About the company
CRS Hospitality operates a growing footprint of restaurants and bars, with a focus on providing top-tier experiences for both guests and employees.
Location
Illinois
Number of Sites
15+ (and growing)
Service type
Full-service
Eliminated manual tip calculations with POS-integrated payouts
Saved managers hours per week by removing spreadsheets, envelopes, and cash handling
Reduced tip disputes and confusion with transparent, real-time payout visibility for staff
Scaled tip management location-by-location without adding accounting or HR headcount
“When I saw the calculator tied into the POS—my jaw just dropped. I knew instantly how much time this was going to save our managers.”
COO, CRS Hospitality
CRS Hospitality is a rapidly growing restaurant group based in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, operating 15 unique, independently branded concepts—from pizza and food trucks to steakhouses—all within a single community near the University of Illinois.
Kevin Hildebrand has led the company as COO since 2021, helping to grow CRS from just two locations to 15 in only a few years.
With approximately 500 employees and a highly centralized administrative structure, the group prioritizes efficiency, manager experience, and strong partnerships as it scales.
Read on to see why CRS Hospitality chose to automate tip pooling and payouts with Kickfin — or click below to watch the full interview.
As CRS Hospitality expanded, so did the operational strain on managers and administrative staff—especially around tip management.
Before Kickfin, tip distribution involved:
“Where’s my money? Where did the envelope go? Why did I get this amount? Every operator has dealt with those headaches,” Hildebrand said.
With each new concept acquisition, CRS didn’t add more accountants or HR staff; instead, the same centralized team simply took on more volume. That made manual tip processes increasingly unsustainable. CRS needed a solution that not only reduced admin time and made tip calculations transparent, but also could scale location by location without disruption.
CRS began using Kickfin for instant payouts, which completely solved their cash woes. When Kickfin introduced its POS integrations, Kevin was eager to reap the benefits of automated tip pooling, too.
“When I saw the calculator tied into the POS, my jaw just dropped. I knew instantly how much time this was going to save our managers.”
With Kickfin’s Toast integration and digital, direct-to-bank payouts, the CRS team could now:
Most importantly, managers were excited about the change.
“I always ask myself—how am I going to sell this to my managers? The calculator was a home run. They immediately said, ‘I’ve got to do this.’”
For Kevin, ongoing support and partnership from their vendors matters as much as the quality of the tech itself. As CRS adds locations, Kickfin scales right alongside them.
“I email our rep—boom, it’s set up. Integrations are done. It just works.”
“I always ask myself—how am I going to sell this to my managers? The calculator was a home run. They immediately said, ‘I’ve got to do this.’”
COO, CRS Hospitality
