Waterfall Chart

Waterfall charts visualize the change between two values or situations. They are useful for understanding how an initial value, such as a Budget, is impacted by a series of positive and negative changes to reach a final value, such as Actuals.

This article covers how to prepare your View, configure Waterfall chart display settings, and use Contribution and Variation Waterfall charts.

Waterfall chart types

There are two types of Waterfall charts: Contribution and Variation.

1. Contribution Waterfall

Contribution Waterfall charts explain the contribution of each element to a total value.

If multiple columns are present, the columns are summed to calculate a total value.

For example, if a Metric contains FY23 and FY24 columns, Contribution mode sums FY23 and FY24 to highlight each country’s contribution to the total.

2. Variation Waterfall

Variation Waterfall charts calculate the difference between two columns to determine variation bar values.

For example, if a Metric contains FY23 and FY24 columns, Variation mode explains the differences between FY23 and FY24 caused by variation across each country. Adding a new column creates a new step in the chart.

Create a Contribution Waterfall chart

Contribution mode highlights how each element contributes to a total value.

⚠️ Important

Add Metrics to Columns in the Pivot panel for optimal results. Placing Metrics in Rows may cause unexpected displays in your Waterfall chart.

To create a Contribution Waterfall chart:

1. Open a Table containing multiple Metrics.

2. Select Chart, then Format.

3. Select Waterfall chart.

4. Set Type to Contribution.

Waterfall charts automatically use the first Metric as the initial step and the last Metric as the final step.

To add middle steps:

1. If your Table includes intermediate sums, add the required step Metrics to Rows in the Table.

2. Open the Format panel.

3. Add a Middle step by selecting the Metric from the dropdown menu.

   

Create a Variation Waterfall chart

Variation mode highlights the difference between two values or situations.

To create a Variation Waterfall chart:

1. Open a Table containing multiple Metrics.

2. Select Chart, then Format.

3. Select Waterfall chart.

4. Set Type to Variation.

To create a new step:

• Add a new column to the Table.

Each additional column creates a new step in the chart.

Group Items in Variation mode

In Variation mode, you can group variations to highlight the Dimension Items with the greatest impact on a Metric’s change over time.

When Show variation controls is turned on:

• Variations are ordered by descending absolute value.

• The chart displays the top three variations by default.

• Remaining variations are grouped into a single bar.

This improves readability and emphasizes the key contributors to change in the chart.

The Variation control also appears on the chart, allowing Members to adjust displayed variations directly from the Board or View. Changes are not saved, and the chart resets to its predefined Variations number setting when reopened.

Turn on grouped variations

To group variations and display the Variation control:

1. Open a Table or Metric.

2. Select Chart, then Format.

3. Select Waterfall chart, then set Type to Variation.

4. Turn on Show variation controls.

5. Use the Variations number slider to configure the default number of displayed variations.

6. Select Save View.

Configure Waterfall charts

Use the following settings to customize the appearance and layout of Waterfall charts.

Waterfall Settings

Layout

Bar labels

X-axis

Y-axis

Style

ℹ️ Note

Use the following settings to configure chart colors and themes. For detailed instructions and available color options, see Customize Chart Colors.