Waterfall Chart

Shows how an initial value is affected by sequential positive and negative changes. Each floating column represents an incremental change, making it easy to trace how a starting figure grows or shrinks to reach a final total.

Best for

  • Showing profit and loss breakdowns
  • Explaining how a starting value changes step by step
  • Visualizing budget variance or financial bridges

Avoid when

  • Data does not represent cumulative changes to a total
  • There are too many steps making the chart hard to follow
  • Values are all positive with no meaningful running total
Alternatives: Column Chart , Stacked Column