# Technology

A technology row in Item 7 is an opening purchase estimate. It is not the
lifetime cost of software, processing, online ordering, or required upgrades.
It may cover a POS terminal and a back-office PC, or it may cover kitchen
display screens, kiosks, networking, cameras, music, and the first term of a
software subscription. Two filings can use similar labels and still be pricing
different stacks.

The league table at the end of this chapter includes only technology-bucket
rows. Great Greek has none. GDK has one. 375° has two. Adding those rows
inside a filing is fair; inventing a Great Greek technology line by subtracting
something from the restaurant package is not.

## The disclosed technology lines

| Brand | Filing label | Low | High |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: |
| German Doner Kebab | Hardware and Software | $27,500 | $30,000 |
| Shah's Halal Food | Computer Hardware, Software, and POS System | $4,000 | $6,000 |
| Mad for Chicken | POS System | $3,000 | $15,000 |
| 375° Chicken 'n Fries | POS System | $4,000 | $6,000 |
| 375° Chicken 'n Fries | Computer Systems | $500 | $1,500 |

375°'s two rows add to $4,500–$7,500. That addition is in the filing. GDK's
single $27,500–$30,000 line is both the highest low end and the tightest band.
Shah's $4,000–$6,000 matches 375°'s POS row and does not match GDK's hardware
and software row in magnitude. Mad for Chicken's $3,000–$15,000 is the widest
technology band in the set: the high is five times the low.

Those gaps are the comparison. GDK is describing a 1,200–1,400 square-foot
outlet inside a five-outlet minimum, with a 2024 table that also carries
**Restaurant Equipment** of $140,000–$175,000. Shah's is describing a
1,200–2,000 square-foot restaurant whose fixture package is $30,000–$50,000.
If GDK's hardware line includes kitchen display, networking, and opening
software that Shah's put in the fixture package or omitted, the $27,500 versus
$4,000 contrast is a labeling difference, not a finding that one brand is
six times more computerized.

## Recurring fees are Item 6, opening purchases are Item 7

The FTC's [Franchise Rule compliance
guide](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus70-franchise-rule-compliance-guide.pdf)
puts continuing fees in Item 6 and the opening investment in Item 7. A POS
subscription that begins at opening can appear in both: first-term software in
Item 7, the ongoing rate in Item 6. Adding the Item 6 annual technology fee
into the Item 7 cell double-counts the first year if the opening purchase
already included it, and undercounts later years if it did not.

Capriotti's, in the companion fee directory, discloses a technology fee of
0.65 percent of gross sales on top of royalty and funds. Dog Haus discloses a
technology development fee of $5,000 a year. Those are 2024 comparative-study
figures for brands that do not have line-item worksheets in this Item 7
dataset. They belong in the monthly operating model, not in a reconstructed
GDK or Shah's technology row.

Inside the itemised set, the opening technology purchase still has to be
reconciled to Item 11 (computer systems) and Item 8 (required suppliers). The
franchisor can require a specific POS, a specific online-ordering vendor, and
a specific camera system. Substituting a cheaper terminal because Shah's
disclosed $4,000–$6,000 does not help if Item 8 names a different vendor for
the brand actually being bought.

## What the row often does not include

Network cabling, conduit, and a dedicated data closet often sit in
[construction](/construction/). GDK's **Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing**
of $150,000–$175,000 and **Fit Out Materials & Installation** of
$175,000–$205,000 are large enough to absorb low-voltage work; the labels do
not say whether they do. Shah's **Build-Out/Construction** of $80,000–$160,000
is the same kind of neighbor.

Kiosks, customer-facing screens, and digital menu boards can sit in technology,
in [equipment](/equipment/), or in [signage](/signage/). GDK's signage is
$20,000–$35,000; Shah's is $10,000–$28,000; Mad for Chicken's is $5,500–$9,500;
375°'s is $10,000–$12,000. Great Greek has neither a technology row nor a
signage row. The [restaurant package](/restaurant-package/) of
$225,964–$248,560 is silent on both.

