Painter Bros Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $235K – $443K
- Disclosed sales
- $462K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Limited · 23 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Painter Bros is a home services franchise offering residential and commercial interior and exterior painting. Franchisees run local operations, managing sales estimates, painting crews, and customer accounts.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Painter Bros franchise requires a total initial investment of $235K – $443K, including a $75K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $462K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $235K – $443K
- 81st pct Home Services
- Avg gross sales
- $462K
- 8th pct Home Services
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 8th pct Home Services
- Units
- 30
- 34th pct Home Services
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Home Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Home Services median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $235K – $443K including a $75K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $462K/year (median $398K).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 63/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +19 franchised outlets in the latest year (19 opened, 0 closed); 9 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 1350.0% CAGR over 3 years with 30 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Painter Bros Franchising, LLC
- CEO title
- Founder and CEO
- Zach Tanner
- CEO experience
- 11 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- UT
- HQ
- 2801 N. Thanksgiving Way, Ste. 360, Lehi, Utah 84043
- Auditor
- Holsinger, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.6M
- vs $431K prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Zach Tanner
- Headquarters
- UT
- Founded
- 2017
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 16
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 102% above the typical home services franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown22 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $75K | $75K | |
| Application Fee | $250 | $2K | |
| AMPP CP Fundamentals of Protective Coatings (C1) Course | $1K | $2K | |
| AMPP CIP Level 1 Course Training | $3K | $3K | |
| Initial Training Fees and Travel, Lodging, Food, and Other Expenses While Training | $13K | $21K | |
| Painter Contractor License | $0 | $1K | |
| Rent (3 months of rent, plus a security deposit) | $0 | $7K | |
| Management/Admin Costs | $9K | $24K | |
| Office Supplies | $0 | $1K | |
| Computers, Hardware and Software | $9K | $11K | |
| Painting Equipment and Supplies | $0 | $5K | |
| Estimator's Vehicle | $0 | $50K | |
| Service Vehicle (Optional) | $0 | $30K | |
| Vehicle Decal/Wrap | $2K | $6K | |
| Misc. Opening Costs | $5K | $10K | |
| Insurance Premiums | $600 | $1K | |
| OSHA Compliance Setup and Service (3 months) | $680 | $680 | |
| Bookkeeper (3 months) | $1K | $2K | |
| Startup Package | $6K | $7K | |
| Initial Marketing Campaign | $8K | $30K | |
| Total initial investment | $235K | $443K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $235K – $443K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $100K – $150K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $75K – $75K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $499 |
| Training fee | $10K |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $38K |
| Inventory (initial) | $0 – $5K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 21% below the home services norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Painter Bros until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$464K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Painter Bros unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $462K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $398K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 12 outlets
- vs category median 32 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $183K→$1.3MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 48 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 319 Home Services brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $462K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.4x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% (near the Home Services median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 1350.0% CAGR over 3 years across 30 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Multi-unit rate
Only 1% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Home Services medians
How Painter Bros Compares
Category median of published Home Services brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 30
- Opened
- 19
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 97%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 9
- 0.30 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 108
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 3.3%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 6 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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
32 current owners across 13 states.
- TE 11
- FL 5
- NO 3
- CO 2
- IL 2
- OH 2
- DI 1
- GE 1
- ID 1
- NE 1
- PE 1
- SO 1
- +1 more states
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20; 3 entries carry no state. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 23
- Loan volume
- $5.0M
- Median loan
- $226K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Limited · 23 loans
- Limited SBA coverage: 23 loans, rate hidden until 10 have resolved and loans reach 2% of franchised units
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Limited · 23 loans
- 5-yr charge-off
- Limited · 23 loans
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 5
- Defaults
- 0
- Typical loan rate
- 10.6%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 26.5%
- n=629 loans
- Jobs supported
- 139
- 2.8 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 64%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 95% went to startups / new businesses, 5% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in painting and wall covering contractors, franchised businesses charge off at 26.5% vs 21.7% for independents — franchising is associated with 22% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing Painter Bros franchisees
Showing 3 of 5 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Lender network · 7(a) + 504
SBA Lending Report
Full lending analysis for Painter Bros from SBA 7(a) FOIA data.
- Principal loss rate
- 0.0%
- Avg SBA guarantee
- 68%
- Avg interest rate
- 10.58%
- Lender concentration
- 63.6%
- Job velocity
- 2.8 per $100K
- NAICS benchmark
- 24.0%
- NAICS 238320
- Jobs supported
- 139
Top SBA lendersTop lender holds 64% of loans
| # | Lender | Loans | Volume | Default % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Huntington National Bank | 14 | $2.2M | N/A |
| 2 | First Bank of the Lake | 3 | $998K | N/A |
| 3 | Readycap Lending, LLC | 3 | $1.4M | N/A |
| 4 | Stearns Bank National Association | 1 | $75K | N/A |
| 5 | Magnifi Financial CU | 1 | $286K | N/A |
Geographic failure vector
| State | Loans | Defaults | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXTexas | 6 | 0 | -- |
| FLFlorida | 3 | 0 | -- |
| ILIllinois | 3 | 0 | -- |
| CACalifornia | 2 | 0 | -- |
| COColorado | 2 | 0 | -- |
| NMNew Mexico | 2 | 0 | -- |
| SCSouth Carolina | 2 | 0 | -- |
| ALAlabama | 1 | 0 | -- |
| INIndiana | 1 | 0 | -- |
SBA 7(a) lending trend
Borrower profile
Source: SBA 7(a) + 504 FOIA loan-level data, matched by FranchiseVerdict
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
High-growth but opaque painting franchise with undisclosed profitability, questionable unit economics, and franchisor financial concerns that warrant intensive franchisee validation before investment.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Holsinger, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
FY2024 total revenues comprise Royalties and Administration $703,749; Advertising $155,394; Franchise sales $311,468; Services and other $463,379. Audited by an unnamed CPA firm located in Wexford, Pennsylvania (report dated April 16, 2025); prior year (2023) audited by a separate firm in Bountiful, Utah. Firm names appear only as logos, not text.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNo average net income disclosed in FDD Item 19 — impossible to assess actual profitability despite $461k average revenue
- 02MINORExtreme unit growth of 190% YoY suggests either aggressive recruitment or high churn; unsustainable growth rates often precede contraction
- 03MEDHigh franchise fee ($75k) relative to disclosed financials creates significant sunk cost before revenue generation begins
- 04MINOROnly 30 units total — small system size limits brand recognition, supply chain leverage, and support infrastructure
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 250,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 30 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | UT |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 46 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 26 hrs
- Training location
- Utah County, Utah (headquarters) and online
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- CRM
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: CRM
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
35 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Painter Bros franchise?
The total investment to open a Painter Bros franchise ranges from $235K – $443K, with an initial franchise fee of $75K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Painter Bros franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Painter Bros FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $462K. The median is $398K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Painter Bros?
Painter Bros is franchised by Painter Bros Franchising, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Painter Bros FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Painter Bros FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Painter Bros's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Painter Bros (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Painter Bros franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Painter Bros has 30 total units in the United States, including 29 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 19 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Painter Bros a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Painter Bros as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 63 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.