Waterfall Chart in Tableau

May 26 / Sabin Simkhada

Waterfall charts effectively display the cumulative effect of sequential positive and negative values. If you’re interested in showing where a value starts, ends and how it gets there incrementally, a waterfall chart is the best for you. You can also call a waterfall chart to be one of the best ways to unpack a large number and to break it down into digestible bites maybe by organizational unit (very common) or by time period (also common, but less typically for a waterfall chart).

So, now that you have understood what a Waterfall Chart is, let's have a quick Hands-On.
Let’s make a visualization with Discrete MONTH (Order Date) and Sum[Profit], using Sample Superstore- xls. dataset, as we are well acquainted with this and we do not waste much time in Data Understanding.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/lRhQ--GKSiLe-d3ZGYeyxS_DrEVtqa6mN4r5Ik1fH3kFwiPlMIoL--5W-Z0fSQnswJn-IPQuwUOA7e-UrVpYaxXl81qQWIlMi8paSHA50H3v7olbJutv75h1YKMCsLTe_PENfA-T7aDgXwWjJQ

Now, perform a Quick Table Calculation of Running Total on Profit.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Hs6K7OMkPHKXvAH2DypQV_FJ5GmNmqgyu5jXS6cPEZ6bt9YQyLUUrgtOJWDi_dKo5TCWWiugvCn3N9CnLEc-jslm_2spHRFx6iSuMIZ6zyDD1z86pWBSHiujphJaCP85lW3bOBeQYyAUjsC8qw


Your visualization will change like below. Also note the change in Sum[Profit] in the Row Shelf stating it has a Table calculation performed to it, as it appears with a delta mark now.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/OMAMix3L72k2tBxAqrPgb5g41_ec4wHPBy275nUXY6GPPa8hELppGR6IUmqpTQWn8hxMdAoYX0q-pw0zP0Rx-fdW1BI7jHZ_69eKrPjzEqZLpIirLEUXAKl_8iA8Z0qK3R69f0KEUh7LJ6149w

From the Marks Shelf change the marks to Gantt Chart. The change will result in below visualization:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/f9ec2BxagIFcABu2jrT4N8rmGMzKjYRGmfty2_SvG2Ry20MBCBBHcTlgLiVexDR8lq49lsiCD2MhK94XgsvdhlaQ23OHZa-KLn_CT_UWDeuThpCu22Lx4zc5Zr0Iug5zhfIVoUEFUTLcCG21Qg

This draws a line at the value of each Month’s Running Total. Now, we need to stretch each bar by Negative Profit i.e the Negative line will stretch upward to match the starting to the Positive Band and if the band is Positive then it has to stretch downwards to match the starting of the Negative band. To achieve this lets make a Calculated Field and call it Negative Profit.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/flc-5_xgN-yNYBvlodQO4681kOy3Q5kV-Jh4CB3VE3gKDeoeNw_wgrTjsjbhzT6400SLFkq76zoVTfhkJP0APcgS3tlzNNDgE6RTOG0KJVyCnegQMRwbK9sFTe0FiJTG8m2_myFwVhzdHEPx0g
Drag the new created field to the Size Marks Shelf and your resulting visualization will be as below:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/aeHgpomUrbelpel64VZSnVtRrSepbkyHOCdqDzsskIok674BzRHUSD0bnmo_NxuJmy4S6W4UOp7Hmvf16irPKwLzirzCX8--oArdRi70-gr2EM5KuSj-U5hsK2IA3Y6Jzy2BUyAQyX7m6A7Agg

Next Move the Profit from the Data pane to the Color Shelf and give it Stepped Size of 2 and change the color to Red-Green.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lqH-VeVDuZabZp0kbtWByCR4aCz-n8IkiY6LF14RbIh_ge65z6UT7_-PyIa3BL0vft9-pLUIS6sPm1hvCEo3W4xf2U3HNfbaCryL1GUTh8xII4m8vXQCL-8Wdpm-4rokoHE3cnd-cclh-wv_WA
Finally, your Waterfall Chart is ready:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/tLA3C8VKWymecuVh0t1tmyES7oGp2g72lDMuaRBMv5dv_cy7rVe-viydbE1hq3qXNP0aue3nucUYrQNnKVP5cjNdoLhXW9YYFhWS0FvfLb1u5CAWGG5BzydTFCoIpGR4QfBs7_GXQFoNAX5JCA

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