You have two metrics, and you intend to compare their performance.
Let’s say these two metrics are profit and cost.
Essentially, the plan is to highlight how profits compare to costs. Let’s imagine your goal is to create a compelling story of your business’s financial position to attract more investments.
What should be your go-to chart in this scenario?
One of the charts we recommend in this scenario is a Combination Chart in Excel.
Why?
A Combination Chart can help you display two varying metrics using a single interface. In other words, you don’t have to go for an extra chart to showcase how profits and costs in your business compare.
The visualization design is amazingly easy to read and interpret, as you shall see later.
Excel has a library of charts you can use to visualize data. But it lacks ready-made and insightful Combination Charts for visualizing data.
You don’t have to do away with Excel spreadsheets. You can easily supercharge it with a particular add-in to access ready-made Combo Graphs.
Keep reading to learn more about the add-in. You don’t want to miss this gold nugget of information.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
Before diving right into the how-to guide, we’ll address the following question: what is a Combination Chart?
Definition: A Combination Chart also known as Combo Chart in Excel is a merger of two or more visualization types.
For instance, you can combine a line graph and a bar graph to create one single chart.
Adding a third chart could take the merger to the next level. For instance, you could combine two bar charts and a line graph in the same diagram. Most Combination Charts in Excel have two Y-axes to display insights into variables with different ranges.
Here’s the kicker.
You can’t just layer two varying charts and expect the resulting diagram to make sense to your audience (or readers).
We recommend you create Combination Charts from a single dataset by joining data points with common attributes.
Without a common attribute between the data points, you’re unlikely to have a sensible Combo Chart in Excel. You need this common ground so that each part of the visualization design relates to one another.
For instance, combining a chart showing inflation rates with a graph depicting climate change effects is counterintuitive. The two variables are far from each other.
You can even use a Combination Chart in Excel to visualize data points with varying measurements and scales, such as currency and time.
So, when should you use Combination Charts?
The visualization design is ideal when:
In the coming section, we’ll take you through different types of Combination Charts.
Let’s dive into different types of Combination Charts in Excel.
The most straightforward Combination Chart in Excel to plot and interpret is the merger between Bar charts and Line Charts.
The line tracks an average across each bar or shows the range if you’re using a Line and Bar Combo Chart.
In the Bar and Line Combo Charts for advanced users, the line may show different insights from the bars. For example, a sales company may use a Combination Chart with bars to show the quantity sold and the line to depict revenue generated by each unit.
The combination between Clustered Bar and Line Chart adds another rich dimension to your analysis by including bars grouped under a primary category.
This visualization is more valuable because you can see the average value of data points.
A combo of Clustered Column and Stacked Bar Graphs uses two bar types to display insights into your data.
Besides, it has 3+ vertical bars to visualize multiple data points. Each bar is divided into smaller parts to reflect a stacked diagram.
So, what is the best combination chart maker? We’ll address this question in the coming section.
There’s no single best Combination Chart in Excel. But we recommend the following Combo Graphs, namely:
In this blog post, we’ll primarily talk about the Double Axis Line and Bar Chart (a Combination Chart in Excel variant).
Excel is one of the popular tools of data visualization among business owners. However, it lacks a ready-made Double Axis Line and Bar Graph (a Combo Chart in Excel).
We’re not advising you to do away with Excel in favor of other expensive tools.
And this is because there’s an amazingly affordable visualization tool that comes as an add-in you can easily install in Excel to access insightful and easy-to-customize Combination Charts in Excel. The application is called ChartExpo.
What is ChartExpo?
ChartExpo is an add-in you can easily install in your Excel to access ready-made and visually appealing Combination Charts in Excel.
This section will use a Double Axis Line and Bar Chart to visualize the tabular data below.
You don’t want to miss it.
| Products | Orders | Sales |
| Dash Covers | 45 | 590 |
| Seat Covers | 60 | 390 |
| Mirrors | 80 | 590 |
| Shifter Knobs | 30 | 390 |
| Window Tints | 50 | 260 |
| Floor Mats | 70 | 710 |
| Air Fresheners | 40 | 170 |
| Speakers | 75 | 470 |
To get started with ChartExpo in Excel, follow the steps below:
Excel’s library lacks ready-made and visually stunning Combination Charts you can use to create compelling data stories.
But you can supercharge your Excel with third-party add-ins, such as ChartExpo to access ready-made Combination graphs, such as the Double Axis Line and Bar Charts.
You can use a Combination Chart in Excel to visualize data with varying measurements and scales, such as currency and time.
The visualization design is ideal when:
One of the charts we recommend if your goal is to showcase insights into data points with varying scales is a Combination Chart in Excel.
Why?
The visualization design can help you display two varying metrics using a single interface. In other words, you don’t have to go for an extra chart to highlight how profits and costs in your business compare.
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