low of $0; Great Greek service charge low of $0).
2. Packages are still packages.
3. Column sums and printed totals are both written.
4. Additional-funds period is written on the working-capital row (3 months, or 0–6 months).
5. Item 6 royalties and funds are on a monthly appendix, not added into Item 7.
6. Personal living expenses are on a separate schedule, as the FTC consumer guide advises.

Monthly appendix, not a second Item 7

On a separate sheet, list Item 6 royalties, brand fund, required local advertising, technology fees, and any required cooperative. GDK’s 2024 stack is 6 percent royalty, 3 percent brand fund, and 2 percent local (or a cooperative levy up to 2 percent). Shah’s is 5, 1, and 1. Great Greek is 6, 3 with a right to raise to 4, and 1. Mad for Chicken is 5, 1 plus 1 media marketing, and 1 local. 375° is 6, 1, and 1. Those percentages are for the operating model. Do not add a capitalized “life of the agreement” royalty into the Item 7 total. The FTC compliance guide treats future royalties as outside Item 7; the worksheet should too.

On a third sheet, list personal living expenses for the owner household during the ramp, as the FTC consumer guide advises, for up to two years. That sheet is not a row in Item 7. It is why a store that “fits” the high total can still run the owner out of cash.

When the sheet is filled, the filing is still the filing. The quotes are the project. The directory’s generated tables remain a reference for what the public Item 7 said, not a substitute for the document delivered fourteen days before signing.