In this blog, we will be going to create Waterfall chart in Tableau. A waterfall chart is a useful tool in data visualization that shows how an initial value is affected by a series of positive or negative changes, leading to a final value. This type of chart is particularly useful in financial analysis, such as breaking down net income, revenue, or other metrics to understand what is driving the numbers.
In a waterfall chart, each part of the data is represented by bars. These bars either start at the x-axis or where the last bar ends, depending on whether the change is positive or negative. The initial and final values are shown as full bars, while changes in between are shown as floating bars, making it easy to see the step-by-step impact on the overall value.
Use Case of Waterfall chart in Tableau
- Financial Analysis: Analyze revenue, expenses and profit to understand how different components such as regions, products and costs contribute to the overall financial result.
- Performance Measurement: Track changes in sales and operational efficiency over time, highlighting the impact of factors such as marketing, seasonal trends and process improvements.
- Project Management: Monitor how a project’s budget and milestones evolve, showing the impact of each phase and task on the overall project progress and budget.
- Market Analysis: Visualize how competitors and different stages of the product lifecycle contribute to market share and profitability, identifying key drivers and areas for improvement.
Dataset description
The dataset contains information about the sales of the various product. In this dataset, there following features/columns:
Category | Some defined product category |
Product | Name of an entity/product |
Qty | Quantities of Product |
Unit_Price | Price of single product |
Total_Price | Total price of single type of product (Unit_Price * Qty) |
Profit | Profit calculated after sale |
Steps to create Waterfall Chart
Step 1: Open Tableau
Step 2: Click on Text file to connect with Tableau
There are lots of data sources that you can use in Tableau such as Microsoft Excel, JSON file, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL
Step 3: Browse csv file (or other file format as your need) and click on Open
Step 4: Click on Sheet 1 (Worksheet) to make visual
Step 5: Drag Product to Columns and Profit to Rows
Step 6: Right click Sum(Profit) and select Quick Table Calculation to select Running Total
Step 7: Click on Automatic under Marks Card and select Gantt Bar
Step 8: Drag Profit over Size
Step 9: Double click over SUM(Profit) then add minus sign (-) before all and hit Enter
Step 10: Drag Profit over Color
Step 11: Click on Color under Marks Card and select Edit Colors…
Step 12: Put the values as below and hit OK:
Step 13: Click on Analysis tab and select Totals to select Show Row Grand Totals
Output:
Conclusion
When it comes to data visualization, waterfall charts are an effective tool that makes it simple to comprehend the cumulative impacts of sequentially increasing and decreasing values. They are beneficial in terms of providing clarity, being simple to read, and being highly useful in terms of financial analysis, performance monitoring, and project management. You may accomplish the creation of informative waterfall charts in Tableau by following the methods that have been discussed above. These charts will assist decision-makers in understanding the components that are driving crucial metrics, which will ultimately result in better-informed decisions.
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