What % of Franchises Disclose Item 19? (2026 Data)

Key findings
Why this matters
Disclosure rates by industry
Analyze any single brand: $49

Key facts

Sortable by overall rate, year-over-year change, or sample size.
These are industry-wide disclosure rates.

Key findings

69.4% of the 2,414 franchise FDDs analyzed by VetMyFranchise include an Item 19 financial performance representation (2022-2026 FDD filings).
30.6% of the 2,414 franchisors analyzed by VetMyFranchise disclose no earnings data at all — buyers must validate revenue through franchisee calls (FDD Item 20).
Health & Beauty is the most transparent franchise industry: 83.7% of its 98 analyzed brands disclose Item 19.
Real Estate is the least transparent industry with at least 20 analyzed brands, at 54.3% Item 19 disclosure (n=81).
Other improved its Item 19 disclosure rate the most year over year (+62.5 pts, n=20 brands analyzed by VetMyFranchise).

Overall disclosure rate

69.4%

1,676 of 2,414 FDDs

Most transparent

Health & Beauty

83.7% disclose

Least transparent

Real Estate

54.3% disclose

Biggest YoY improver

Other

+62.5 pts

Why this matters

No Item 19 means harder underwriting. Banks won't lend confidently against a franchise with no published revenue data. You're stuck building your projections off franchisee word-of-mouth.
Non-disclosure correlates with weaker unit economics. Franchisors with strong AUVs almost always disclose — there's no upside in hiding good numbers. Industries with low disclosure rates tend to have weaker or more variable revenue per unit.
YoY changes are signal. A franchisor that disclosed last year and dropped Item 19 this year is telling you something — usually that last year's numbers wouldn't help recruit franchisees this year.

Disclosure rates by industry

Sortable by overall rate, year-over-year change, or sample size.

Industry↕	FDDs↕	Overall %↓	2025 %↕	2026 %↕	YoY Delta↕
Health & Beauty	98	83.7%	76.2%	85.7%	+9.5 pts
Senior Care	123	79.7%	71.4%	81.4%	+9.9 pts
Child Services & Education	151	78.1%	64.0%	81.0%	+17.0 pts
Home Services	268	77.6%	63.3%	79.4%	+16.1 pts
Pet Services	58	77.6%	88.2%	73.2%	-15.1 pts
Staffing & HR	21	76.2%	50.0%	82.4%	+32.4 pts
Business Services	99	75.8%	64.0%	79.7%	+15.7 pts
Other	20	75.0%	25.0%	87.5%	+62.5 pts
Cleaning & Maintenance	151	74.8%	81.0%	73.8%	-7.1 pts
Fitness & Wellness	163	74.2%	68.8%	75.6%	+6.8 pts
Technology	11	72.7%	100.0%	62.5%	-37.5 pts
Retail	128	70.3%	55.0%	73.1%	+18.1 pts
Automotive	72	69.4%	84.0%	61.7%	-22.3 pts
Financial Services	32	68.8%	85.7%	64.0%	-21.7 pts
Hospitality & Travel	82	61.0%	50.0%	62.2%	+12.2 pts
Food & Beverage	856	60.9%	51.9%	65.6%	+13.8 pts
Real Estate	81	54.3%	58.3%	53.6%	-4.7 pts

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Methodology

Disclosure rate = % of franchises in an industry whose FDD includes a Financial Performance Representation (Item 19) — not whether they disclose everything, but whether they disclose any structured revenue claim at all. Year-over-year delta compares 2026-year FDDs to 2025-year FDDs for the same industry. Industries with fewer than 5 franchises in either year may show large percentage swings driven by small samples — interpret with care.

Cite this. Please attribute figures to "VetMyFranchise, FDD Disclosure Transparency Report 2026" and link to this page.

Analyze any single brand: $49

These are industry-wide disclosure rates. For one brand's actual Item 19 numbers — plus its fees, litigation, and a buyer verdict — our full 12-section FDD analysis is $49 per report, or three for $99.

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Cite this page

Title: What % of Franchises Disclose Item 19? (2026 Data)
URL: https://vetmyfranchise.com/c/claude/reports/fdd-disclosure-index

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