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Adaptive Planning
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Example: Create a Waterfall Chart by Breaking Down Data by Location

Example: Create a Waterfall Chart by Breaking Down Data by Location

A waterfall chart shows where you started, where you ended, and how you got there. You can set up a waterfall chart by specifying a start value (reference value) and an end value (comparison value) and the waterfall steps. You can breakdown waterfall steps by time, dimension, or metric.
The following visualizes a year-to-date revenue waterfall chart by location:
Waterfall with Breakdown by Location

Prerequisites

You need:
  • Edit access to a personal or shared perspective.
  • Security:
    • Access Dashboards
       permission.
    • Edit Dashboards
       permission.
This example focuses on setting up a waterfall chart and assumes that the perspective and dashboard were previously created. This example visualizes data using
Targets - Board Approved
 as the default version. This example uses the following account and dimension:
  • Actuals as the comparison version
  • GL Accounts > Revenue
  • Location dimension
See Reference: Waterfall Chart Settings for setting options and descriptions.

Create a Waterfall and Add the Data Series

After completing these steps, the chart will look like:
Waterfall Chart with Pinned Time with Breakdown by Revenue Sub-accounts
The current breakdown is by product-subcategory. You will change the breakdown in a later step.
  1. Open the perspective and navigate to the dashboard and click
    Edit
    .
  2. From the left pane, select the
    Chart
     tab.
  3. Drag and drop
    Waterfall
     to the design area to create the waterfall chart.
  4. Select the
    Accounts
     tab. Drag and drop the
    Revenue
     account to the chart to add a data series.
  5. In the right pane, click the
    Appearance Settings
     tab. Expand the General section and rename the chart to:
    YTD Revenue by Location
  6. Click the
    Time Settings
     tab and change:
    • Stratum: Month
    • Pinned time: February 2019

Define the Waterfall

You will change the breakdown to location and specify the waterfall reference and comparison values. After completing these steps, the chart will look like:
Waterfall with Breakdown by Location
Change the Breakdown
  1. Select the
    Data Settings
     tab and navigate to the Breakdown section and change:
    • Type: Dimension
    • Dimension:
      Location
      as the dimension value.
  2. Expand the Sorting & Limits section and change:
    • Max Data Points: 6
    • Sort Order: Largest to Smallest (Absolute)
Set the Reference and Comparison Values
  1. Select the
    Appearance Settings
     tab.
  2. Expand the Axis section and change
    Axis Start from Zero
     to off.
  3. Review and make note of the Reference Value section. The default settings uses the default version,
    Targets - Board Approved
    , and look at the current period based on the time settings on this chart. No change is required.
    • Version: From version selector:
      Targets - Board Approved
    • Time Alignment: Current
    • Period: Year
    • Data Range: To Date
  4. Expand the Comparison Value section and change:
    • Version: Actuals. You will compare actuals to your targets.
    • Time Alignment: Current
    • Data Range: To Date
This completes this walkthrough.