When analyzing business data, one common requirement is to show how values accumulate over time or across different categories. For example, you might want to visualize how revenue grows step by step, or how costs accumulate until you reach the final total.

This is where the Waterfall chart in Power BI comes into play.

🔎 What is a Waterfall Chart?

A Waterfall chart is a visualization that helps you understand how an initial value increases and decreases across a series of categories until it reaches a final value.

• ✅ The initial and final values are shown as solid columns on the horizontal axis.
• ✅ The intermediate values (positive or negative changes) are shown as floating columns.
• ✅ It’s often used for running totals like revenue, profit, or budget breakdowns.

🏗 Example Use Cases

• Finance: Starting balance → expenses → income → ending balance.
• Sales: Target → achieved sales by region → final total.
• Budgeting: Budget → overspend/underspend categories → actual final.

🎨 Why Choose Waterfall Over Other Charts?

• Combo chart: Shows comparison (line + column), but doesn’t track running totals.
• Funnel chart: Shows a pipeline drop-off (e.g., leads → conversions), not step-by-step totals.
• Scatter chart: Used for distribution and correlation, not accumulative analysis.

Only the Waterfall chart naturally meets the need for running totals with floating intermediate values.

🏁 Conclusion

If your Power BI report needs to show how values change step by step until reaching a final result, the Waterfall chart is your best choice.

It’s clear, easy to interpret, and perfectly suited for financial reports, sales analysis, or budget tracking.

👉 Next time you see a requirement for running totals with floating columns, think Waterfall!