PaintEZ Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $95K – $189K
- Disclosed sales
- $595K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (1)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
PaintEZ is a home services franchise offering residential and commercial painting. Franchisees run local operations, managing sales estimates, painting crews, and customer accounts within a territory.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A PaintEZ franchise requires a total initial investment of $95K – $189K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average revenue per franchisee was $595K. This franchisor reports Item 19 per franchisee rather than per outlet, so the figure is not comparable with per-outlet averages[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 scored5 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $95K – $189K
- 30th pct Home Services
- Avg gross sales
- $595K
- Per franchisee, not per outlet
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 21st pct Home Services
- Units
- 33
- 36th 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 $95K – $189K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage revenue per franchisee of $595K/year (median $367K). Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 53/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +13 franchised outlets in the latest year (17 opened, 4 closed); 6 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 255.6% CAGR over 3 years with 33 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- EmeraldPro Franchising, Inc. dba Paint EZ
- Predecessor
- EmeraldPro Painting
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Jay D Mason
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- UT
- HQ
- 258 W. Center Street, Suite #252, Orem, UT 84057
- Auditor
- Barry Knepper, C.P.A. (The Franchise CPA)
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.1M
- vs $460K prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Jay D Mason
- Headquarters
- UT
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 11
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 16% below the typical home services franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown20 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Training Feenot refundable | $5K | $5K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses while Training | $2K | $4K | |
| Business Address | $0 | $1K | |
| Franchise Premises Deposits and Rent | $0 | $1K | |
| Opening Inventory Package | $4K | $4K | |
| Grand Opening Marketing Plan and Assistance | $12K | $12K | |
| Contractor License | $0 | $2K | |
| Supplies and Equipment | $0 | $2K | |
| Computer Equipment | $0 | $3K | |
| Dedicated Business Cell Phone | $0 | $1K | |
| Clothing and Uniforms | $500 | $2K | |
| Vehicle | $0 | $15K | |
| Car Wrap | $3K | $5K | |
| Signs | $500 | $500 | |
| Licenses and Bonds | $0 | $2K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $5K | |
| Miscellaneous Opening Costs | $2K | $7K | |
| Compensation | $5K | $40K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 months | $10K | $30K | |
| Total initial investment | $95K | $189K |
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
- $95K – $189K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Tiered by sales volume · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% |
| Technology fee | $350 |
| Training fee | $5K |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $4K – $4K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales land near the home services norm.
Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures
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 PaintEZ 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
$162K
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 PaintEZ 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
Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures
- Avg gross sales
- $595K
- Per franchisee, per year — not per outlet
- Median gross sales
- $367K
- Per franchisee, not per outlet
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
- 11 franchisees
- vs category median 32 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $175K→$1.5MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 56 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
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
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
The average franchisee generates $595K/year in gross sales. Median is $367K — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% (near the Home Services median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 6/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 255.6% CAGR over 3 years across 33 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
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 PaintEZ Compares
Per franchisee, not per outlet - the category median is per-outlet only, so no comparison is shown
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
- 33
- Opened
- 17
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 12.1%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 97%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- Outlier (see FDD)
- Likely small-sample artifact
- 3-yr CAGR
- Outlier (see FDD)
- Likely small-sample artifact
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 6
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 6
- 0.18 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 30
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 18.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 11 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
11
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
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 loan disclosures. This brand has only 1 7(a) loan on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 1
- Loan volume
- $195K
- Median loan
- $195K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (1)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 1 loan, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (1)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (1)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 1
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
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
PaintEZ shows strong unit growth and profitability metrics, but the velocity of expansion and unusually high net margins require validation to rule out accounting manipulation or unsustainable growth.
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 · Barry Knepper, C.P.A. (The Franchise CPA)
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
2024 audited statement of operations (most recent fiscal year). Total operating revenues of $1,069,970 comprised initial franchise fees $537,591, royalties $229,571, marketing and technology fees $212,102, and other revenue $90,706. yr2 (2023) total income of $459,875 is from the separately attached audited statements (years ended Dec 31, 2023 and 2022). Note: the 2024 audited statements (signed St. George, UT, Apr 28, 2025) do not name the CPA firm in the extracted text; Barry Knepper, C.P.A. of Plainview, NY is the named auditor for the 2023/2022 audited statements.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 53 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORRapid unit growth of 68.4% YoY suggests either aggressive expansion or potential instability; need to verify unit quality and retention rates
- 02MINORAverage net income of $138K on $545K revenue (25.4% net margin) is unusually high for service businesses and warrants verification of accounting practices
- 03MEDNo litigation disclosed but rapid growth can mask operational or compliance issues that haven't surfaced yet
- 04MINORTiered royalty structure incentivizes growth but may create cash flow pressure for franchisees below $1M revenue threshold
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 |
| Territory type | Exclusive territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory population | 300,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 100 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 90 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Salt Lake County, 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
- 60 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 40 hrs
- Training location
- Corporate office and franchisee territory
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 30 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 4 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Proprietary estimating software
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Proprietary estimating software
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
69 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 PaintEZ franchise?
The total investment to open a PaintEZ franchise ranges from $95K – $189K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do PaintEZ franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the PaintEZ FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $595K. The median is $367K. Important context: Averaged per franchisee, not per outlet - not comparable with per-outlet figures. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns PaintEZ?
PaintEZ is franchised by EmeraldPro Franchising, Inc. dba Paint EZ. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the PaintEZ 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 PaintEZ FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is PaintEZ's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for PaintEZ (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 PaintEZ franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, PaintEZ has 33 total units in the United States, including 32 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 17 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is PaintEZ a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates PaintEZ as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 53 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.