Cash and Receivables (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 27, 2020

Cash and Receivables [Abstract]

Schedule of Cash and Cash Equivalents

	September 27, 2020		December 29, 2019
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash	$	238,125	$	185,203
Cash equivalents	75,062		114,992
	313,187		300,195
Restricted cash
Accounts held by trustee for the securitized financing facility	38,127		34,209
Other	333		330
	38,460		34,539
Advertising Funds (a)	54,777		23,973
	93,237		58,512
Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	$	406,424	$	358,707

_______________

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

Schedule of Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable

	September 27, 2020						December 29, 2019
	Gross		Allowance for Doubtful Accounts		Net		Gross		Allowance for Doubtful Accounts		Net
Accounts and Notes Receivable, Net
Current
Accounts receivable (a) (b)	$	89,593	$	(3,920)	$	85,673	$	103,852	$	(3,314)	$	100,538
Notes receivable from franchisees (c) (d)	18,972		(4,520)		14,452		23,628		(6,705)		16,923
	$	108,565	$	(8,440)	$	100,125	$	127,480	$	(10,019)	$	117,461
Non-current (e)
Notes receivable from franchisees (d)	$	6,177	$	(985)	$	5,192	$	1,617	$	—	$	1,617

_______________

(a)Includes income tax refund receivables of $7,089 and $13,555 as of September 27, 2020 and December 29, 2019, respectively. Additionally, 2019 includes receivables of $25,350 related to insurance coverage for the financial institutions class action.

(b)During the nine months ended September 27, 2020, rent receivables increased by $7,291. This increase was primarily due to actions taken by the Company in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included offering to defer base rent payments on properties owned by Wendy’s and leased to franchisees by 50%, and offering to pass along any deferrals that were obtained on properties leased by Wendy’s and subleased to franchisees by up to 100%, beginning in May for a three month period, which are being repaid over a 12 month period beginning in August 2020.

(c)Includes the current portion of sales-type and direct financing lease receivables of $4,054 and $3,146 as of September 27, 2020 and December 29, 2019, respectively.

Included a note receivable from a U.S. franchisee totaling $1,000 as of December 29, 2019. The note was repaid during the nine months ended September 27, 2020.

(d)Includes a note receivable from a franchisee in India totaling $985 and $1,000 as of September 27, 2020 and December 29, 2019, respectively, which is included in non-current notes receivable as of September 27, 2020 and is included in current notes receivable as of December 29, 2019. As of September 27, 2020 and December 29, 2019, the Company had a reserve of $985 on the loan outstanding to the franchisee in India.

Includes a note receivable from a franchisee in Indonesia, of which $1,643 and $1,262 are included in current notes receivable and $842 and $1,617 are included in non-current notes receivable as of September 27, 2020 and December 29, 2019, respectively.

Includes notes receivable related to a joint venture for the operation of Wendy’s restaurants in Brazil (the “Brazil JV”), of which $11,975 and $15,920 are included in current notes receivable as of September 27, 2020 and December 29, 2019, respectively, and $4,350 is included in non-current notes receivable as of September 27, 2020. As of September 27, 2020 and December 29, 2019, the Company had reserves of $4,520 and $5,720, respectively, on the loans outstanding related to the Brazil JV.

(e)Included in “Other assets.”

Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

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

	Accounts Receivable		Notes Receivable		Total
Nine Months Ended September 27, 2020
Balance at December 29, 2019	$	3,314	$	6,705	$	10,019
Provision for doubtful accounts	699		(8)		691
Uncollectible accounts written off, net of recoveries	(93)		(1,192)		(1,285)
Balance at September 27, 2020	$	3,920	$	5,505	$	9,425
Nine Months Ended September 29, 2019
Balance at December 30, 2018	$	4,940	$	2,000	$	6,940
Provision for doubtful accounts	(1,544)		2,089		545
Uncollectible accounts written off, net of recoveries	(220)		11		(209)
Balance at September 29, 2019	$	3,176	$	4,100	$	7,276