How to Create a Waterfall Chart
Data Format
One row per step in the bridge.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Starting Revenue | 120 |
| New Customers | 45 |
| Upsells | 30 |
| Churn | -25 |
| Discounts | -15 |
| Ending Revenue |
- Category (required): the label shown under each bar.
- Value (required to add or subtract): a positive value adds to the running total, negative subtracts. Leaving it blank on a middle row creates a subtotal bar showing the running total at that point, the bridge continues from there.
To add a subtotal bar partway through the bridge, insert a row with just a Category label and no Value, for example "End of Q1" with an empty Value cell. It renders as a full bar up to the running total at that point, not a skipped row.
The chart always ends with an automatic total bar. Leave Value blank on the last row and put a label in Category (e.g. "Ending Revenue") to rename that bar. Leave both blank and it falls back to the default label "Total".
Chart Elements
Every part of the chart maps to a section in the style panel.
Bars
Each step is one bar, colored by whether it's an increase, a decrease, or a subtotal/total.
- Positive - color for bars that add to the running total.
- Negative - color for bars that subtract from it.
- Total - color for subtotal and final total bars, shared across both.
- Bar Width - width of every bar.
Labels
The value shown inside each bar.
- Color - text color.
- Font / Font Size - text styling.
- Prefix / Suffix - e.g. "$", "%".
Totals
The running-total number shown above each subtotal and total bar.
- Color - text color.
- Font / Font Size - text styling.
- Prefix / Suffix - e.g. "$", "%".
Connector
The bridging line linking one bar to the next at the running-total level.
- Color - line color.
- Thickness - line weight.
Axis
The Y axis is numeric with its own range and tick count. The X axis is categorical (one label per step), so it only has color and visibility.
- Y Min / Y Max - override the auto-calculated Y range.
- Y Ticks - how many ticks appear on the Y axis.
- X Color / Y Color - axis line color.
- X Axis / Y Axis - show or hide each axis line independently.
Gridlines
Waterfall charts only have horizontal gridlines, there's no vertical grid.
- Color / Thickness - gridline styling.
- Y Grid - show or hide the gridlines.
Axis Tick Labels
The category names along X and the numbers along Y share one color and font, but number formatting is set independently per axis.
- Color - applies to both axes.
- Font / Font Size - applies to both axes.
- Prefix / Suffix - set independently for X and Y.
- Rotation - set independently for X and Y.
- X Labels / Y Labels - show or hide each independently.
Splitting each step into two or more Value columns turns this into a stacked waterfall chart, with per-series bar colors and a legend, see the Stacked Waterfall Chart guide.