How McJunkins Restaurant Group Went From 45-Minute Tip-Outs to Paying Staff in 45 Seconds

Before Kickfin: Accordion Files, Post-it Notes and a 14-Hour Day

Every restaurant had its own spreadsheet and its own routine. “We had these beautiful accordion files,” Andrew says. “You’re sitting there counting out cash, with a pink Post-it note that you’re stapling with someone’s name and cash. You find their name in the accordion and you file that.”

Closing took upwards of an hour, and two if anything went wrong. Each restaurant kept $4,000 to $5,000 in petty cash just to pay out tipped employees, and every payout was handled two or three times and signed for in a binder. On a $30,000 to $40,000 day, people who got in by 2 p.m. were not leaving until 4 a.m. For the full cost of tipping out in cash, see our guide to cash vs. cashless tip payouts.

Then came a labor audit. The tip records were an editable spreadsheet, and proving what people had earned meant line-by-line checks of every employee, every shift. “It’s like a court of law: it’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove.” It took three months of manual work, and it burned people out.

The old way came down to:

• 45 minutes to an hour of cash counting and tip math at close, longer when something was off
• $4,000 to $5,000 in petty cash in every restaurant
• Managers leaving at two, three or four in the morning
• Editable spreadsheets as the record of what staff earned
• Months to assemble records when an audit came

The Switch: “I Hit a Button, and Their Phone Pinged in 45 Seconds”

Andrew did not buy it at first. “I thought there’s got to be something wrong with it. What’s the catch? There’s other tip services and money card services, and there’s always a catch to it.”

What changed his mind was seeing it work. “I made one of our teammates stand there, they were leaving for the night, and I said, ‘Let me see how this actually works.’ I hit a button, and their phone pinged in 45 seconds. It wasn’t just a ploy. It legitimately happened.”

With instant tip payouts, Kickfin sends each tip to the bank account or debit card the employee already chose. No new card, no new account. “We’re not having them sign up for Andrew DiPippa’s Bank of Kickfin,” he says. “It’s their own debit card, right there. That level of trust and transparency is a big connection.”

Kickfin pulls sales and labor data from Toast, one of many POS integrations, and applies each location’s own tip rules. Kickfin tweaked a calculator for every restaurant, since rules differ by county and market, and large parties are split the same way. A manager reviews the numbers, clicks once, and staff are paid.

From Months to Days, and Hours Back Every Night

The biggest change came on the audit. “Our record was an editable spreadsheet. Now, with Kickfin, everything’s right there. It’s all digitized. There’s no editing. You can’t manipulate it at all.” The next audit took “a couple of days, maybe 8 to 10 hours total,” compared with three to four months before.

Time came back every night, too. “It went from 45 minutes a night to a few minutes.” And because Toast, Paylocity and Kickfin work together, payroll that took two-plus hours per location now takes about ten minutes. “Payroll from nine to nine-fifteen versus nine to eleven is catastrophically different in the hospitality world. At nine to eleven you’re behind on your floor chart, behind on your line check, behind on opening the doors.”

That time goes back to the floor. “We’re not in the back-office business. I need our managers engaging our guests and teammates.”

A Hiring Edge, and a Team That Cheered

The change shows up in recruiting. “When I explained how we did tips, it was a game changer. They said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘When you’re done with your shift, we figured your tips, we hit a button, you get money in 45 seconds.’ I can tell you we’ve probably hired 20 or 30 team members based on that.”

Managers felt it, too. “They threw me a party. Not a real party, but the excitement was palpable. When I said things like ‘no more accordion files’ and ‘no more having so much cash on hand,’ it was like I lifted a weight off of their back.”

Across the group, Kickfin delivered:

• Tip-outs in a few minutes, not 45
• Payouts in about 45 seconds, straight to staff’s own accounts
• A digital record that can’t be edited, which turned a months-long audit into a couple of days
• Far less cash on hand in every restaurant
• A recruiting talking point candidates ask about in interviews

McJunkins Results at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

How does McJunkins Restaurant Group pay out tips?

McJunkins uses Kickfin to calculate tip pools from its Toast POS and pay staff directly to their own bank accounts or debit cards. A manager reviews the numbers, clicks once, and each payout lands in about 45 seconds, with no cash and no proprietary pay card.

How much time does Kickfin save McJunkins?

Andrew DiPippa says nightly tip-outs dropped from about 45 minutes to a few minutes. The group also pulled tip records for a labor audit in a couple of days instead of three to four months.

Why did McJunkins choose Kickfin over card-based tip services?

Andrew’s concern was the catch. “There’s always a catch” with card-based services, he says. With Kickfin, tips go to the account or debit card each employee already has, so there is no new card or account for staff to sign up for.

Does Kickfin work with Toast?

Yes. Kickfin integrates with Toast, pulling sales and labor data to calculate tip pools automatically. McJunkins runs Toast in all of its locations.