Question 1

Do I have to comply with the FTC Funeral Rule?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you sell funeral goods and services in the United States, 16 CFR Part 453 applies to you. The Rule requires you to give every consumer a written, itemized General Price List at the start of any in-person discussion of arrangements. There's no carve-out for small homes, religious homes, or family-owned homes. The FTC enforces it; some states layer additional requirements on top.

Question 2

Can my state board reject my GPL?

Accepted Answer

Yes. State boards can require disclosures beyond what the federal Funeral Rule mandates: preneed language, embalming consent language, license or registration numbers, or specific formatting. The federal Rule is the floor, not the ceiling. The Done-For-You GPL is built to the federal Rule by default; if your state adds requirements, tell us in the intake and we layer them in.

Question 3

How is this different from what my printer offers?

Accepted Answer

Your printer reformats the document you give them. We rebuild it. Printers don't grade your pricing against regional benchmarks, don't check your compliance against the pending ANPR amendment, and don't tell you the three line items where you're leaving money. They make your GPL look nice. We make your GPL right.

Question 4

What's the ANPR amendment and when does it land?

Accepted Answer

The FTC opened an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Funeral Rule in late 2022. The Commission is considering whether to require homes to post pricing online and to expand disclosure requirements. There is no firm publication date for the final rule, the public comment period closed and the agency is in deliberation. Homes that prepare now won't have to scramble when it lands.

Question 5

Is my funeral home considered independent?

Accepted Answer

For our purposes, an independent funeral home is one not owned by Service Corporation International, Carriage Services, Park Lawn, or a regional group with a centralized pricing team. If you set your own prices and write your own GPL, you're independent, that's who we built this for.

Question 6

Will my families notice if I rewrite the GPL?

Accepted Answer

Most families won't read the whole thing. They scan three lines: the Basic Services Fee, the cremation total, and the casket range. If your GPL is well-organized, those three are easy to find and the rest of the document does its job quietly. A rewrite that gets those three right almost always reads as cleaner, never as suspicious.

Question 7

How often should I re-grade my GPL?

Accepted Answer

At least once a year, or any time you change a price. The Funeral Rule itself doesn't require this, but regional benchmarks shift, supplier costs move, and the ANPR amendment could change disclosure requirements with relatively short notice. Set a calendar reminder for January and July, and re-upload here for a free grade any time something changes.

Question 8

Is my GPL data stored anywhere?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on a private server, owner-readable only. We do not share, resell, or train AI models on your file. You can request deletion at any time by emailing hello@gplscore.com.

Question 9

Who actually reads my GPL?

Accepted Answer

The free grade is generated by AI, calibrated against real benchmarks. The $197 Deep Audit is reviewed personally by Nathan, a licensed funeral director, against the same standards he held his own funeral homes to.

Question 10

Is the free grade actually useful, or is it just a lead magnet?

Accepted Answer

Both. It's an honest letter grade with three real findings. Owners who only ever use the free grade still walk away with a list of specific things to fix.

Question 11

What's in the $197 Deep Audit that isn't in the free grade?

Accepted Answer

A comprehensive strategic audit with line-by-line compliance scoring, regional pricing benchmarks for every major line item, ANPR readiness, casket and outer burial container menu analysis, and a prioritized 30/60/90-day implementation list.

Question 12

What's the Done-For-You GPL?

Accepted Answer

We write your entire GPL from a short intake form. Branded Word doc plus print-ready PDF, FTC-compliant, ANPR-ready, delivered within an hour. One free revision within 14 days. $1,497.

Question 13

Do I get a discount if I order the audit first?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Audit customers get a $500 credit toward the Done-For-You GPL if they upgrade within 7 days of the audit. Effective price: $997.

Question 14

Is the FTC actually going to require online price lists?

Accepted Answer

The ANPR is still in comment phase. No final rule, no deadline. But the homes already publishing clean, defensible GPLs won't have to scramble when it lands.

Question 15

What's the ANPR?

Accepted Answer

Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: the formal step where the FTC tells the public what amendments it's considering. The current ANPR covers online disclosure, third-party fees, the Basic Services Fee, new disposition methods, embalming language, and GPL readability. See /funeral-rule for the full breakdown.

Question 16

Do you work with chains?

Accepted Answer

No. GPLscore is built for independent, owner-operated homes. SCI, Carriage Services, Park Lawn, and other large operators have in-house pricing teams.

Question 17

Are pricing benchmarks regional?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The free grade and the Deep Audit both index your prices against homes in your region (typically your state and adjacent states, with rural/small-town segmentation where relevant).

Question 18

What file format do I upload?

Accepted Answer

PDF only. Up to 10 MB. If your GPL is in Word or a print template, export to PDF first. If you don't have one, the Done-For-You service builds you one.

Question 19

What's your refund policy?

Accepted Answer

7-day refund on the Deep Audit if it doesn't surface findings you can act on. Done-For-You is refundable up to the moment we deliver the draft; after delivery the included revision applies.

Questions owners ask before they upload.