Hamburg
Founded
1988
Industry
Hardgoods & textiles
Size
~250
HR Tech
HRIS
Key takeaways
DELTA-SPORT moved workforce cost planning from Excel to Basqo, with an automatic connection to its HR system.
Department heads, management and the finance team now work in one shared plan instead of three competing versions.
The payroll forecast includes employer contributions, all pay components and bonuses, and feeds directly into the monthly forecast.
Preparing a planning round now takes less than a day instead of several days.
About DELTA-SPORT
DELTA-SPORT is an owner-managed, mid-sized company with more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing hardgoods and textiles. From Hamburg, the team manages production in Europe and Asia and supplies international retailers with promotional ranges. Business is negotiated far in advance: revenue for the coming half-year is often settled before the current year ends.
Before Basqo
HR system export turned into an Excel sheet (one row per employee, one column per month) and sent to every department
Planning on gross salaries only, without employer social security contributions and other pay components
At least three parallel versions: department heads, management, HR
Outdated after the first month, no ongoing monitoring of management’s guidelines
The finance team worked with a flat payroll total from the previous year
After Basqo
Automatic connection to the HRIS: hires, exits, returns from parental leave and contract ends flow in automatically
A real payroll forecast including all relevant pay components and bonuses
One shared version for department heads, management and the finance team
Several planning rounds per year instead of one
Workforce costs feed into the monthly forecast and scenario calculations
Challenge: Why Excel-based workforce cost planning failed
A plan that was obsolete after one month
At DELTA-SPORT, the revenue side is predictable. Thanks to the direct-import business, the volume for the coming half-year is often already fixed. The cost side was a different story – and workforce costs are its largest item.
Workforce cost planning ran on Excel. HR exported employee lists and gross salaries from the HR system and turned them into spreadsheets, which the department heads used to plan against management’s guidelines. Preparing them alone tied up HR for several days.
The real problem began once the plan had been agreed. A resignation, a cheaper replacement, a newly approved position: from the first month on, reality drifted away from the plan. At the same time, several versions of the same file were circulating.
"Keeping the different versions aligned kept costing us time and held up the process again and again."
Gordon Hentsch
Director HR & IT at DELTA-SPORT
No link between HR planning and finance
On top of that, there was a structural gap. Planning was based on gross salaries; employer social security contributions and other pay components were missing. The target budgets could therefore neither be reconciled with accounting nor translated into scenario calculations. At the start of the year, the finance team entered a payroll total derived from the past into the forecast – and looked at the same number all year.
When DELTA-SPORT had to manage workforce costs deliberately after a phase of subdued consumer demand, this gap became critical. Management expected HR to continuously monitor compliance with the guidelines. With the information available, that was not possible.
Decision: Choosing a workforce planning tool department heads will actually use
DELTA-SPORT had no planning tool and no established process to build on. The team evaluated several solutions; many were oversized and overly complex for a company of this size.
Usability was the deciding factor. Gordon Hentsch knew that the department heads would have to make the move from Excel to a new system themselves – and understand what is being planned, what flows in automatically and why numbers change.
"With Basqo I thought: I can get our department heads on board with this. What matters is an intuitive tool that makes it easy to get started, and Basqo made that possible."
Gordon Hentsch
Director HR & IT at DELTA-SPORT
The direct HRIS integration was another factor. Instead of maintaining exports, Basqo imports master data and changes automatically.
Results: A live payroll forecast instead of a static Excel plan
Seeing workforce costs in near real time, like any other cost category
For Gordon Hentsch, the biggest gain is not time saved but control. Where a planning round used to be worthless after one month, DELTA-SPORT can now plan and adjust at any time. Preparing a new planning round takes less than a day instead of several days, and around fifteen planners – the department heads plus HR and finance – work directly in Basqo.
A real payroll forecast in the monthly finance review
Department heads, management and the finance team see the expected payroll total in Basqo, including all relevant pay components and bonuses. The finance team transfers the numbers into the monthly forecast. This shows during the year whether profitability targets are achievable – with a deviation of less than one percent between forecast and actual workforce costs.
"We now see payroll costs almost in real time, like all other cost categories, and can derive plans from them."
Gordon Hentsch
Director HR & IT at DELTA-SPORT
Planning for next year, as early as May
In 2026, management set the targets for 2027 as early as May. A second plan was created in Basqo for this, and the department heads have been working in it ever since. Setting targets this early gives department heads months of lead time to act on them, instead of chasing targets for a year that is already underway.
Making complexity visible
With an 18-month horizon, Basqo shows what would have been lost in Excel: employees returning from parental leave or contracts that are about to expire. With around 250 employees, that quickly affects a dozen people.
From Excel habit to real adoption
At first, there were reservations about a new tool. Today, the department heads can no longer imagine planning without dedicated software.
"I think most of them would fall off their chairs if I sent an Excel file now."
Gordon Hentsch
Director HR & IT at DELTA-SPORT
Who is Basqo for?
Gordon Hentsch sees the biggest potential in companies where Excel appears to be free.
"Personally, I believe many companies fail to recognize the true cost of an Excel-based process, because the people involved simply compensate for its shortcomings as they always have – through hard work, extra effort, and overtime."
Gordon Hentsch
Director HR & IT at DELTA-SPORT
Basqo is built for mid-sized companies that still plan headcount and workforce costs in Excel – and connects directly to the HR systems they already use. If HR, department heads and finance are working from different versions of the plan, or if your payroll forecast stops being accurate after the first month, Basqo brings everyone into one live plan.
See how Basqo connects workforce cost planning to your HR system
Book a demo and find out how your team can move from Excel to a live payroll forecast.