Waterfall chart
Encyclopedia
Data visualization
Data visualization is the study of the visual representation of data, meaning "information that has been abstracted in some schematic form, including attributes or variables for the units of information"....
which helps in determining the cumulative effect of sequentially introduced positive or negative values. The waterfall chart
Chart
A chart is a graphical representation of data, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart"...
is also known as a Flying Bricks Chart or Mario Chart due to the apparent suspension of columns (bricks) in mid-air. Often in finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, it will be referred to as a Bridge.
Waterfall charts were popularized by the strategic consulting firm McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company, Inc. is a global management consulting firm that focuses on solving issues of concern to senior management. McKinsey serves as an adviser to many businesses, governments, and institutions...
in its presentations to clients.
Overview
The waterfall chart is normally used for understanding how an initial value is affected by a series of intermediate positive or negative values. Usually the initial and the final values are represented by whole columns, while the intermediate values are denoted by floating columns. The columns are color coded for distinguishing between positive and negative values.Applications of Waterfall Chart
A waterfall chart can be used for analytical purposes, especially for understanding or explaining the gradual transition in the quantitative value of an entity which is subjected to increment or decrement. For instance, it can be used for visualizing the profit/loss which results from summation of revenue coming in from different sources and subsequent decrement of all expenses.
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
ranging from inventory analysis
Inventory analysis
Inventory analysis is the process of understanding the stock/product mix combined with the knowledge of the demand for stock/product....
to performance analysis
Performance analysis
In software engineering, profiling is a form of dynamic program analysis that measures, for example, the usage of memory, the usage of particular instructions, or frequency and duration of function calls...
.
External links
- The Waterfall Chart: what it is, an example, and how to build in Excel by storytellingwithdata
- How to Build A Waterfall Chart in Tableau Software and a Superior Alternative to This Chart Type
- Video: how to make a Waterfall Chart in Excel
- Excel Waterfall Charts (Bridge Charts)
- Floating Column Charts in Microsoft Excel
- How to make waterfall charts in animated way
- Waterfall Charts in Xcelsius by Reportex
- Waterfall Charts in Xcelsius by graphomate
