# New Location Opening — the back-office checklist nobody gives you

The franchisor's opening checklist covers the build-out, the training, the grand opening.
This is the *other* checklist — the financial plumbing that determines whether your first
year runs clean or becomes an expensive archaeology project at tax time.

Work top to bottom. Each item lists the trap it prevents.

## 60+ days out

- [ ] **Form the entity** (LLC or S-Corp election per your CPA) — *before* signing the lease
  or franchise agreement if at all possible. Trap: personal name on the lease means personal
  liability and a messy assignment later.
- [ ] **EIN issued** (free, irs.gov, 10 minutes). Trap: paying a "filing service" $250 for it.
- [ ] **Business bank account opened** under the entity. Every dollar in and out of the
  business flows through it from day zero. Trap: "I'll separate it later" — you won't, and
  your bookkeeper will bill you for the untangling.
- [ ] **Bookkeeping live from month zero** (QuickBooks Online or your franchisor's required
  stack) with a chart of accounts that separates build-out (capitalized) from operating
  expenses. Trap: expensing the build-out and triggering a painful amended return.

## 30 days out

- [ ] **Business credit card** issued on the entity — build-out purchases start here, not on
  your personal Amex.
- [ ] **Payroll provider set up** (Gusto or similar) with state registration *in the store's
  state* — state unemployment registration takes 2–4 weeks in some states. Trap: first
  payroll due, no state account number, penalties.
- [ ] **Workers' comp policy bound** — required before the first training shift, not the
  first open shift.
- [ ] **Sales tax permit** for the location's jurisdiction. Trap: collecting tax without a
  permit is illegal in some states; not collecting it is worse.
- [ ] **General liability + property insurance** meeting the franchise agreement's minimums
  (pull the certificate requirements from the FA — the landlord will want their own COI too).

## 14 days out

- [ ] **Document vault assembled**: franchise agreement, lease, EIN letter, entity docs,
  insurance certificates, permits — one place, findable in 30 seconds. You will need the
  EIN letter roughly 400 times in year one.
- [ ] **Royalty & ad-fund math verified**: know the exact percentages, what sales base they
  apply to (gross vs net of discounts), and the payment date. Put the remittance date on
  a recurring calendar.
- [ ] **Break-even math done**: fixed monthly costs ÷ contribution margin = the daily sales
  number that matters more than any other. Write it on the office wall.

## Open week

- [ ] **Daily sales → bank reconciliation habit** from day one: POS deposit hits the bank,
  someone confirms it matches. Trap: processor holdbacks and fee surprises discovered in
  month three.
- [ ] **First payroll run reviewed line by line** — wrong state, wrong rates, and missed
  overtime all happen on run #1.

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*From the team behind [Fran Wallet](https://franwallet.com) — entity, banking, books,
payroll, and documents for franchise owners, in one wallet. We'll do the heavy items on
this list for you.*