How Pilot Uses Sparrow to Save Over $100,000 a Year in Operational Costs

As the largest startup-focused accounting firm in the United States, Pilot gives growing companies better tools to simplify their finances and streamline their operations. Ranked number one in bookkeeping and accounting on G2, Pilot offers reliable bookkeeping, CFO, and tax services to startups and small businesses alike. Their customers include major names in tech like OpenAI, Lattice, Airtable, and Scale.

Pilot’s mission: to build the future of the financial back office so companies can operate with ease and grow sustainably. It’s no small feat, but Pilot is already making good on their goal, thanks to an experienced founding team and nearly 300 brilliant employees across their San Francisco and Nashville offices. When Pilot began expanding in 2019, the company enlisted Sparrow’s support for full-service employee leave management.

Offering meaningful employee support

Pilot knows their employees are integral to their customers’ happiness—and the company’s overall success. That’s why the company offers an array of benefits and programs designed to foster employee development and bolster well-being.

In addition to a flexible vacation policy, 401(k) plan, and equity grants, Pilot employees also get wellness benefits that include access to platforms like, Spring Health, One Medical, PerkSpot, Fetch, LiveHealth Online, ClassPass, Calm, and Ladder. The company also supports employees through major life milestones, including building a family, offering 100% paid parental leave for birthing and non-birthing parents.

“We’re continually making adjustments to ensure we’re offering benefits that are pertinent to our employee population and the different life stages they’re in,” said Carmen Cooper, Vice President of People at Pilot. “We value employee feedback and want to make sure we’re always taking care of our people and staying ahead of the market.”

The challenge: Managing leaves in-house while scaling

Pilot’s experienced founding team knew it was crucial to invest in creating a healthy work-life balance from the get-go, which is why they didn’t just want to offer generous employee leave—they also wanted to guide employees through the leave process, which could often be confusing due to interplay between state laws, benefit plans and company policies. There was just one problem: managing leaves internally would be a heavy lift for a team knee-deep in hypergrowth.

“It takes a lot of work and resources to manage leave internally,” Cooper said. On top of keeping up with changing state laws and regulations, HR administrators have to fill out a multitude of forms for each leave, follow up with insurance providers, calculate payroll adjustments, and coordinate with employees, all while giving them practical assistance and emotional support.

At Cooper’s previous jobs, in-house employee leave management proved complicated and stressful. “The states don’t make it as easy as they could. Responses are delayed and many short-term disability plans are complex,” she explained.

Plus, not all leaves are equal in behind-the-scenes effort. “Every leave type is different, and your administrative burden changes depending on whether you offer leave on a weekly basis or have a day-to-day option,” she added.

When one of Pilot’s employees took leave for the first time in 2019, Waseem Daher, Pilot’s CEO and Cofounder, knew almost instantly that handling leaves internally wouldn’t be efficient. “Understanding the paperwork, compliance issues, and payroll changes would have taken us and our employees too many hours to manage,” Daher explained.

Daher knew that if they completed the state benefits paperwork, they could receive 60% of their employee’s salary from the state, but the associated administrative work was too much for Pilot’s lean team at the time. “Our time was better spent running our business,” he said.

Pilot was able to preserve their employee’s experience by paying for leave out of pocket, but the decision not to file benefits with the state meant that the company lost out on tens of thousands of dollars. That’s when Pilot decided the best course of action would be to outsource leave management.

The solution: Partner with Sparrow to handle the entire leave process

Pilot turned to Sparrow for full-service leave management to lessen their administrative load, save money, and better support employees. “Sparrow frees us up from having to hire a dedicated in-house leave administrator,” said Cooper. “Being able to outsource our leaves to a knowledgeable provider has been extremely helpful.”

One of the biggest stressors off the Pilot team’s plate thanks to Sparrow: compliance. “We have offices in California and Tennessee, as well as remote employees in other states,” said Cooper. “One of the best parts of working with Sparrow is having someone we trust to understand the nuances of leaves in different states.”

Cooper and her team love being able to fire off quick questions about different state laws to Sparrow’s team. “Having Sparrow is like having a knowledgeable, trusted advisor by our side,” she said. “We can confidently communicate to our employees exactly what their state leave rights are and what information we can provide.”

Surrendering all leave paperwork to the Sparrow team has been hugely helpful to Pilot from both an operational and employee care standpoint. In addition to completing and filing Pilot’s share of leave documents, Sparrow helps Pilot employees fill out their own leave papers.

“Leave paperwork can be confusing, and sometimes our employees don’t know what to answer or choose,” Cooper said. “But Sparrow guides them through the process, giving employees key information upfront so they can make the right decision for their leave, while allowing us to have a smooth internal flow of conversation.”

Another area Sparrow has improved is payroll. “Sparrow makes the process as straightforward as possible, which has been helpful not only for me, but also for our payroll manager,” said Cooper.

Sparrow sets up automated payroll calculations, generates custom payroll reports, handles payroll reconciliation, and provides dedicated support. “It’s really nice to be able to trust that our payments are accurate and up to date,” she explained.

Pilot admins also love Sparrow’s dashboard, which makes it easy to view leave statuses and payments at a glance or in detail. “The dashboard is an incredible resource,” Cooper said. “I field lots of questions from our executives—Who’s getting paid what? Who’s on which type of leave? Which payment is coming from us or the state?—and I’m able to just review the dashboard and share it with them. It’s really helpful to have all this information synthesized.”

Sparrow’s dashboard gives Pilot critical data for decision-making. “The dashboard helps show us the gaps in our employee population and project execution,” explained Cooper. “We recently had a big project and we used the dashboard to review some of the nuances and make more informed business decisions.”

The result: Happier employees and hundreds of hours saved

Partnering with Sparrow means Pilot can focus on their business growth and goals, while still getting top-notch support for their employees. “Sparrow feels like an extension of us and true partnership as opposed to an external vendor,” Cooper said. “It’s wonderful to have someone who knows our policies as well as we do, and can communicate effectively and compassionately with our employees.”

From a bottom line perspective, Sparrow saves Pilot dozens of hours and thousands of dollars per leave. “Working with Sparrow allows us to support our team members who take leave no matter where they’re located, saving us thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars each year,” Daher said.

Sparrow ensures the leave process is seamless from beginning to end—for both Pilot administrators and people taking leave. “Our initial decision to work with Sparrow spared our COO hours delving into the nuances of local regulations and managing complicated payroll calculations,” explained Daher, “and ensured that all our future employees taking leave could focus on themselves and their families.”

Simplify leave management and give employees a stress-free leave experience with Sparrow. Learn more by exploring our offerings or booking a demo today.