How to Create a Waterfall Chart in Tableau
Waterfall charts are visuals that display the positive and negative contributions of the dimension members to the total value. Each positive member of the dimension adds up to the running total and each negative member of the dimension deducts from the running total.
This is commonly used in explaining the year-over-year growth in business.
Let us learn how to create a waterfall chart. For this chart, we are using the Superstore Dataset.
Step 1: Add Sub-Category to column and sales to rows.
Step 2: Sort the table into ascending order.
Step 3: Click on row [sum(sales)] and add a quick table calculation for Running Total.
Step 4: Change the Chart type to Gantt Chart, negative sales are not part of the data. So we need to create a calculated field that shows negative sales.
Step 5: Create a calculated Field with the name Negative Sales and type [-Sales] and click OK.
Step 6: Now drag this newly created field [ Negative Sales ] and drop it into size.
Step 7:Now add your finishing touches to your chart. You can add the sales number to labels and colors to get a gradient look. And I usually format the chart by removing the grid lines and adding borders & Title to your chart.
Now we have our simple Waterfall Chart.