FRANCHISE PAYROLL · INDEPENDENTLY OWNED TAKE 5 OIL CHANGE

The oil change takes ten minutes. The pay math takes WageTime.

A Take 5 crew is paid three ways: an hourly base, a bi-weekly performance bonus, and commission on the premium services sold at the window, all owed a place in the overtime rate. WageTime is payroll built to run all three as one.

Built on infrastructure processing $35B+ in payroll & taxes · 2.8M+ employees paid

For independently owned and operated Take 5 Oil Change® franchise businesses. WageTime is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Take 5 Oil Change or Driven Brands; those marks belong to their owners and are used here only to describe the businesses this page serves.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

The service is fast. The pay math behind it is not.

Take 5 pay is a base rate plus a bi-weekly bonus plus upsell commission, the network is one of the fastest-growing in the category, and one owner usually runs several stores under the Driven Brands system. That makes a single check a three-part overtime problem, a constant hiring problem, and a per-store labor problem all at once. Most of it still runs on spreadsheets and side notes.

THREE KINDS OF PAY, ONE CHECK

Base, bonus, and upsell all owe overtime

A Take 5 tech earns an hourly base, a bi-weekly performance bonus, and commission on the air filters, wipers, and coolant they sell at the window. All three are nondiscretionary, so all three raise the overtime rate on a week past forty hours. Pay the over-forty hours on the base rate alone and you have the exact regular-rate shortfall the Labor Department keeps writing up in the automotive trade.

THE BONUS RUNS ON ITS OWN CLOCK

Bi-weekly money, weekly overtime

The performance bonus lands on a two-week cycle. Overtime is a one-week test. Reconciling a bonus that spans two workweeks back into each week's regular rate is where a hand-built spreadsheet quietly gets it wrong, and the tech who worked the busy week is the one shorted.

THE $300 HANDSHAKE

Signing bonuses that never hit a real check

A fast-growing store hires with a signing bonus to fill the bay. Cut it as a cash handshake or a gift card and you have an untaxed wage sitting outside payroll. It belongs on a check, with withholding applied, on the same run as everyone else.

ONE OWNER, A HANDFUL OF STORES

Labor by location, not in a pile

Take 5 grows on multi-unit operators, so one owner runs three, six, or a dozen drive-throughs. Labor cost per store is the number that runs each one, and a store manager should approve their store and no one else's. Generic payroll hands you one pile of hours and a login everybody shares.

THE STORE SYSTEM COUNTS, PAYROLL DOESN'T

The bay logs the hours, the check gets a retype

Whatever runs your drive-through already logs every clocked hour and every service sold, one store at a time. Payroll sees none of it until someone exports each store and re-types the week. The store where a digit transposes is the one whose new hire's first check comes up short.

Each of these gets a real product screen below, shown with sample franchise data.
01 · PAID THREE WAYS

How does payroll fold a base rate, a bi-weekly bonus, and upsell commission into one overtime rate?

WageTime posts the hourly base, the bi-weekly performance bonus, and the premium-service upsell commission as separate pay lines in one run, and overtime computes on the weighted-average of all three automatically.

  • Bonus and commission are nondiscretionary, so both raise the regular rate.
  • Upsell settles through tiered commission structures.
  • Minimum-wage processing at federal, state, and local levels.
  • Unlimited runs mean a weekly pay cadence adds no cost.
app.wagetime.com/payroll/bonus-week

Pay Week · Deja W. · Jul 20-26

Bonus + upsell in OT rateOT on weighted average
the 4 hours past forty are paid at half the regular rate again
Deja W. · lube tech
Base · 44.0 hrs at $18.00$792.00
Upsell comm · 41 services$123.00
Perf bonus, week share$90.00
Regular rate ÷ 44 hrs$22.84 / hr
OT premium · 4.0 OT hrs$45.68
Gross pay$1,050.68
bonus and upsell folded into the overtime ratewithholding applied

Replaces the base-rate-only overtime that shorts a busy week, and the bi-weekly bonus nobody split back into the right workweek.

02 · HIRING AT DRIVE-THROUGH SPEED

How do signing bonuses and a fast-moving crew run through payroll?

The signing bonus runs through WageTime as what it is, a taxable wage on a real check with withholding applied, and the crew comes on in waves: paperwork from a phone, e-signed offers, I-9 and E-Verify cleared before the first shift.

  • $300 signing bonus on the first check, not a cash handshake.
  • Nothing for the manager to rekey on a hiring wave.
  • Rehires return with their record; season groups exit in one pass.
app.wagetime.com/onboarding/crew-wave

Crew Onboarding · Store 118 · Week of Jul 20

Bulk onboardingSigning bonus on payroll
New hireSigning bonusStatus
Jamal R.Phone paperwork · I-9 started$300 first checkIn E-Verify
Trina B.Rehire, record restoredNot eligibleReady to pay
Cody M.e-signed · I-9 complete$300 first checkReady
Elena V.Offer e-signed$300 pendingDocs 2 of 3
4 new hires · signing bonuses on payroll with withholdingI-9 and E-Verify tracked

Replaces the signing bonus cut as a cash handshake, and the onboarding stack the manager did by hand, one hire at a time.

03 · ONE OWNER, MANY STORES

Can I see labor cost by store and file every EIN under the Driven Brands system?

Yes: WageTime runs each store as a department under one EIN, or each entity under its own, with one login across the group, labor reported per store or combined, and every entity's taxes filed separately.

