Chart maker · Waterfall
Waterfall chart maker
The bridge chart finance and consulting decks run on: start at one number, walk through what added and what leaked, land on the next. Paste the table, get an editable native chart.
Paste, pick, download
A waterfall table is a start value followed by signed steps: 120, +34, +12, −18 → 148. Paste it and ChartThat detects the bridge shape. The export is a native, editable chart in PowerPoint and WPS — the floating steps are drawn as a stacked chart with an invisible base, so double-clicking opens real data you can adjust. Animated GIF export included. Free, no sign-up.
When a waterfall wins
- Bridging two numbers. Budget vs actual, last year vs this year, headcount plan vs reality. The walk between them is the story.
- Attribution is the pitch. "Here is where the gap comes from" pre-sells the solution — each step is a lever your proposal will pull.
- The room is financial. Controllers and partners grew up on bridges; the shape itself signals rigor.
When it lets you down
- No anchor numbers. Without a meaningful start and end, floating bars are just confusing bars. Use a bar chart.
- The steps are not additive. If step B does not mathematically follow step A, the bridge is fiction and a CFO will check.
- More than eight steps. Split into two bridges or group the small leaks — a staircase of fifteen treads reads as noise.
Try it with this data
| Step | Change (M$) |
|---|---|
| 2024 revenue | 120 |
| New sales | 34 |
| Upsell | 12 |
| Churn | -18 |
| 2025 revenue | 148 |
Field notes on waterfalls
- Gains one color, losses another, anchors neutral. The convention is older than your audience — do not get creative with it.
- Label every step with its signed number. "+12" and "−18" carry the argument; unlabeled steps make the room do arithmetic.
- The loss step is your agenda. Put the churn bar in red, talk about it longest, and let the fix be the next slide. The waterfall assigns blame so your proposal can assign budget.
- Empty steps stay empty. A step with no data is not a zero — it is skipped, and the bridge stays honest.
A bridge hiding in your spreadsheet?
Paste it, walk the room across →Other chart makers
From the field notes
Attribution pre-sells the solution — why the waterfall is the closer's chart is in field note #1, section four.
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