Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S2043 since 2017
Payroll Vault Franchising
Business Services · independent · est. —
Payroll Vault provides outsourced payroll processing and related workforce services to small businesses. A franchisee runs a small-office or home-based service operation, onboarding local business clients and managing their recurring payroll runs, tax filings, and compliance.
Payroll Vault Franchising net unit count grew +14.5% from 2023–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: too many owners are failing outright rather than selling.
Exit rate · latest year
14.8%
vs 8.1% across 28 business services systems
Cost to open
$77K–$140K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
14 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 9 of 61 franchised outlets left the system — a 14.8% annualized exit rate, vs 8.1% across 28 business services systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 53 | 55 | 62 |
| Opened | 5 | 14 | 10 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Non-renewals | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Outlets at end | 55 | 62 | 63 |
| Net change | +2 | +7 | +1 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 14 SBA-backed loans to Payroll Vault Franchising franchisees since 2017. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
5 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$145,040
what recent franchisees borrowed
28 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
5 vs 3
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO PAYROLL VAULT FRANCHISING BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $69K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $77K–$140K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$77K–$140K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$69K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for Payroll Vault Franchising with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the riskier end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
68–92 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
17.6%
Observed SBA charge-off
20.0%
Top drivers: System size (log units) (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (raises) · Net unit growth (raises). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Payroll Vault Franchising. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Payroll Vault Franchising's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Payroll Vault Franchising franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Payroll Vault Franchising franchises closed last year?
In Payroll Vault Franchising's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 9 of 61 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 14.8% — compared with 8.1% across 28 business services systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a Payroll Vault Franchising franchise cost?
Per Payroll Vault Franchising's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $69K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $77K–$140K (Item 7).
What royalty does Payroll Vault Franchising charge?
Payroll Vault Franchising charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does Payroll Vault Franchising disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Payroll Vault Franchising makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $275K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.