Polar Tint by the Numbers: What FDD Item 19 Actually Discloses

What Item 19 is — and why most FDDs leave it blank

The FTC Franchise Rule permits but does not require franchisors to make Financial Performance Representations (FPRs) in Item 19 of the Franchise Disclosure Document. A franchise system can publish nothing in Item 19 and still be a fully legitimate, registered franchise — many do exactly that.

But the rule is asymmetric. A franchise that publishes nothing in Item 19 also cannot legally share any earnings information outside Item 19. Sales reps, brokers, and development executives are prohibited from telling prospects what existing franchisees earn unless that information appears in the FDD. So an Item 19 with actual numbers is a transparency signal worth reading carefully; an Item 19 with no numbers means the franchise is effectively asking prospects to invest without earnings data.

Polar Tint's 2026 FDD discloses Item 19 financial performance data for the two affiliate-owned shops operating in Las Vegas. The disclosure is voluntary; the data is auditable; the substantiation is available to prospects on written request as required by the FTC Franchise Rule.

What Table I actually says

The two reporting businesses are affiliate-owned, owner-operated Polar Tint shops doing business as LV Pro Tint in the Las Vegas area — the Summerlin and Henderson locations. The reporting period is fiscal year 2025 (calendar year ending December 31, 2025).

Summerlin: the figure disclosed in the current FDD in gross sales, the figure disclosed in the current FDD in cost of goods sold, the figure disclosed in the current FDD in gross profit — 91.5% gross profit margin. Henderson: the figure disclosed in the current FDD in gross sales, the figure disclosed in the current FDD in cost of goods sold, the figure disclosed in the current FDD in gross profit — 90.4% gross profit margin. Combined across both shops: the figure disclosed in the current FDD in gross sales, the figure disclosed in the current FDD in COGS, the figure disclosed in the current FDD in gross profit, weighted gross profit margin of 90.9%.

The FDD defines COGS as the expenses the reporting businesses incurred to produce and purchase the approved services and products. Gross Sales is the actual gross revenue from the sale of approved services and products. Gross Profit is gross sales minus COGS, and Gross Profit % is gross profit divided by gross sales.

What the disclosure doesn't (and can't) cover

Three honest caveats apply to any Item 19 reader. First: the affiliate-owned shops in Table I do not pay royalty fees or other franchisor fees because they're owned by the franchise company, not by independent franchisees. The gross profit figure is pre-royalty. A franchisee would deduct 8% royalty + 1% national brand fund (9% combined) below gross profit, plus operating expenses and overhead, to arrive at net operating income.

Second: the two reporting businesses have consolidated financials and shared overhead which may differ from your franchise operation. Your individual results will vary based on territory characteristics, marketing execution, service mix (auto tint vs ceramic vs PPF balance), lease economics, operator effort, hiring quality, and local competitive dynamics.

Third: Item 19 is a snapshot of two shops in one metro for one fiscal year. It's not a forecast and not a guarantee. The FDD explicitly notes that some outlets have earned this amount and individual results may differ — standard FTC-required language that prospects should take seriously rather than reading past.

How the calculator on this site uses the FDD figure

The Investment ROI calculator on the /investment page uses the 90.9% weighted gross margin from Item 19 Table I as its single source of truth for gross profit on every service-line slider. The FDD does not disclose margin per service line, so the same is applied uniformly across automotive tint, ceramic, PPF, and residential / commercial film inputs — rather than fabricating per-line breakdowns that would lack FDD substantiation.

Below the gross profit line, the calculator deducts 9% combined royalty + brand fund and operator-entered operating expenses to arrive at modeled EBITDA. Every margin assumption in the calculator is either FDD-disclosed or operator-supplied. No industry-typical placeholders are used; no average-of-averages is applied to make the model look more favorable.

Ticket averages used as input examples on the calculator's sliders (e.g., $450 auto tint, $800 ceramic, $2,200 PPF, $3,500 residential/commercial) are illustrative placeholders, not FDD-disclosed averages. The FDD discloses gross sales and margin per shop — not ticket averages per service line. Operators modeling their own scenario should adjust the slider inputs to reflect their own market's pricing rather than the calculator defaults.