When Kathy Lam joined StackAdapt as Talent Operations Specialist, she quickly noticed a major problem: hiring data was scattered across Google Sheets and updated by hand.
The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) couldn’t integrate with the Human Resources Information System (HRIS), and every new hire required manual updates across Finance, People Ops, Comp, Payroll, and FP&A trackers. The result? Delays, errors, and a lack of visibility into headcount.
“It created problems for payroll, FP&A, onboarding, sales comp. Even leadership didn’t have a clear view of headcount,” Kathy said. The Talent team also found themselves spending too much time maintaining spreadsheets instead of recruiting.
Instead of accepting those limitations, Kathy turned to Zapier. What started as a simple webhook automation to keep spreadsheets updated has evolved into a robust system powering requisitions, onboarding, finance updates, and even employee communications.
Automating new hire data flow
The first challenge Kathy faced was ensuring hiring data flowed accurately to every team that needed it. With no integration between the ATS and HRIS, each new hire required dozens of manual updates. Mistakes could cause payroll issues, incorrect comp data, and forecasting headaches for FP&A.
With Zapier, Kathy built a webhook-triggered Zap that activates as soon as a candidate is marked “hired” in the ATS. The automation routes data into the right Google Sheets for each team:
FP&A receives live headcount data to improve forecasting.
People Ops gets updated onboarding checklists.
The Sales Comp team sees guaranteed commission entries.
Payroll is notified about sign-on bonuses or agency fees.
Leadership sees a clean, real-time view of headcount.
“The Talent team can finally focus on hiring instead of spreadsheets,” Kathy said. “Onboarding starts instantly, comp is accurate, and everyone has the data they need.”
Automating requisition creation
As the team scaled, they introduced a formal requisition process to improve hiring visibility and control. But once FP&A approved a req in their tracking sheet, Kathy had to manually recreate it in the ATS. It was time-consuming and error-prone.
She turned to Zapier again.
When FP&A signs off on a requisition in Google Sheets.
Zapier automatically creates the requisition in the ATS with all the required information.
The result? Faster hiring cycles, fewer errors, and more time back for Kathy. “It happens instantly, with zero manual work,” she said. “I don’t have to chase approvals or enter reqs by hand. It just works.”
Scaling workflows as needs evolve
Even with a new ATS-HRIS integration on the horizon, Kathy sees Zapier as essential. Native integrations may cover the basics, but Zapier gives her the flexibility to adapt processes to unique business needs.
Recently, the company needed to inform new hires about an upcoming company-wide conference. If their start date fell before a specific cutoff, they needed to receive a form to indicate interest. Kathy added this custom logic to her existing Zap in under ten minutes.
“A native ATS-HRIS integration would’ve never handled something that specific,” she said. “Zapier lets me adapt quickly, without waiting on a vendor or product team.”
Over time, the original webhook automation has expanded to cover three, four, even five different use cases — touching multiple downstream teams across the organization.
Results:
Cut hours of manual spreadsheet updates every week
Reduced hiring data errors across payroll, comp, and FP&A
Real-time headcount visibility for leadership
Automated requisition creation for faster hiring cycles
Flexible workflows that scale with business needs
Beyond the workflow: A mindset shift
Zapier didn’t just solve data entry headaches, it changed Kathy’s approach to problem-solving.
“I used to think software limitations were just blockers. Now, my first instinct is: ‘Can Zapier help me solve this?’ That shift has made me way more proactive and creative,” she says.
Zapier has even influenced how the company evaluates new tools. “One of the first things I ask now is: does this platform have an API or enough flexibility to work with Zapier? Even if something doesn’t have a native integration, it’s no longer a dealbreaker.”
For Kathy, the real value is empowerment. “I’m not super technical, but Zapier gives me the power to build creative solutions without needing to write code. It’s made me a more confident problem-solver.”
About StackAdapt
Company size: 1,200+
Industry: Technology
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Kathy Lam is a 2025 Zappy Awards winner in the HR Automator of the Year category.