  • Role-based access: store, district, and owner see their own scope.
  • Every entity’s returns filed across 50 states, Puerto Rico, and 11,000-plus local jurisdictions.
  • Controls set at department level, overridden at division level, so stores stay consistent.
app.wagetime.com/group/store-labor

Store Group · Redbird Lube Partners · June

3 stores · 1 loginTaxes filed per EIN
StorePeople paidLabor MTD
Store 112Katy TX · EIN **-52908$19,240.00
Store 118Sugar Land TX · EIN **-529010$24,660.00
Store 126Pearland TX · EIN **-33749$21,880.00
Combined view2 EINs27$65,780.00
3 stores · 2 EINs · combined labor $65,780role-based access per store

Replaces the pooled labor figure that hid the losing store, and the single login every manager shared.

04 · TEN MINUTES, REAL HOURS

What happens to the clock hours your drive-through system logs, and how does a slow week clear the wage floor?

The clock hours your store system logs import straight in, store by store, then roll into one WageTime run, and the wage floor rides underneath: an hourly crew paid in ten-minute waves has to average minimum wage across all hours actually worked.

  • Clock hours imported from the store system, no double entry.
  • Break, meal, and rounding rules apply once punches import.
  • Hours coded to the store and the job, cost codes up to 40 characters.
  • QuickBooks posting by department, plus configurable GL export.
  • Your store system's exact flow confirmed on the demo.
app.wagetime.com/time/store-import

Hours Import · Store 118 · Jul 20-26

Clock hours importedWage floor checked
effective rate = pay ÷ clock hrs, tested against the $16.50 wage floor
Deja W.Ready$22.84
44.0 clock hrs · above floor
Jamal R.Ready$18.60
38.5 clock hrs · above floor
Cody M.Ready$18.00
40.0 clock hrs · above floor
Elena V.below floor$16.35
41.5 clock hrs · under the floor
4 techs · 164.0 clock hrs imported · 0 hours re-keyedfloor tested on every check

Replaces the export-reformat-retype ritual between the store system and the check, and the wage-floor check that lived in the owner's head.

PRICING

Simple payroll pricing. No surprises.

Full-service payroll is $10 a month per person paid that month, plus $50 a month per company, with unlimited runs. No long-term contracts, no per-run charges.

  • Full-service payroll, unlimited runs
  • Federal, state & local tax filing
  • Year-end W-2s & 1099s
  • Direct deposit, checks & pay cards
  • Contractor payments & filings
  • Off-cycle runs & bonuses, no extra fee
  • Employee paystubs & W-2 access
  • QuickBooks integration
$10/mo per person paid
+ $50/mo per company

Off-cycle runs and bonuses cost nothing extra. No long-term contracts; cancel anytime.

Example: 50 people paid × $10 + $50 company = $550 for the month

HR & hiring, onboarding, PTO, time tracking, benefits, and workers’ comp are optional add-ons, priced separately when you’re ready.

See a demo
THE INFRASTRUCTURE BEHIND WAGETIME
$35B+
in payroll & taxes paid
2.8M+
employees paid
4.3M+
W-2s & 1099s filed
100%
of tax filings automated

Take 5 Oil Change franchise payroll FAQ

How does payroll handle a Take 5 tech paid a base rate plus a bonus plus upsell commission?

WageTime runs the hourly base, the bi-weekly performance bonus, and the premium-service upsell commission as separate pay lines in one run. Because the bonus and the commission are nondiscretionary, both raise the regular rate, so overtime past forty hours computes on the weighted-average of all three automatically instead of the base rate alone.

The performance bonus is bi-weekly but overtime is weekly. Does payroll get that right?

Yes. A nondiscretionary bonus that covers more than one workweek has to be allocated back into the weeks it was earned, and each week's overtime recomputed on the higher regular rate. WageTime folds the bonus into the weighted-average overtime rate for the affected weeks automatically. How the rules apply to your plan is a question for you and your counsel.

Can a signing bonus run through payroll instead of a cash handshake?

Yes. WageTime runs the signing bonus as a taxable wage on a real check, with withholding applied and every federal, state, and local tax filed automatically, on the same run as everyone else. Off-cycle and midweek runs cost nothing extra, so a new hire's bonus does not have to wait for the next cycle.

Can WageTime run several Take 5 stores under one owner?

Yes. Run each store as a department under one EIN or each entity under its own EIN, with one login across the group and labor reported per store or combined. Role-based access lets a store manager approve their store, a district manager see their region, and the owner see everything, while WageTime files each entity's taxes separately.

How do the hours get from our drive-through system into payroll?

We import clock hours so there is no double entry. Tell us your store system on the demo and we will confirm the exact flow for your setup. WageTime does not claim a direct integration with any point-of-sale system; inside WageTime, hours code to the store and the job, and time tracking flows straight into the run.

What does payroll cost for a Take 5 franchise?

$50 a month for the company plus $10 per person actually paid that month, with unlimited runs, so a weekly cadence and a midweek signing-bonus run cost nothing extra. Filings, W-2s, and 1099s are included. Run three stores as separate LLCs? Each keeps its own EIN, with one login and combined reporting.

Bring one bonus-and-upsell week.

Last week's clock hours by tech, the upsell commission beside them, and where the bi-weekly bonus lands. Twenty minutes with a payroll specialist on a live demo store: you'll watch a base rate, a bonus, and an upsell commission compute one weighted-average overtime, see the minimum-wage floor run on real hours, and get a straight answer on running your stores from one login.

Book a 20-minute demo