At Molly Moon’s, Microsoft Excel within Office 365 is used as a practical data analytics platform rather than just a basic spreadsheet tool. Denise Brown, the head of finance, has built a structured system in Excel to:

• Track and manage the company’s finances across locations
• Organize operational data that affects staffing and scheduling
• Connect financial performance with brand and employee metrics

By centralizing this information in Excel, the team can quickly review trends, compare performance over time, and make informed decisions about costs, pricing, and investments. Office 365 makes it easier to keep these files updated, shared, and accessible to the right people.

Molly Moon’s chose to build a custom analytics setup in Excel because it fits how the business actually works day to day. As head of finance, Denise Brown was able to:

• Use tools the team already knows (Excel and Office 365)
• Shape the analytics around the company’s specific financial and operational needs
• Avoid the cost and complexity of a separate analytics product

This approach lets Molly Moon’s reimagine spreadsheets as a flexible analytics layer. Instead of adapting the business to a rigid system, Brown designed Excel models and dashboards that match the company’s real workflows, from tracking sales to understanding how decisions affect both employees and the brand.

Denise Brown describes herself as an “ice cream mathematician” and “vanilla bean counter” because her analytics work goes beyond basic accounting. The Excel-based platform she built helps Molly Moon’s:

• Connect financial data with staffing and scheduling decisions
• Identify patterns that affect employee workload and satisfaction
• Monitor how operational choices show up in customer experience and brand perception

By organizing this data strategically in Excel, the company can rethink how it balances costs, employee well-being, and brand goals. The result is a more informed way to support happy teams and a consistent, recognizable brand experience.