How to Create a Waterfall Chart in Power BI

Updated on:

May 12, 2026

By:

Use this interactive demo to learn how to build a Waterfall Chart in Power BI step by step.

Quick summary

A Waterfall Chart in Power BI visualizes how individual positive and negative values contribute to a cumulative total, making it ideal for financial and variance analysis. This guide walks you through selecting the chart type in the Visualizations pane and mapping your data fields to render the chart instantly.

Steps

Open your Power BI report and select the visual you want to change or replace.
Go to the Visualizations pane on the right side of the Power BI canvas.
Click on the Waterfall Chart icon in the Visualizations pane to apply the chart type.
In the Fields pane, drag and drop your data fields into the appropriate chart wells.
By following these steps, you have successfully created a Waterfall Chart in Power BI.

📌 Why this matters

Waterfall Charts in Power BI are essential for anyone who needs to visualize incremental changes — such as revenue growth, budget variances, or profit and loss breakdowns — across a series of categories. Power BI's built-in Waterfall Chart visual makes it easy to identify which factors are driving increases or decreases in a cumulative total, without requiring custom code or third-party tools. For data analysts, finance teams, and business intelligence professionals, mastering this chart type directly improves the clarity and impact of their reports and dashboards.

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