The Challenge: Manual Payroll Processing and Jumbled Hiring
As PIE.ZAA began to scale from a single shop to a multi-unit operation, the administrative burden became a bottleneck. The company relied on disparate systems for hiring and a legacy payroll provider that offered little support for a growing franchise.
This created a fragmented environment where leadership had to manually bridge the gaps between job boards, spreadsheets, and the time clock. As founder Tyler Kotch described the old way of managing human capital:
“It was a jumbled mess… we were working off hope.”
Where It Showed Up: Siloed Data and Back Office Burdens
The gaps showed up in daily operations, from digging through Indeed listings to manually intaking rolling restaurant staff. Without an integrated system, management struggled to find quality talent, and leadership meetings were dominated by administrative troubleshooting rather than guest experience.
During expansion, the manual burden of managing a high-turnover workforce became a mental tax on the owner.
“We were surrendering to the time clock,” said Kotch.
The Business Impact: Opportunity Cost and Scalability Ceilings
The disconnected systems created measurable friction that threatened the company’s goal of reaching 100 locations:
- Lost Productivity: Leadership spent critical brain space on manual admin rather than franchising strategy.
- Delayed Hiring: The manual vetting process slowed down staffing, a critical failure in the fast-casual industry.
- Total Chaos: At two locations, the load was heavy; at 100, Tyler noted it would be “total chaos” without a dedicated provider.
When the team looked at the future, the manual process was clearly unsustainable for an institutional brand.
The Shift: Implementing an Integrated Applicant & Payroll Engine
To support their 100-unit goal, PIE.ZAA moved to an integrated platform that consolidated the entire employee lifecycle, connecting Applicant Tracking (ATS), Onboarding, and Payroll.
Instead of managing disconnected silos, the team now operates from a single source of truth that feeds a bank of vetted talent directly to management.
The Results: Automated Hiring, WOTC Savings, and Executive Freedom
The transition resulted in immediate operational gains for the franchise:
- Elimination of Hiring Talk Tracks: Recruitment is no longer a primary discussion in weekly leadership meetings.
- Captured Tax Credits: By automating Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTC), the company is now gaining money back on every eligible hire.
- Streamlined Implementation: The system integrated POS and job board data without operational stress.
- Executive Scalability: The owner has successfully distanced himself from daily shop operations to focus on AI-driven growth and franchising.
Kotch emphasized the value of moving from a system where they had to figure out stuff all by themselves to a supported partnership:
“It’s about having that weight off our shoulders.”
Why It Worked: Integration and Human Support
The biggest shift wasn’t just the software, it was the seamless flow of data between hiring and payroll. This automation allows management to pick and interview from a pre-vetted pool instantly. Beyond the technology, having a dedicated partner to navigate complex HR questions provided the freedom to scale.
