Highlights
Tools, from this filing's numbers
What Papa John's takes off the top
Royalty 5% of Net Sales, applied to your own sales estimate. The rates are the filing's; the sales are yours.
Preset to the filing's Item 19 figure, $1,124,305 a year.p.71
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $281,485 to $890,267, is an estimate for one unit including only its first months. Slide between the low and high cases and add the months of runway you want beyond that.
Monthly operating cash is taken as one-twelfth of your weekly-sales figure above times 52, a placeholder for rent, labor and food until you have your own budget.
Compare Papa John's with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | None | |
| Royalty | 5% of Net Sales | p.15 |
| Advertising fund | not stated | |
| Technology fee | $375 per month | p.17 |
The filing lists every recurring and conditional fee in Item 6.
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee; Development Fee Deposit (17) | $5,000 | $25,000 | p.22 |
| GIS New Store Map Package | $1,071 | $1,071 | p.22 |
| Construction/Leasehold Improvements (1) | $102,000 | $365,000 | p.22 |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (2) | $77,000 | $239,000 | p.22 |
| Information System (3) | $20,000 | $30,000 | p.22 |
| On-Site Support Fee (4) | $2,500 | $2,500 | p.22 |
| On-Site Installation Fee (3) | $2,000 | $5,000 | p.22 |
| Help Desk Service Fee (5) | $240 | $240 | p.22 |
| Software Maintenance Fee (3) | $1,125 | $1,491 | p.22 |
| PapaNet (6) | $1,200 | $1,350 | p.23 |
| Hot Schedules | $99 | $165 | p.23 |
| Signage | $7,300 | $30,000 | p.23 |
| Test Fit Fee (7) | $950 | $950 | p.23 |
| First Month's Rent (8) | $2,500 | $8,500 | p.23 |
| Security Deposit and other deposits, Insurance Premium (8)(9) | $2,500 | $10,000 | p.23 |
| Opening Inventory and Supplies (10) | $6,000 | $15,000 | p.23 |
| Opening Advertising (11) | $10,000 | $30,000 | p.23 |
| Training Expenses (12) | $15,000 | $50,000 | p.23 |
| Miscellaneous Opening Costs (13) | $5,000 | $25,000 | p.23 |
| Additional Funds – 3 months (14) | $20,000 | $50,000 | p.23 |
| Total | $281,485 | $890,267 | p.23 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Papa John's reports Average Net Royalty Sales of $1,124,305 across 2837 outlets for fiscal year ended December 28, 2025.p.71 What the figure measures, which units were excluded and what it leaves out are in the report.
Litigation (Item 3)
Item 3 has not been read for this filing yet, or the two readers disagreed and it is held for review.
Scorecard
Rank among the brands on this site that report the figure, on each list's own direction. No blended grade. How the lists work.
| Cost to open | $281,485 | 3 of 15 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 5.0% | 2 of 16 |
| Three-year unit growth | held | held |
| Closure rate | held | held |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | held | held |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 640597, effective 3/31/2026, expires 3/31/2027. Extracted 2026-09-03 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 2 fields held for review. How this works.