How should I structure my accounts for franchisees?

Understanding the accounts’ structure

A company account is the account in which the standard settings for a specific company (or region of a company, e.g., North America) are set. For example, when invoices are sent out.

Note: Company account settings affect all merchant accounts under the company account.

A merchant account operates under the company account. The franchisees manage merchant accounts. It’s possible to create multiple merchant accounts (for example, to make a distinction between different legal entities or to divide payments of different currencies to the correct bank accounts).

Tip: Each franchisee will have at least one merchant account.

Each merchant account has at least one store operating under it. The store is where the business and transactions take place. For example, the location of a burger restaurant is where the transactions take place. However, it’s possible for one merchant account to have multiple stores under it.

Tip: Having multiple stores under the same merchant account is possible only when the same legal entity owns all stores.

For example:

• An individual owns 7 stores but wants to be paid out to a single payout account: Only one merchant account needs to be created. 
• An individual owns 7 stores but wishes to be paid out to an individual payout account: They need to create a merchant account for all stores. 

Structuring your franchisees accounts

Merchant accounts can be set up in 2 ways:

• One merchant account per store.
• One merchant account for all stores.

Note: Only one payout account can be attached to a merchant account. This means that the revenues of multiple stores under a single merchant account will have to be paid out to the same account.

Find below the possible account setups.