Payment processing equipment may be “free” from a processor in exchange for
a rate. That arrangement can make the Item 7 technology low look like a
bargain while raising the cost of goods sold for the life of the agreement.
The opening table will not show the rate. The merchant agreement will.

Cameras, music licensing hardware, time clocks, and back-office printers are
easy to leave off a three-terminal POS quote. Mad for Chicken's $3,000 low is
the figure that most needs a footnote: it can be a single terminal in a
conversion, or it can be an incomplete list. The $15,000 high is still below
GDK's low. Either Mad for Chicken is pricing a thinner stack, or GDK is
pricing a thicker one. The public tables do not say which.

## Worked example: add inside a filing, not across filings

375° is the only itemised brand that split POS from other computers:

- POS System: $4,000–$6,000
- Computer Systems: $500–$1,500
- Combined: $4,500–$7,500

That combined range still sits next to **Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment**
of $100,000–$120,000 and **Leasehold Improvements, Construction and/or
Remodeling** of $100,000–$200,000. Technology is 1 percent of 375°'s $521,500
high total. GDK's $30,000 high is 3 percent of $1,123,000. Ranking those
percentages without reading Item 11 is how a directory turns into a false
precision about “who is more digital.”

Great Greek's silence is the other worked example. The 2023 filing discloses
60.25 classroom hours and 180 on-the-job hours, a 35-year term, and a
restaurant package. It does not disclose a POS line in Item 7. A buyer still
needs terminals, connectivity, and software. The cost is somewhere — in the
package, in additional funds of $35,000–$75,000 for up to six months, or
outside the table. The [Great Greek cost page](/costs/great-greek/) leaves that
as a silence. So does this chapter.

## Technology checklist

1. Copy every technology-bucket label in the filing, including 375°'s second
   computer-systems row.
2. List the required stack from Item 11: POS, KDS, kiosks, back office,
   cameras, online ordering, accounting, music, timekeeping.
3. Mark each item as opening purchase (Item 7), recurring fee (Item 6),
   required supplier (Item 8), or unnamed.
4. Add cabling, racks, and electrical to the construction quote if the
   technology quote is terminals-only.
5. Put processing rates and software subscriptions on the monthly cash
   calendar that feeds [working capital](/working-capital/).
6. Ask recent franchisees what they actually paid to open the system and what
   they pay now, following the FTC's
   [FDD walkthrough](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2023/05/franchise-fundamentals-taking-deep-dive-franchise-disclosure-document).

## Kiosks, cameras, and the store that opens without them

Customer-facing kiosks, if the brand requires them, are large, long-lead, and
easy to leave off a POS quote. GDK's $27,500–$30,000 hardware-and-software
line is the cell most likely to include a thicker stack; Shah's $4,000–$6,000
is the cell most likely not to. Neither label says “kiosk.” Item 11's computer
systems section does. Read that section before treating Mad for Chicken's
$3,000 low as a complete opening technology budget for a 2,000–4,000
square-foot restaurant.

Cameras are a landlord, insurer, and franchisor requirement that can arrive
as a separate vendor. They need power, network, and a retention policy.
Cabling may already be in GDK's MEP or fit-out rows. The recorder may belong
in technology. The monthly cloud fee belongs in Item 6 or in the operating
model. Splitting those three without a footnote is guesswork; leaving cameras
out of the cash plan because Item 7 said “POS System” is how opening week
starts with a compliance gap.

Music, time clocks, and back-office accounting software are the same pattern:
small opening invoices, recurring fees, required vendors. 375°'s **Computer
Systems** of $500–$1,500 is the row that looks like it was meant for that
remainder. It may be. Confirm in the FDD rather than assigning leftover
gadgets to it because the label is leftover-shaped.

The injected comparison below sorts disclosed technology rows by high
estimate. Use it to see who printed a line. Use Items 6, 8, and 11 to see what
the line has to buy.

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HTML: https://donerhandbook.com/technology/