Case Study
How Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HHH) evaluated Rockhopper to bring control and transparency to spreadsheet-driven workflows.
AUM
$10B+
Annual Revenue
$1.75B
Industry
Real Estate - Master Planned Communities
Team Size
20
Department
FP&A
Technology
Microsoft 365, Adaptive Planning, Blackline
Like many finance organizations, Howard Hughes relies heavily on spreadsheets to manage budgeting and forecasting cycles. Lease assumption forecasts are built with exported data sources, reformatted, and shared within a Microsoft Excel file. Analysts and operations leaders would send files back and forth, each making updates during a two-week forecast cycle.
This process created several pain points:
Version control chaos – Multiple files circulating by email created confusion about which was the “final” version (inside MS OneDrive or users desktop).
Lack of transparency – Stakeholders couldn’t easily track what had been changed, by whom, or why, even with the use of MS SharePoint for more collaborative files.
Error risk – Mismatches between spreadsheets, and actual lease expirations sometimes went unnoticed until late in the process and potentially causing a material weakness
Misalignment – Without clear approvals and versions, different teams risked making decisions based on inconsistent assumptions.
For Howard Hughes, success meant ensuring that all stakeholders were aligned on one set of numbers, with full visibility into the forecasting process and confidence that the final version reflected accurate, approved assumptions.
When evaluating solutions, Howard Hughes wanted something that could bring rigor and control to their existing Excel-based workflows—without forcing the team into a completely new system.
Purpose-built for finance teams in Excel – Rockhopper offered strong version control, advanced change tracking, and structured approvals while letting the FP&A team remain in Excel, a tool they trust and rely on daily.
Enterprise readiness – Rockhopper was SOC 2 Type II compliant, a key requirement for internal controls and SOX compliance.
Founder expertise – Leadership at Howard Hughes noted that Rockhopper’s founders understood the problem firsthand, having lived it in finance roles themselves, and demonstrated agility in shaping the product to fit enterprise-grade and SOX compliance needs.
By partnering with Rockhopper, Howard Hughes saw:
Better alignment across finance and operations – ensuring every stakeholder works from the same approved set of assumptions.
Reduced errors and rework – by eliminating version chaos and bringing transparency to changes.
Improved accountability – with a clear sign-off process and auditable record of changes.
Instead of losing time reconciling versions and chasing updates, Howard Hughes’ FP&A team is now positioned to focus on higher-value strategic analysis, with Rockhopper serving as the control layer around their most critical spreadsheet processes.
For Howard Hughes, selecting Rockhopper was less about cutting hours and more about building confidence, control, and trust in a process that is central to their financial operations. By choosing an early-stage partner that understands the technology, pain points, and the compliance environment, Howard Hughes is setting the foundation for more reliable, transparent, and scalable spreadsheet processes.
Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HHH), headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, is a leading developer and operator of master-planned communities and mixed-use assets across the U.S. With a diversified portfolio that spans major markets—including Las Vegas, Houston, Phoenix, Maryland, and Honolulu—Howard Hughes oversees more than 34,000 acres of master-planned community land yet to be developed. Its operating asset base comprises 73 revenue-generating properties, including 2.6 million sq ft in retail space, 7.0 million sq ft in office space, and 5,855 multifamily units.
