Waterfall Chart Maker
Show how a start value moves, step by step, to its end: profit bridges and budgets.
Try before you buy.
- Free preview: the waterfall at preview size (up to 640 pixels) with a watermark, and the first steps of its table (up to 10).
- Locked until you unlock it: download and copy.
- Unlock: Pro pass, ₹179 for 30 days or ₹79 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews. Unlock: Pro pass, $5.99 for 30 days or $2.99 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews.
Ways to unlock shows how to get the full result.
Printing this result is locked in the free preview.
The steps in order: the starting value, then each change with its sign (Costs: -450), and = for a subtotal (Gross profit: =). A table with a Type column (start, change, subtotal, total) works too.
Chart
Steps and running totals
The CSV has every step’s change and the running total before and after it, at full precision.
Locked in the free preview. Opens the ways to unlock this result.
Locked in the free preview. Batch runs unlock with a pass.
Locked in the free preview. Query results unlock with a pass.
About the Waterfall Chart Maker
A waterfall (or bridge) chart shows how a value gets from where it starts to where it ends: revenue minus each cost down to profit, a budget plus or minus each variance to the actual spending, an opening cash balance through a year to the closing one. Each change is a bar that floats from the running total — up for an increase, down for a decrease — and totals stand on zero, so the size of every step and the result both show at once.
Type one step per line (Revenue: 1200, Costs: -450), with = where a subtotal belongs (Gross profit: =), or paste a table with a column of amounts and, optionally, a column saying which rows are the start, changes, subtotals and totals. Choose colours by direction (with “decreases are good” for costs), connector lines, value labels with the change, the running total or both, columns or bars, and the order of the changes. Everything is worked out in your browser.
How to use it
- Type or paste your steps into Your data in order: the starting value first, then each change with its sign (
Marketing: -120), and=for a subtotal of everything above it. A table with a Type column (start, change, subtotal, total) works too. - Check the columns under Your data and whether the first row is the starting value; an end total is added unless the last row is one already.
- Pick columns or bars, the colours (tick Decreases are good for costs or delays), the labels and the order of the changes between totals.
- Add a title and a note; set Value axis from only to zoom in on small changes, knowing that the totals are then cut.
- Download the chart as PNG or SVG and the steps as CSV — with a Pro pass, or after unlocking this result; without one the page shows a free preview.
Examples
Revenue: 1200 Cost of goods: -450 Gross profit: = Salaries: -300 Tax: -70
Revenue 1,200 → gross profit 750 (a subtotal bar) → 380 at the end after salaries and tax
Budget: 50000 Staff: 2400 Travel: -1800 Events: 3100
An end bar of 53,700: 3,700 over budget, with overspending in the warning colour when “Decreases are good” is ticked
Month Cash Type Opening balance 8200 start Sales 5400 change Costs -4900 change Closing balance total
Opening 8,200, +5,400, −4,900, closing 8,700
Common uses
- Profit and loss bridges: from revenue through costs to operating and net profit.
- Budget against actual spending, line by line, for a monthly or yearly review.
- Cash walks: an opening balance, inflows and outflows, the closing balance.
- Explaining a change between two periods: what added and what took away.
- Headcount, stock or inventory changes: starting level, joiners and leavers, end level.
Starts, changes, subtotals and totals
- Start — where the walk begins; by default the first row is the start (untick First row is the starting value to treat it as a change).
- Change — a number with its sign: positive adds, negative takes away. It floats from the running total.
- Subtotal —
=(orsubtotal, or a name without a value) draws the running total at that point as a bar from zero, and the walk goes on. - Total — like a subtotal, usually at the end. A total or subtotal that comes with a number is drawn at that number, and the walk goes on from it; if it differs from the running total, the notes say by how much, which catches a missing line.
In a table, a column named Type (or Kind, Role) with the words start, change, subtotal and total says what each row is.
Colours, labels and order
Increases and decreases have their own colours and totals are grey. The default blue and orange stay apart for colour-blind readers; green and red follow accounting habit. When smaller is better — costs, spending over budget, delays — tick Decreases are good: decreases then take the colour of good news and increases the warning colour. Labels can show each change with its sign, the running total after it, or both. Order of the changes can keep your order, sort the changes between two totals by size, or put the increases first, as some reports do.
Keeping it honest
The value axis includes zero, so total bars compare correctly. When the changes are small next to the totals (a 50,000 budget with variances of a few thousand), you can start the axis higher under Value axis from to see them; the total bars are then cut off at the start and the notes say so. Connector lines show the level each step ends at, so the eye can follow the running total from bar to bar.
Limitations
- Up to 60 steps; one walk per chart.
- Changes must be numbers; text in the value column other than
=,totalorsubtotalis left out and listed under the data. - The tool adds up exactly what you give it; it does not check the figures against your accounts.
- The PNG uses your device’s system font; the SVG names common system fonts, so text can look slightly different on another computer.
Privacy
On this device: nothing is sent
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, Waterfall Chart Maker shows the waterfall at preview size (up to 640 pixels) with a watermark, and the first steps of its table (up to 10). Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded or copied. A Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
How do I make a waterfall chart from Excel?
Put the step names in one column and the amounts (with minus signs for decreases) in the next, copy the cells and paste them into Your data. Mark subtotals with = in the amount column, or add a Type column with start, change, subtotal and total.
How do I add a subtotal?
Add a row with the subtotal’s name and = as its value, for example Gross profit: =. It draws the running total at that point as a bar from zero.
Why does a note say my total differs?
You gave a total a number of its own, and the steps above it add up to something else. The chart draws the total you gave and goes on from it; the note gives the difference, which often means a step is missing.
What is the difference between a waterfall and a bar chart?
A bar chart starts every bar at zero and compares values. A waterfall starts each change where the one before ended, so it shows how the values add up from the start to the end.
Is my data uploaded?
No. The chart is worked out and drawn in your browser, and files you open stay on your device.