Journey Payroll & HR
Bottom line
- Total investment $39K – $82K including a $30K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100.
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Journey Payroll & HR unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
171%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Journey Payroll & HR franchisees provide payroll processing, tax compliance, and human resources consulting services to small and mid-market businesses. Day-to-day work involves client account management, payroll data entry/verification, tax filing coordination, HR documentation support, and ongoing compliance monitoring. Revenue is typically generated through recurring monthly service fees and per-employee processing charges.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 9 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Early-stage payroll/HR micro-franchise with critical transparency gaps (no Item 19, going concern issues) and unprotected territory, making financial viability assessment impossible and scalability uncertain.
Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo Item 19 financial disclosure (revenue/net income) makes ROI validation impossible
- 02HIGHGoing Concern = FALSE indicates potential financial instability at franchisor level
- 03MINOROnly 11 units with 80% YoY growth is still a micro-franchise with unproven model
- 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other franchisees
- 05MEDHigh initial investment ($38.5K-$82.4K) relative to unit count suggests limited proven demand
- 06MED5% royalty on undisclosed revenue makes cost-benefit analysis impossible
- 07MINOREarly-stage franchise (likely <5 years old) with minimal operational history
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
13 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Journey Payroll & HR · FDD (2025) PDF