Free Waterfall Chart Generator — Cash Flow and P&L Visualisation
The classic Excel waterfall chart — show how each income/expense item contributes to a running total. Essential for P&L summaries.
Last updated: January 2026
Cash Flow Waterfall Chart
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What is a waterfall chart and when should you use it?
A waterfall chart is a data visualisation that shows how a starting value is incrementally affected by a series of positive and negative contributions to reach a final value. Each bar starts at the level where the previous bar ended, creating a "floating" effect that reveals the step-by-step progression. Finance teams use waterfall charts for P&L summaries, cash flow statements, budget bridges, and any analysis where you need to explain the gap between two figures — for example, beginning cash vs. ending cash, or budgeted profit vs. actual profit.
How to format your data for a waterfall chart
Your data needs two columns: Label and Amount. Positive amounts are shown as green bars (increases), negative amounts as red bars (decreases). The first row is treated as the starting total and is shown as a full-height dark bar. The last row is the ending total, also shown as a full-height bar. Everything in between is a delta. For a typical cash flow waterfall, you might have: Beginning Cash (first row, total), then Revenue, COGS, Salaries, Marketing, Rent, and then Ending Cash (last row, total).
Waterfall charts in Excel vs this tool
Creating a waterfall chart in Excel traditionally required a stacked bar chart with a hidden bottom series — a workaround that takes 15-20 minutes to set up and format correctly. Excel 2016 and later includes a native waterfall chart type, but it still requires careful data arrangement and manual formatting to look professional. This tool produces the same output in under a minute: paste your data, click Build, and the chart is ready.
Using waterfall charts in investor and board presentations
Waterfall charts are one of the most effective ways to communicate financial change to stakeholders. A revenue bridge — showing how volume, price, mix, and FX each contributed to the change from prior year revenue — is a classic board presentation slide. Export as PDF and insert the page into your PowerPoint or Google Slides deck. The clean formatting means zero additional design work.
Frequently asked questions
How do I mark a row as a total vs a delta?
The first and last rows are automatically treated as totals (shown as full-height bars). For intermediate totals like Gross Profit in a P&L, enter it as a separate row — the tool calculates it from the running total automatically.
Can I enter a Gross Profit row that auto-calculates?
Enter the row with its label and leave the amount blank or enter 0 — the tool will show the running total at that point as the bar height.
What is the difference between a waterfall chart and a stacked bar chart?
A stacked bar chart shows absolute values stacked on top of each other. A waterfall chart shows how values change from a starting point, with bars floating at the level where the previous bar ended. Waterfall charts are better for showing the components of change.
Can I export the chart to use in PowerPoint?
Export as PDF and then insert the PDF page as an image in PowerPoint, or use the browser's right-click to save the chart image directly.
Is there a limit on the number of bars?
Readability degrades beyond 12-15 bars. For large P&L statements, group smaller line items into categories before charting.