

One way to change the chart’s color is on the Design tab, by opening the Change Colors gallery. For example, in most financial contexts, the color red signifies loss in cash or assets. Setting subtotals makes your visualization cleaner and easier to read and digest.ĭepending on the context of your chart, you may want to change the colors of the different types of values to bring more clarity and impact to the chart details that are most important.

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The example below shows a skewed connector line and how to clear the total to correct it.Īfter adding subtotals, we can easily see the breakdown between Gross Revenue to Net Revenue, or Net Revenue to Gross Income, and so on. Select the incorrect total column, and when it is the only item selected, right click and then click Clear Total. If a column is mistakenly set as a total, the steps to correct the chart are the same as setting a total. The Waterfall chart’s effectiveness lies in the trust that all the accounts and columns will ultimately be balanced. Everything can be done in the chart.Īny column can be set as a total, but if the previous columns do not add or subtract to this total, then the connector line-the line bridging each column-will not be flat, rather resulting in a slanted or skewed connector line. We designed Waterfall charts so customers never have to make edits to their data in the Excel worksheet.

To set a subtotal, right click the data point and select Set as Total from the list of menu options. Currently the chart characterizes these accounts as increasing cash inflow, resulting in a positive skew. In this example, the line item accounts-Net Revenue, Gross Income, Operating Income and Net Income-are all totals that behave like checkpoints in understanding our financial statement. In any Waterfall chart, you might set a subtotal to show the absolute value rather than as a floating value relative to the previous column. Subtotals, in this case, denote balances. To truly make our Waterfall chart understandable, we want to set subtotals of certain accounts. Using subtotals as a visual checkpoint in the chart In this example, Gross Revenue will always be the first column since it is the first data point, followed by Rev Adjustments, and so on, until Net Income-the last data point and therefore the last column. Additionally, Stock Charts are also available under this drop-down because of the financial context associated with both chart types.Īfter the new Waterfall chart is created, notice that the order in which your data is shown in your table is preserved in the chart. Because we know that this is a popular chart, we dedicated a spot in the Chart gallery with a Waterfall icon. You can also use the ribbon to insert the Waterfall chart regardless of the data’s characteristics. The All Charts tab allows direct insertion of Waterfall charts. Select the Waterfall recommendation to preview the chart with your selected data. The list of recommended charts is displayed. To start, select your data and then under the Insert tab click the Recommended Charts button. ($2,412), is a variation of our currency formatting and denotes a negative value, -$2412. In this example, the parenthetical notation, i.e. The ideal dataset size for recommending charts is anywhere between 8 to 20 values, and given its most popular use case of financial statements, currency-formatted data will favor Waterfall charts. The Waterfall chart is recommended when the data has a column of category text, a mix of positive and negative values, and no more than a few empty value cells. Based on the range of data you have selected, the Recommended Charts feature suggests the charts that will best display your data. Using the Recommended Charts feature in Excel helps you find the most effective and visually aesthetic chart for your data. You can also insert a Waterfall chart directly from the ribbon. There are multiple ways to insert a Waterfall chart into your worksheet: the Recommended Charts tab and the All Charts tab. The example below illustrates how a Waterfall chart can visually display an income statement, also known as a profit and loss statement: Getting started with the Waterfall chartĪ classic example for Waterfall charts is visualizing financial statements.
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We added the sample workbook used to create the charts, which you can download here. Best-in-class productivity apps with intelligent cloud services that transform the way you work.
