One Tip Standard Across Every Franchised Location
Pancheros brought digital tip distribution to every franchised location with PayDay Portal. One standard. Fair splits by hours worked. A bilingual app the whole team can use.
About Pancheros
A fast-casual Mexican brand built on a franchise model.
Pancheros is a fast-casual Mexican restaurant brand that runs on a franchise model, with locations operated by independent franchisees across the country. That structure gives the brand local operators with skin in the game — but it also creates a real challenge when it comes to tipping.
Every location used to handle cash tips its own way. Each had its own take on how tips should be split, and each kept its own paperwork. The result was a tip experience that changed depending on which Pancheros an employee happened to work at. Pancheros wanted one digital standard, fair splits by hours worked, and a workforce-friendly experience in both English and Spanish.
The Challenge
A different tip process at every franchised location.
Before PayDay Portal, the franchise model meant a different tip process at every location. Each franchisee had to build their own — cash drawers, manual math, paper records, and end-of-shift questions about who got what. That gap created four clear problems.
Every Location Did Tips Differently
Each franchisee had their own way of handling cash tips and their own take on how to split them. There was no shared framework.
Franchisees Solved the Same Problem Twice
Every new operator started from scratch. Time that should have gone into running the restaurant went into building a tip process.
The Brand Could Not See the Network
When every location tracks tips its own way, corporate has no clean view of the franchise. Reporting needed a translation step between locations.
Spanish-Speaking Staff Had Less Access
Without a bilingual app, half the team had to ask managers for tip details. The experience changed based on the language an employee was most comfortable in.
"The franchise model didn't have to mean fragmented operations. With PayDay Portal, Pancheros got the uniformity they were looking for, without taking the local feel out of any individual location."
Pancheros Restaurant Group
The Solution
Four distinct PayDay Portal features, configured for how Pancheros runs as a franchise.
Digital Tip Distribution by Hours Worked
What it solves: cash drawers and manual math leave room for error, and employees end up with questions about who got what.
Every tip dollar at a Pancheros location is now calculated and paid out digitally. Splits are proportional to hours worked by eligible employees on the shift. The math runs in the background and tips flow to payroll automatically — no cash drawers at the end of the night, no manual math, no end-of-shift debates.
- Tip splits based on actual hours worked
- Digital flow from POS to payroll, no manual steps
- Clear math that holds up to employee questions
One Tip Standard Across the Franchise
What it solves: when every franchisee builds their own tip process, the brand ends up with a different experience at every location.
Pancheros now has a single tip policy that lives inside PayDay Portal and applies the same way across every franchised location. Franchisees get a turnkey setup with the rules already built in, and corporate gets the confidence that every location runs from the same playbook.
- One tip policy applied across every franchised location
- Turnkey setup for new franchisees
- Consistent employee experience brand-wide
Bilingual Employee Mobile App
What it solves: Spanish-speaking staff often had to ask a manager for tip details, and the wait slowed everything down.
PayDay Portal's mobile app works in English and Spanish. Pancheros employees check their tips, view balances, and manage their accounts on their phone — meeting each employee in the language they prefer. Pay questions stop landing on a manager's desk.
- Full app in English and Spanish
- Tip balances, history, and account access on demand
- Fewer pay questions for franchisees and managers
Reporting Built for a Franchise Network
What it solves: brand-wide reporting fails when every location tracks tips its own way.
Each franchisee sees their own location's tip activity, and corporate sees the network. Reports are consistent from one location to the next, with no translation step between what one franchisee tracks and another tracks. The brand can manage the franchise as a whole while each operator still owns their own view.
- Per-location reporting for each franchisee
- Brand-wide reporting for corporate
- Consistent formats across the network
The Results
One tip standard, local operation.
Operational Efficiency
- Cash drawers, manual math, and paper records are gone
- Tips flow from POS to payroll automatically
- New franchisees plug into the existing setup, no custom build
- Reporting rolls up across the network without translation
Brand Consistency
- One tip policy applied across every franchised location
- Same employee experience at every Pancheros
- Corporate has a clean view of the franchise as a whole
- Franchisees operate from the same playbook
Employee Experience
- Tip splits based on actual hours worked
- Mobile app available in English and Spanish
- Tip balances, history, and account access on demand
- Same pay experience regardless of location
Why It Works for Franchise Networks
Three things make the Pancheros setup hold up across a franchise.
The Brand Owns the Tip Policy
With one tip policy living inside PayDay Portal, the brand controls the standard. Franchisees do not have to build their own — they plug into what corporate has already set up.
Each Franchisee Runs Their Own View
A single standard does not mean a single dashboard. Each franchisee sees their own location's tip activity, while brand-level reporting rolls up cleanly without taking the local view away from the operator.
The Workforce Experience Matches the Workforce
Pancheros employees speak English and Spanish, and so does the mobile app. The platform meets each employee in the language they prefer, on the device they already carry.
