The Cleaning Authority franchise review
Entity: The Cleaning Authority Franchising SPE LLC
Parent: Apax Partners / Authority Brands
Ownership: PE-backed
Franchising since: 1996
233
System Size
franchised outlets, end 2024
$92K–$147K
Initial Investment
Item 7 range
$22,902
Annual Fees at $300K
#1 of 7 compared
+24 units
3-Year Net Growth
Stable positive
Where Cleaning Authority Stands vs. Peers
Fee burden (at $300K)
$22,902/yr
#1 of 7
Royalty rate
6% / 5% / 4%
tiered — different thresholds for Enterprise vs Hometown
Marketing floor
1% brand fund + DHH-based local
low — brand fund capped at $200/wk
2024 attrition
1.8%
moderate
Disclosure quality
Best in cohort
1st of 7
Peer comparisons from
fee burden,
system health,
cost to enter
analysis.
Want the full Cleaning Authority analysis — Item 19 interpretation, buyer-side economics, risk flags, and discovery-day questions?
Biggest Watchouts Editorial
- △ TCAF lawsuit (The Cleaning Authority Franchisee Association) alleges marketing fund opacity, above-market vendor pricing, and inhibition of association rights. Pending as of filing.
- △ Two separate investment tables (Enterprise vs Hometown Market) make direct comparison with single-table brands less straightforward.
- △ Brand fund capped at $200/week — but local marketing fee is DHH-based, not revenue-based, creating unpredictable cost.
- △ Royalty thresholds differ between Enterprise and Hometown markets.
Strongest Positives Editorial
- ✓ Only growing system among the large cleaning franchises: +24 units over 3 years (+11.3%).
- ✓ Turnover rate dropped from 10.6% (2023) to 4.1% (2024) — best improvement in cohort.
- ✓ Richest Item 19 disclosure: revenue by thirds, COGS percentages, price per clean.
- ✓ Top-third Enterprise territories average $2.45M gross revenue.
- ✓ Sister brand to Mosquito Squad — established Authority Brands platform.
- ✓ Lowest initial investment in the cohort ($93K–$147K Enterprise).
Fee Burden Position Modeled
| Revenue Level |
Annual Fees |
% of Revenue |
Rank |
| $200,000 |
$15,902 |
8.0% |
1 of 7 |
| $300,000 |
$22,902 |
7.6% |
1 of 7 |
| $400,000 |
$29,902 |
7.5% |
1 of 7 |
| $500,000 |
$36,902 |
7.4% |
1 of 7 |
Year 5 assumptions, single territory. See full methodology.
Dual market structure
Enterprise and Hometown markets have different fee thresholds, investment ranges, and territory definitions. Comparison data uses Enterprise Market.
System Health
| Year |
Opened |
Closed |
Net Change |
End Count |
| 2022 |
12 |
3 |
+9 |
218 |
| 2023 |
13 |
10 |
+3 |
221 |
| 2024 |
16 |
4 |
+12 |
233 |
Disclosure Quality Editorial
Richest Item 19 in the cleaning cohort: 206 Enterprise Market territories with average gross revenue by thirds (Top $2.45M, Middle $1.29M, Lower $638K), average price per clean ($165–$173), and average COGS (61–63%). The only cleaning brand providing revenue-tier breakdowns with COGS.
Get the The Cleaning Authority Decision Report
A 15–25 page single-brand memo built from the 2025 regulator-filed FDD —
not a summary, not AI-generated, not franchisor marketing.
Fee modeling at 4 revenue levels, Item 19 interpretation, buyer-side economics,
risk signals, and 8–10 discovery-day questions specific to this brand.
✓ Built from regulator-filed FDD
✓ No franchisor affiliation
✓ Every claim FDD-traceable
✓ One-time $99 · instant PDF
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Not legal, accounting, or investment advice. Structured analysis to support your own due diligence.
What’s in the report
1Fee Burden Deep Dive
Dollar-level modeling at 4 revenue levels with component breakdown, minimum triggers, and year-by-year escalation
2Item 19 Translation
What the financial performance data actually says — and what it conspicuously omits
3Investment Breakdown
Where the initial investment goes, what’s negotiable vs. fixed, what the FDD footnotes bury
4System Health Narrative
Churn context, closure patterns, transfer trends — what the Item 20 numbers actually mean
5Risk Flags & Litigation
Regulatory history, entity changes, franchise dispute outcomes, and what they signal
6Discovery Day Questions
Specific, data-informed questions to ask the franchisor — derived from this brand’s FDD
7Peer Positioning
How this brand compares across the full residential cleaning category with narrative context
Head-to-Head Comparisons
Side-by-side FDD comparisons featuring Cleaning Authority.
Compare Other Brands
See how Cleaning Authority compares to other residential cleaning franchise brands in the cohort.