How One Finance Leader Simplified HR for 52 Franchise Locations
Learn how one finance leader unified payroll, benefits and compliance to reduce errors, improve retention and focus on strategy.
As businesses grow, many financial leaders find themselves taking on human resources (HR) responsibilities that extend far beyond their comfort zone. Recruiting, compliance and benefits become part of the daily routine, even for executives whose background is rooted in finance.
That’s exactly what happened to Mary, the chief financial officer (CFO) of a major auto services franchise. Over three decades, her company expanded from five small stores into 52 locations with more than 350 employees across Arizona. As the workforce grew, HR challenges did too.
“Like many CFOs in growing mid-market companies, especially franchise operations, I became HR by default. And that pivot has been one of the most eye-opening transitions of my career.”
— Chief Finance Officer
Outgrowing Existing Payroll Systems
Labor costs were the company’s second-largest expense after goods sold, and managing them became increasingly difficult. Mary tracked payroll metrics every week, monitoring scheduling, retention and overtime to control costs and stay compliant with state labor laws.
In Arizona, where wage and scheduling regulations frequently change, even small errors could impact cash flow. “We can’t afford inefficiencies,” she said. “Every missed break or unnecessary overlap in scheduling is a cash flow leak.”
The company had used a global payroll provider, then switched to a locally based firm. But when changes to laws like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Arizona’s Paid Sick Leave took effect, it became clear the company needed a system that could evolve with compliance demands and business growth.
“We needed a platform that could adapt quickly to new compliance needs without nickel-and-diming us every time we required a modification,” Mary said.
A Unified System for a Growing Franchise
At the time, Mary’s local payroll provider used isolved as their technology solution. When that provider later changed direction, she reached out to isolved directly. She was drawn to isolved’s experience serving small and mid-sized businesses and its ability to address both the day-to-day realities and long-term goals of growing organizations.
With isolved People Cloud™, Mary unified payroll, benefits, compliance and workforce data for all 52 locations. The platform’s structure allowed the business to operate as four divisions under one tax ID, giving her the flexibility to run detailed reports by region, store and even individual manager.
Other payroll providers, Mary said, didn’t understand that nuance. “They saw us as a single company and couldn’t support our divisional reporting needs without extensive workarounds,” she said.
Gaining Visibility and Reducing Errors
With isolved, Mary has the information and tools she needs to manage a dispersed workforce and maintain compliance. The platform’s executive dashboard gives her access to headcount trends, employee tenure and turnover patterns, helping her spot issues before they become costly problems.
“In a high-turnover industry like ours, it’s easy to lose sight of the individual experience,” Mary said. “But I’ve found that most of the time, it’s not about money alone. It’s about recognition, clarity and responsiveness.”
Automation has also made a measurable difference. isolved eliminated manual steps in benefits administration, open enrollment and payroll reconciliation, reducing errors and freeing hours each week. With better visibility into labor costs, scheduling and retention, leadership can now plan with confidence.
Read the full 3Sixty Insights case study to learn how isolved helps growing franchises simplify HR, improve compliance and drive growth.
