Cat 14 Starter Kit: Franchises

If you operate a franchise model: decide scope, build an inventory, and start with minimum viable data

Scope 3, Made PracticalCoreStarter Kit30 min

What you'll accomplish

  • Determine if Cat 14 applies to your organization
  • Build a franchise inventory suitable for reporting
  • Define a minimum viable data request (energy, fuel, waste—what's feasible)
  • Create a cadence and improvement plan

Who this is for

Franchise operations teams

Managing franchise inventory and data requests

Sustainability teams

Defining Cat 14 reporting scope

Finance teams

Supporting disclosure assumptions

Quick start (60 minutes)

  • Run relevance test (Template 1)
  • Build franchise inventory (Template 2)
  • Draft minimum viable data request (Template 3)
  • Set a cadence and tracker (Template 4)

Relevance test

Cat 14 is relevant when:

  • •you have franchisees operating under your brand where you don't have operational control

If you do not operate a franchise model, Cat 14 is not applicable.

Templates

Template 1 — Relevance Test

Cat 14 Test

Do we have franchisees? (Y/N)
Do franchisees operate sites under our brand? (Y/N)

If "No" → document Cat 14 as not applicable.

Template 2 — Franchise Inventory (copy/paste)

| Franchisee | Site | Region | Operating dates | Data access feasibility (H/M/L) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|

Template 3 — Franchisee Data Request (minimum viable)

Subject: Request: operating data summary for [period]

Hi [Name],
We're improving brand-level reporting and would like a high-level operating data summary for [period]. If available, please share:
- electricity usage (kWh) or utility spend
- fuel use (if applicable) or spend
- waste tonnage by stream (if tracked)

If you don't track activity data, a spend summary is acceptable as a temporary proxy.
Thanks,
[Name]

Template 4 — Franchisee Response Tracker (copy/paste)

| Franchisee | Request date | Response status | Data provided (activity/spend/none) | Quality | Next action | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

Template 5 — Cat 14 Methods Note (copy/paste)

Cat 14 Methods Note (Internal)

Scope definition:
Data sources:
Assumptions:
Limitations:
Improvement plan:

Common pitfalls

  • ✗Treating franchise data like assets you control (you often don't)
  • ✗No inventory of franchise sites (you can't report what you can't list)
  • ✗No cadence and no owner (requests stall)

Change log

v1.0 (2026-01): Latest release