Cicis Pizza: From Manual Chaos to Franchise Financial Intelligence

Background

Cicis Pizza has been franchising for over 40 years. But for most of that time, collecting reliable financial data from franchisees was nearly impossible. Multiple POS systems, inconsistent accounting practices, and no enforcement mechanism meant the brand was operating largely blind when it came to franchisee financial performance.

The Challenge

The breaking point came with COVID-19. When the pandemic hit, Cicis needed to understand immediately where franchisees stood — cash position, PPP loan status, survival runway. What they found was alarming: many franchisees didn’t know where they stood financially. Some had taken out PPP loans without understanding their own numbers. Others were checking their bank balance at the end of the month and calling that a financial review.

• Six different POS systems made system-wide data collection nearly impossible.
• Franchisees submitted P&Ls in wildly inconsistent formats — QuickBooks exports, spreadsheets, back-of-napkin estimates.
• Game room revenue — a critical part of the Cicis model — was routinely underreported or excluded entirely.
• Some franchisees had never produced a formal P&L and didn’t know what one was.
• The brand had a franchise agreement obligation to collect monthly financials — but had never enforced it.
• The absence of reliable data made sales or transfers of stores extremely difficult without 12 months of accurate financials to provide to the banks and landlords of prospective buyers.

After COVID, the mandate from leadership was clear: get every P&L, every month, no exceptions. The question was how.

The Solution

Cicis met iLumen at the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference. The fit was immediate. iLumen could handle any accounting system, standardize P&Ls into a consistent chart of accounts, and automate the collection and reminder process — without requiring franchisees to change how they kept their books.

Cicis’ P&L structure is non-standard, and getting franchisees into a consistent cadence took time and partnership. But with iLumen’s automated reminders, direct franchisee onboarding support — the system came together.

• iLumen automates monthly P&L reminders and escalation notices to franchisees.
• If franchisees do not provide their monthly P&Ls within the required deadlines, a compliance director follows up with warning letters and, if necessary, default letters that put the franchise agreement at risk.
• New franchisees are onboarded to iLumen from day one as a non-negotiable prerequisite.

Results

iLumen gave Cicis the financial intelligence layer it needed to support franchisees, evaluate programs, attract stronger operators, and prepare for the next phase of system growth. Key outcomes included:

• 98% Compliance: From near-zero participation to 98% monthly P&L compliance across the franchise system, with only one non-submitting franchisee currently on an exit plan.
• Item 19 in Hours, Not Days: What used to take days of manual effort (and still couldn’t be fully trusted) now takes hours. Eric pulls the TTM file from iLumen and the FDD Item 19 is done.
• Game Room Revenue Surfaced: iLumen made underreported game room revenue visible at the store level — a critical gap for a brand where games and food work together to drive the unit economics model.
• Benchmarking & Peer Reports: Custom peer reports let leadership and franchisees compare performance by region, store type, and operating profile. Best practices are shared system-wide rather than staying with individual operators.
• Store Valuation Support: When franchisees want to sell or retire, iLumen provides three years of trailing P&L data instantly, giving buyers and sellers a credible starting point instead of guesswork.
• Program Analysis: Regional performance, school lunch programs, profitability by sales band and cost structure differences across operating models can now be compared across participating locations, identifying what best-in-class actually looks like.
• Growth-Ready Infrastructure: With five new stores opened last year and a growing pipeline, every new franchisee enters the system with iLumen set up and financial reporting built in from day one.