Jack in the Box Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1951

Franchising Since: 1982

Headquarters: San Diego, California

Estimated Number of Units: 2,190

Franchise Description: The franchisor is Different Rules, LLC. The franchisor franchises quick-service Jack in the Box restaurants, which serve a variety of foods, including hamburgers, specialty sandwiches, fries, tacos, salads, drinks and side items. The franchisor offers franchises for restaurants that are already built, as well as restaurants that franchisees are responsible for building.
Training Overview: The training program for new franchisees is approximately 10 to 14 weeks (560 hours) long, and takes place in San Diego, California; Dallas, Texas; or Los, Angeles, California; at the franchisor’s discretion. Franchisees (or, if applicable, a designated market operator) must successfully complete the entire training program before they (or a designated market operator) will be approved to operate a franchised restaurant. In addition, before the restaurant opens, the franchisor must provide training for one of the franchisee’s employees to become a certified franchise restaurant manager. The training can take place in San Diego, California, or in some instances, at a location closer to the franchised restaurant. Before the restaurant opens, the franchisor will also give franchisees and their employees access to its web-based training programs. Franchisees must ensure that all employees acting in the capacity of a “person in charge” of the restaurant (for example, team leader, assistant manager, etc.) have completed, at a minimum, the Food Safety for Team Leaders course, the Food Safety Checklist course offered through web-based training programs, and Food Safety Management Certification, if required in their jurisdiction. The franchisor may require franchisees and their certified franchised restaurant manager to take additional or refresher training, including recertification training.

Territory Granted: The franchisor only grants franchises for specific restaurant locations. Franchisees will not receive an exclusive territory. Franchisees may face competition from other franchisees, outlets that the franchisor owns, other channels of distribution the franchisor may use, or other brands that the franchisor controls. The single unit development agreement is signed for each location and grants franchisees the right to construct a single Jack in the Box restaurant within a development area. The development area under the agreement could be a specific site or a larger area agreed to and described in the agreement. The franchisor will not grant new Jack in the Box franchises to any person or entity other than the franchisee for the operation of and the franchisee will not open, any new Jack in the Box restaurant within the development area (exceptions explained in FDD).

Obligations and Restrictions: Each franchised restaurant must have a designated “operator” approved by the franchisor. The operator may be the franchisee, someone else who has signed the Franchise Agreement, or, in some cases, someone the franchisee designates. The operator must hold an ownership interest of at least 25% in the franchised business and be highly experienced in the quick-service restaurant industry. In some circumstances, if franchisees are qualified to be an operator, have two years of ownership experience, and do not live in or near the designated market area, the franchisor may permit them to name a designated market operator to operate the restaurant. The operator must be actively involved in the operation of the franchised business, but may act as the operator for more than one restaurant. Each franchised restaurant must also have at least one manager who has successfully completed the franchisor’s certified restaurant manager training program. The franchisor requires that franchisees sell all menu items, and only those menu items, specified by the franchisor. The Franchise Agreement requires a minimum of 16 hours of operation per day, as determined by the franchisor and franchisees, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. These requirements may be modified only with the franchisor’s written consent.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term is 20 years, and there are no rights of renewal. The franchisor may, in its sole discretion, decide to grant the franchisee a new franchise (rewrite) based upon a number of factors.

