Cash and Receivables

12 Months Ended

Dec. 29, 2019

Cash and Receivables Disclosure [Text Block]

Cash and Receivables



	Year End
	December 29, 2019		December 30, 2018
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash	$	185,203	$	209,177
Cash equivalents	114,992		222,228
	300,195		431,405
Restricted cash
Accounts held by trustee for the securitized financing facility	34,209		29,538
Trust for termination costs for former Wendy’s executives	111		109
Other	219		213
	34,539		29,860
Advertising Funds (a)	23,973		25,247
	58,512		55,107
Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	$	358,707	$	486,512

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(a)	Included in “Advertising funds restricted assets.”



	Year End
	December 29, 2019			December 30, 2018
Accounts and Notes Receivable, Net
Current
Accounts receivable:
Franchisees	$	55,570		$	60,567
Other (a)	48,282			51,320
	103,852			111,887
Notes receivable from franchisees (b) (c)	23,628			2,857
	127,480			114,744
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(10,019		)	(4,939		)
	$	117,461		$	109,805

Non-current (d)
Notes receivable from franchisees (c)	$	1,617		$	16,322
Allowance for doubtful accounts (c)	—			(2,000		)
	$	1,617		$	14,322

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(a)	Includes income tax refund receivables of $13,555 and $14,475 as of December 29, 2019 and December 30, 2018, respectively. Additionally, 2019 and 2018 include receivables of $25,350 and $22,500, respectively, related to insurance coverage for the FI Case. See Note 11 for further information on our legal reserves.


(b)	Includes the current portion of sales-type and direct financing lease receivables of $3,146 and $735 as of December 29, 2019 and December 30, 2018, respectively. See Note 20 for further information.


(c)	Includes a note receivable from a franchisee in Indonesia, of which $1,262 and $969 are included in current notes receivable and $1,617 and $2,522 are included in non-current notes receivable as of December 29, 2019 and December 30, 2018, respectively.

Includes notes receivable from the Brazil JV of $15,920 as of December 29, 2019, which is included in current notes receivable, and $12,800 as of December 30, 2018, which is included in non-current notes receivable. As of December 29, 2019 and December 30, 2018, the Company had reserves of $5,720 and $2,000, respectively, on the loans outstanding to the Brazil JV. See Note 8 for further information.

Includes a note receivable from a franchisee in India totaling $1,000, which is included in current notes receivable as of December 29, 2019 and in non-current notes receivable as of December 30, 2018. During 2019, the Company recorded a reserve of $985 on the loan outstanding to the franchisee in India.

Includes a note receivable from a U.S. franchisee totaling $1,000, which is included in current notes receivable as of December 29, 2019.


(d)	Included in “Other assets.”

The following is an analysis of the allowance for doubtful accounts:



	Year Ended
	2019			2018			2017
Balance at beginning of year:
Current	$	4,939		$	4,546		$	4,030
Non-current	2,000			—			26
Provision for doubtful accounts:
Franchisees and other	3,294			2,562			579
Uncollectible accounts written off, net of recoveries	(214		)	(169		)	(89		)
Balance at end of year:
Current	10,019			4,939			4,546
Non-current	—			2,000			—
Total	$	10,019		$	6,939		$	4,546