Multi-location operators are leaving the most on the table.
Section 125 economics scale linearly across locations. A 5-location franchise averaging 25 employees per location nets $85,200/year in net FICA savings alone, plus industry-specific Workers' Comp reduction. For 10-location operators, that figure crosses six figures cleanly.
- ✓Black Tiger Transportation (66 employees, Southern CA): $140,000/year saved
- ✓Avant-garde / Houston restaurant group (132 employees, 69 locations): $250,000+/year combined
- ✓Maaco San Diego (Peter Capdevielle, 20-year franchisee): 50%+ Workers' Comp reduction — referred 26 other Maaco owners
- ✓Verified by CBIZ Advisors LLC + HitesmanLaw P.A. in 2025
Multi-Location Savings Calculator
franchise + multi-unit operators · combined annual savings
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Why multi-location operators see the biggest savings
The Section 125 savings figure is mechanical at the per-employee level: $681.60 net employer FICA savings per W-2 employee per year, plus a Workers' Comp reduction at your industry's classification rate. For a single location with 25 employees, that's $17,040 in FICA + roughly $9,000 in WC reduction at a 5% rate (auto-service, home health) — about $26,000/year combined. Useful, but the real story shows up at scale.
Multiply by 5 locations and the combined figure crosses $130,000/year. By 10 locations it's $260,000/year. By 20 locations — typical for regional franchise developers in QSR, fitness, auto-service, and home care — the figure approaches $500,000/year. None of this requires changing payroll providers, switching insurance carriers, or modifying your existing operations. The Section 125 layer slots on top of every existing relationship.
Real franchise operator results
Peter Capdevielle, a 20-year Maaco franchisee and franchise board member, confirmed a 50%+ Workers' Comp reduction at his San Diego location after enrolling. He then referred 26 other Maaco owners to the program — the kind of organic peer-to-peer adoption that's rare in B2B services. The math holds repeatedly across operators in the same franchise system because it's not operator-specific; it's structural.
Avant-garde Senior Living / Houston restaurant group (132 W-2 employees across 69 locations, owner is also an insurance broker who had three law firms review the structure before signing) reports $250,000+/year combined annual savings. Read the full case study →
How implementation works for multi-location operators
Each W-2 employer entity enrolls separately. If you operate through a single LLC across all locations, that's one enrollment. If each location is a separate entity (common in franchise systems), it's multiple enrollments handled in a single consolidated implementation by the plan administrator. Setup runs the same 6–8 weeks regardless of location count. Your business operates exactly as it does today during setup — no carrier changes, no payroll provider changes, no franchise corporate office approval needed.
How to verify before signing
Three primary sources: IRS.gov — Cafeteria Plans (Section 125), the federal statute at 26 U.S.C. § 125, and the 2025 HitesmanLaw P.A. opinion + CBIZ Advisors LLC review (both share-able PDFs available on your free 15-minute analysis call). Every multi-location operator in our case-study set verified independently before signing.
Ready to get the exact combined number for your specific footprint? Book the free 15-minute analysis →
Verified by the Best in the Country
Skepticism is the right response. We don't ask you to take our word for it — we bring institutional proof that convinced CPAs, CFOs, attorneys, and insurance brokers to enroll their own companies.
Darcy L. Hitesman, J.D.
35+ years as an Employee Benefits attorney specializing in IRC Section 125, ERISA, HIPAA, and the ACA. Her May 5, 2025 opinion letter concludes: “In this firm's opinion, the Program described satisfies applicable IRS requirements.”
She specifically reviewed the IRS Chief Counsel Advice memoranda on "double-dip" arrangements — the exact schemes the IRS has flagged — and concluded this program is built differently and compliantly.
CBIZ Advisors LLC
CBIZ independently reviewed the program against IRC §§ 125, 105, and 106, plus ERISA, ACA, and COBRA requirements. Their August 22, 2025 letter concludes: “If operated per its provisions, the Program appears to satisfy the requirements of ERISA, the ACA, and COBRA as well.”
This review was commissioned by Affinity Hospice's CEO before enrolling his nationwide organization — and the CFO (himself a CPA) shared the letter publicly in his testimonial.
Direct From the U.S. Government
Section 125 has been in the Internal Revenue Code since 1978. Congress wrote it there specifically to encourage employers to fund preventive healthcare for American workers. This is not a loophole — it is the precise, intended use of a 47-year-old federal law, grounded in IRS Revenue Ruling 69-154, the specific published ruling supporting the benefit payment structure.
→ Verify on IRS.gov — Section 125 Cafeteria Plans ↗Find Out Your Number.
Free. No Pitch. Just Math.
Verified: CBIZ Advisors LLC (Aug 2025) · HitesmanLaw P.A. (May 2025)
$500K legal protection per enrolled employer · IRS Section 125 · Federal law since 1978