Financial Assistance: The franchisor does not regularly offer financing in connection with the establishment or operation of new franchised restaurants. In limited circumstances, the franchisor may offer build-to-suit arrangements to assist franchisees in meeting construction obligations. In other limited circumstances, under the current development incentive program, if franchisees open the restaurant in accordance with the time frames specified in the Development Agreement, and certain other requirements are met, they may also choose an option where the franchisor or one of its affiliates will loan them $150,000 at zero percent interest after ground break to be used toward development costs. The franchisor may, upon request, try to help franchisees locate a source of financial assistance. The franchisor will not charge a fee or receive other compensation for this service.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Franchise Fee	$50,000	$50,000
Fee for Trade Area Survey Analysis (plus expenses)	$0	$7,500
Land	Not Included
Fee for Architect/Engineering Services	$44,000	$216,000
Environmental Assessment	$2,500	$34,000
On-site Improvements	$337,000	$825,000
Building Improvements	$626,000	$1,250,400
Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment	$499,000	$967,000
IT Equipment and Installation	$45,000	$60,000
Computer-Related Services and Licensing	$1,000	$1,000
Initial Inventory	$12,000	$20,000
Pre-Opening Training and Inventory Expenses	$110,000	$115,000
Pre-Opening Additional Funds	$14,000	$17,000
Uniforms	$3,000	$5,000
Operating Cash	$1,200	$3,000
Business Licenses and Utility Deposits	$500	$3,000
Additional Funds (3 months)	$165,300	$458,600
TOTAL ESTIMATED COST FOR PROTOTYPICAL RESTAURANT (excluding land, financing and certain other costs)	$1,910,500	$4,032,100

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Royalty (other than Royalty for Games & Devices)	5% of gross sales (unless eligible for a temporary reduction under the development incentive program).
Royalty for Games and Devices	40% of net revenues from such games and devices.
Marketing Fee	5% of gross sales.
Rent	Minimum and percentage rent, if the franchisee rents a restaurant location from the franchisor (as negotiated). Additional rent if the franchisee chooses to have the franchisor build the restaurant (under the development incentive program).
Cure Under Lease by Franchisor	All costs the franchisor incurs.
Rent Default – Interest	Highest rate of interest permitted by law in the state in which the premises are located, and if there is no maximum rate permitted by law, then at a per annum rate which is the higher of (a) 20% or (b) the prime commercial interest rate by Bank of America, N.T.& S.A., plus 2%.
Common Area Maintenance Charges, Property Taxes, and Other Assessments	Actual costs charged by master landlord or any third party under the prime lease or other governing documents.
Hold Over Rent	200% of the fixed minimum rent payable during the last month of the term. (Payable if the franchisee fails to vacate the restaurant location at the end of the term.)
Sale or Assignment Fee	Up to $2,500 per restaurant.
Integrated Technology Fee	Then current monthly integrated technology fee (currently $350-$500 per restaurant) plus then current per digital transaction fee (currently $0.00).
Digital Checklist	$17.99 monthly.
Labor Management System Fee	$72 fee plus $2.50 administrative fee per restaurant per month.
Purchase Requisitions – Broker Fee	8%
Purchase Requisitions – Incidental Fees	Currently, no amounts or fees are charged by the franchisor.
Purchase Requisitions – Cancelled Order Fee	Actual costs and expenses.
OLO Ecommerce Platform Fee	Currently, $106.70 per month.
Jack Ca$h (Gift Card Processing)	The then-current fee per restaurant.
Stored Value Card Services Program Service Fee	The service fee shall be determined annually, but will not exceed $34 a month.
Financial Audit	Cost of audit.
Food Safety Reassessment	Cost of inspection.
Supplier /Distributor/Approval and Review Fee	Varies, based on costs of inspection, laboratory fees and travel costs.
Service Charge on Overdue Amounts	The lesser of 18% or maximum rate permitted by law.
Equipment	Actual costs.
Additional Training and Materials	Varies.
Indemnification	Actual costs and expenses the franchisor incurs for claims arising from the franchisee’s actions.
Taxes	Actual amount of taxes the franchisee owes if the franchisor pays those on behalf of the franchisee.
Collection Costs	Any and all costs and expenses incurred by the franchisor in collecting any monies owed by the franchisee.
Attorneys’ Costs and Fees	All costs, including reasonable accounting and attorneys’ fees, incurred as a result of the legal action.
De-identification Costs	Any costs incurred to de-identify the premises.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Jack in the Box. Year of FDD: 2025.
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