The Financial Visuals Reference: Management Reporting in Power BI
The Waterfall Contributions Analysis charts have two basic use cases: showing the contribution of a category or time period as a special part-to-whole chart, and showing the variance of a contribution. Use vertical axis orientation for categories and horizontal orientation for time series. Define and highlight custom variances in time series or categories. Waterfall charts are also known as flying brick charts.
Show actual values, Δ Budget, and Δ Target values—each in absolute terms and as [%]—in a table. Next to the table, use a waterfall chart that can drill down to the next level.
Gain and loss: subscriber or member fluctuation over time or by any other category (products, divisions, location, brand). Monthly employee hires and leavers. Unemployment statistics or other gain-and-loss KPIs. Use this when you need to visualize turnover and cost development over time or by any other category.
The Variance Chart basically includes three chart types, with additional options for chart orientation and small multiples.
The base visual shows a value, a reference value, and the absolute or [%] variance. Two bars or columns representing the value and reference value are displayed as overlapped bars. You can add an “Absolute Variance” chart to this base chart. Change orientation to horizontal for time series or vertical for other categories. The style of the base chart can be changed to an “in-bar” chart, showing actual values as bars and variance “in-bar”. Finally, you can add a “[%] Variance” chart, resulting in three charts in a row: Base, Absolute, and [%].
Furthermore, you can select each of the three charts as a single chart or as small multiples. There is also the option of a second reference value, such as last year, shown as a line. Alternatively, a [%] value can be shown with a second axis/scaling, also as a line.
Small multiples enhance this view.
A small multiple is a series of similar graphs or charts using the
same scale and axes, allowing them to be easily compared. The term was popularized by Edward Tufte. According to Tufte (Envisioning Information, p. 67): At the heart of quantitative reasoning is a single question: Compared to what? Small multiple designs, multivariate and data bountiful, answer directly by visually enforcing comparisons of changes, of the differences among objects, of the scope of alternatives. For a wide range of problems in data presentation, small multiples are the best design solution.
Vertical orientation with a value table for accounts, categories, and structures. Actual, Δ Budget, and Δ Last Year in absolute values and [%] variance. Expand the table to the next level to see individual variances.
KPI Cards can be used on dashboards or, for example, as a reporting portal entry and on mobile devices. They show a measure by comparing a key indicator to a target and/or to the previous year.
Lollipop charts with a round circle are used to visualize FTEs (full-time equivalents) and headcounts. The actual value color is blue. The lollipop marker is a square. Use the Category FTE Lollipop (blue) in vertical orientation, and use horizontal orientation for time series.
The Microsoft Power BI Ultimate Decomposition Tree (Breakdown Tree) can display hierarchical information with images, two measures, and [%] calculation. Use it for org charts or product/customer breakdown trees.
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