Create a Waterfall Chart

    by Yury Tokarev

    A waterfall chart is a great way to represent financial inflows and outflows. Yet, it is a daunting task to create this in Excel versions up to 2013 (see links below for help!).

    The good news is that Excel 2016 has taken all the complexity away. Below we show how to produce Waterfall in three easy steps.

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    Here is how the final product looks…

    PL Waterfall Chart

    The underlying data for the chart is this…

    Waterfall Source Data

    And here are the 3 steps to replicate the chart…

    Step 1: Select Ranges

    While holding ‘Ctrl’ button select (multiple) ranges B42:C49, B52:C58. The multiple range selection is required to exclude ‘Total Operating Expenses’ line from the graph, as we do not want to show it.

    Waterfall Source Selection

    Step 2: Insert Waterfall Chart

    Go to Insert/Charts menu, click on Waterfall chart icon and then select ‘Waterfall’

    Waterfall Insert Menu

    Step 3: Set total columns

    Click twice the “Gross margin” bar on the chart to select it individually. Then right click and select “Format Data Point” from the context menu. This will display “Format Data Point” menu. On this menu select “Series Options”, then tick the box “Set as total”. Repeat this step for “Net Income”, “EBITDA”, “EBIT” and “NPAT”.

    Waterfall Set Totals

    Frustrated with spreadsheets?
    You will be amazed by how we can help!
    To find out more, contact Yury +61 423 588 212 or leave your details below
    ytokarev@accessanalytic.com.au

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