Using a Waterfall Chart to Tell the Story of Component Decomposition in Excel 2007:-

The waterfall chart is a great chart because it tells a story. If you are an NPR fan, you might have encountered Ira Glass’s This American Life weekly radio show. Glass describes the show as a series of stories: “This happens, and then this happens, and then this happens, and then this happens...” Similarly, a waterfall chart makes a simple table into a story. Waterfall charts are used to analyze the profitability of a proposal. The chart would start with a tall column on the left side to show the total list price of the products we were selling. The next column appeared to float in midair, dropping down from the total list price column to show the total discount that the sales team was proposing. The next column showed net revenue. The rest of the chart was a series of floating columns that showed where all that revenue went. A tiny column on the right side showed the profit from the deal. Look into the Figure (given below).



(A waterfall chart breaks a single component chart out over several columns.)

A waterfall chart can be used in many situations to turn a single component column chart into a whole-page chart. These charts present a dramatic picture of all the components in a process.