IBCS waterfall charts help explain how positive and negative values contribute to a net change between a starting and ending value. Use these charts to visualize business drivers such as revenue, costs, profit, and variances using standardized IBCS layouts and semantic formatting.
Use an IBCS columns with waterfall chart to show how incremental increases and decreases contribute to a final value using vertical columns. It is best suited for financial statements, profit and loss analysis, and budget-to-actual reconciliations. Use this chart when categories are best displayed along the X-axis.
| Configuration option | Configuration value |
|---|---|
| Chart type | Waterfall + column |
| Category | Assign the dimension that defines the categories on the x-axis. Each category is displayed as a unique column in the waterfall. Example: Month. |
| Actual(s) | Assign one measure to analyze. The values determine the height of each column. Example: Profit-Actual. |
| Comparison 1-3(vs Actuals) | Assign prior-year, plan, and forecast measures to compare with actual values. The chart displays each comparison measure as an overlapping or separate column for the same category and calculates the corresponding variance from the actual and comparison values. Example: Profit - Prior Year, Profit -Target, Profit - Forecast. |
Use an IBCS bars with vertical waterfall chart to visualize cumulative changes using horizontal bars. It helps compare contributions across categories with long labels, such as departments, products, or cost centers. Use this chart when the readability of category names is important.
| Configuration option | Configuration value |
|---|---|
| Chart type | Waterfall + bar |
| Category | Assign the dimension that defines the categories on the y-axis. Each category is displayed as a unique column in the waterfall. Example: Country. |
| Actual(s) | Assign one measure to analyze. The values determine the height of each bar. Example: Profit-Actual. |
| Comparison 1-3(vs Actuals) | Assign prior-year, plan, and forecast measures to compare with actual values. The chart displays each comparison measure as an overlapping or separate column for the same category and calculates the corresponding variance from the actual and comparison values. Example: Profit - Prior Year, Profit -Target, Profit - Forecast. |
Follow these steps to customize the chart as per IBCS specifications:
The following screenshot shows the C06 waterfall:
Use a vertical IBCS waterfall chart to emphasize the progression from a starting value to an ending value across sequential business events or reporting periods. It is commonly used to explain changes in cash flow, operating profit, or revenue. Use this chart when the order of contributions is an important part of the analysis.
| Configuration option | Configuration value |
|---|---|
| Chart type | Side by side waterfall |
| Category | Assign the dimension that defines the categories on the x-axis. Each category is displayed as a unique column in the waterfall. Example: Income statement line items. |
| Actual(s) | Assign one measure to analyze. The values determine the height of each bar in the first waterfall. Example: AC. |
| Comparison 1(vs Actuals) | Assign a measure to compare against actuals. The values determine the height of each bar in the second waterfall. Variances. The lollipop and bar charts show the absolute and relative variance between the actuals and comparison measures. Example: PY |
The following screenshot shows the C12 vertical waterfall:
