Excel Graphs and Charts Tutorials to Better Visualize Your Data

Did you know that the human mind can swiftly comprehend data when it is presented visually? Think about that for a minute!

The human brain processes visuals more quickly than a word. Therefore data visualization can make it much easier to explain trends and statistics by employing charts, graphs, and design elements.

Whether comparing sales figures or showing a pattern, data visualization can change everything. Your report’s clarity and authority improve with an excellent graph or chart.

But what sort of visualization tools (graphs or charts) should you use?

When you select the chart option in your spreadsheet program, you’ll see a variety of styles. They may all appear to be good choices, but not all data visualization is made equally.

0So which data visualization tool fits your data and audience the best? To determine this, you must have a solid understanding of how graphs and charts work.

This guide will give you practical excel graphs and charts tutorials to ensure your data visualizations are successful. Now, let’s get down to business.

Table of Content:

1. What are Charts in Excel?
2. Why do We Use Graphs and Charts?
3. Various Business Graphs & Charts
4. How do You Use Charts and Graphs in Excel?
5. Wrap Up

What are Charts in Excel?

Excel is a very effective data visualization tool and helps present data in charts. Charts are used in Microsoft Excel to provide a graphical symbolization of any set of data.

What is a chart? It is a picture of data that uses symbols to represent the data, for example, bars in a Bar Chart.

While charts work well for some types of data, graphs may be preferable in other circumstances. Which type of excel graphs and charts you want to use will depend on the insights you want your audience to gather.

Keep reading to understand the purpose of using charts and graphs.

Why do We Use Graphs and Charts?

It can be quite cumbersome and challenging to understand complex data sets, especially when comparing them. Consider how much simpler it is to present a data trend visually to an audience. Charts and Graphs come in handy to present the data in an obvious way and facilitate analysis.

So how do you use charts and graphs in excel? Well, we have excel graphs and charts tutorials to guide you.

The Sankey Chart in the graph below illustrates a flow of funds.

This chart simply and understandably depicts the flow. That means you can understand the flow without looking at the actual figures. Graphs and charts are standard in yearly reports, sales presentations, and team meetings. They help convey information to the reader in a clear, simple, and easy-to-remember manner.

Discover more below if you are still wondering which type of excel graphs and charts you should use.

Various Business Graphs & Charts

Numerous chart types exist, each with a unique set of applications. Selecting the right chart for the task at hand is frequently the most challenging aspect of developing a data visualization. Which type of excel graphs and charts you want to use will rely on several variables.

• What categories do you plan to plot for metrics, features, or other variables?
• What group of people do you intend to present to?
• Is it only for yourself as a first step, or are you addressing a larger group of people?
• How do you want the reader to interpret the conclusion?

Here’s a rundown of the key excel graphs and charts tutorials. You will have a wide range of tools to address your data visualization demands with the help of these charts:

• Radar Chart

A Radar Chart displays multivariate data with three or more quantitative variables plotted on one axis. It has a core axis with at least three radiating spokes that give it the appearance of a spider’s web.

The data values are mapped onto these spokes. It is intended to quickly highlight similarities, differences, and outliers for the product, service, or other objects. Here is our Radar Chart’s data.

Months	Garments	Electronics	Cosmetics
Jan	13147	32289	18388
Feb	9047	29305	18692
Mar	13493	21696	10639
Apr	10260	24357	12218
May	12127	28597	14936
Jun	11048	23525	10915
Jul	5435	32997	19854
Aug	12624	25003	11609
Sep	7768	33472	18657
Oct	9459	29548	15701
Nov	14201	28118	11120
Dec	13790	26850	12802

Below is the final visualization:

• Sentiment Trend Chart

You can showcase information trends over sentiment using a Sentiment Trend Chart. However, single-point measurements may not be precise because all techniques are different. A mathematical process called trend analysis predicts future patterns based on past results.

Here is the data we will use on our Sentiment Trend Chart sample:

Months	Current	Previous
Jan	55000	28000
Feb	54000	27000
Mar	62000	46000
Apr	73000	39000
May	57000	43000
Jun	57000	41000
Jul	60000	42000
Aug	49000	25000
Sep	75000	44000
Oct	66000	45000
Nov	52000	37000
Dec	50000	26000

And the ultimate visualization is as follows:

• Progress Chart

A Progress Chart displays a fact’s positive and negative variations within a category. The change is displayed on the chart’s left side using color-coded bars and the facts on the right side as group bars.

A Progress Chart helps you monitor system changes over time and demonstrates your progress toward a goal.

Below is our data for the Progress Chart’s data.

Products	Previous Sales	Current Sales
Ketchup	124000	191000
Soda	100000	152000
Pasta	121000	172000
Ice Cream	149000	192000
Bread	141000	176000
Cheese	146000	158000
Butter	181000	166000
Jelly	148000	128000

Let’s look at the final visualization below:

• Sunburst Chart

A Sunburst Diagram with numerous tiers of categories demonstrates the connections between the outer and inner rings. Sunburst Charts best illustrate how one ring is broken down into constituent parts.

Below, we have data from auto-store orders, and we will use a Sunburst Chart to evaluate them.

Categories	States	Cities	Total Orders
Sales	California	Irvine	93
Sales	California	Hemet	100
Sales	California	Oxnard	86
Sales	Texas	Austin	97
Sales	Texas	Dallas	98
Sales	Texas	Plano	91
Sales	Florida	Miami	94
Sales	Florida	Tampa	87
Sales	Florida	Naples	88

Below is the final visualization:

• Sankey Chart

Sankey Chart is a particular kind of flow diagram on our list of excel graphs and charts tutorials. They are frequently used to illustrate the flow of money, energy, material, or any other measurable resource.

The resource is displayed in proportion to the flow quantity. They highlight the key flows, consumers, losses, etc. for the reader.

See Sankey Chart data below.

Products	Revenue	Profit & Cost	Departments	Operations	Outflows	Amount
Microsoft 365	Revenue	Gross profit	Productivity & Business	Operating profit	Net profit	7.2
Microsoft 365	Revenue	Gross profit	Intelligent Cloud	Operating profit	Net profit	8.7
Microsoft 365	Revenue	Gross profit	More PC	Operating profit	Net profit	0.7
Microsoft 365	Revenue	Gross profit	More PC	Operating profit	Net profit	0.1
Azure	Revenue	Gross profit	More PC	Operating profit	Tax	3.8
Azure	Revenue	Gross profit	Operating expenses		R & D	6.9
Azure	Revenue	Gross profit	Operating expenses		Sales & marketing	6.3
Azure	Revenue	Gross profit	Operating expenses		General admin	1.8
Azure	Revenue	Cost of revenue				2
Windows	Revenue	Cost of revenue				14.4

And the ultimate visualization is as follows:

Using the discussed data visualizations, you can make simple graphics that are easy to understand. However, there is more! You must know how to build excel graphs and charts to succeed.

So, continue reading to take the next step.

How do You Use Charts and Graphs in Excel?

If your goal is to display financial data, you want charts that use flows to create a vivid picture of ins and outs of key resources in your business, such as the Sankey Diagram.

Excel is a spreadsheet application you can use to organize, store, and visualize data using its charts and graphs.

Yes, there are charts you can use in Excel to create data reporting visualization. But this tool lacks additional formatting capabilities to help you create an easy-to-understand visualization.

Besides, it lacks additional charts, such as Sankey Diagrams, that take your financial analysis to the next level.

We’re not advocating you leave Excel. 

Install a particular third-party add-in in Excel to access data reporting-friendly charts, such as a Sankey Diagram.

The application is called ChartExpo.

What is ChartExpo?

ChartExpo is an add-on you can easily install in your Excel to access charts for building a data reporting dashboard.

Features and Benefits

• ChartExpo is inexpensive. You’ll only spend $10 every month. Besides, you’re free to cancel your monthly subscription anytime.
• You don’t need coding skills to generate insightful and ready-made charts and graphs for data reporting examples.
• You don’t need calculations or other additional tasks to create data reporting dashboards.
• The online chart creator has an ultra-friendly user interface to save time and effort.

How to install ChartExpo in Excel?

1. Open your Excel application.
2. Open the worksheet and click on the “Insert” menu.
3. You’ll see the “My Apps”.
4. In office Add-ins window, click on “Store” and search for ChartExpo on my Apps Store.
5. Click on “Add” button to install ChartExpo in your Excel.

There is another direct way to install ChartExpo by clicking on the below link as well for your desired tool.

Example

Assume you have access to the above table’s detailed information about Microsoft company financial flow data. You want to reduce this complexity because it appears complex in the spreadsheet. The following tutorial will help you install ChartExpo.

• To get started with ChartExpo in Excel, install ChartExpo in Excel from this link.
• To use ChartExpo after installation, select My Apps from the INSERT menu.

• Select ChartExpo from My Apps and choose Insert.

• A list of the available charts will appear once this add-in has loaded. Choose Sankey Chart from the list.

• After choosing the data from the sheet, select “Create Chart From Selection“.

The image below will result:

• This representation is easy to understand at a glance. If you wish to eliminate the Percentage, select Edit Chart.

• Click on highlighted pencil icon. Now, go to Percentage and disable the Show percentage.

• Visit Node. Choose the color you want to add, then click “Apply“.
• You can add heading, by clicking on pencil icon next to Chart Header.
• Click Save Changes once you’ve added colors, a heading, and other attributes.

You can now see how effectively it depicted the movement of funds from one end to the other. Its superior flow visualization sets it apart from other charts.

Insights

Microsoft has a fairly even split between its various revenue sources.

• Azure was the major contributor in revenue, which is $20.8bn.
• Windows contributed least in revenue, $14.4bn.
• Microsoft generated $51.9bn revenue.
• From revenue, $16.4bn was the cost of revenue and $35.5bn was gross profit.
• Now, Gross profit was divided into 4 nodes, productivity & business, intelligent cloud, more PC, and Operating expenses of amount $7.2bn, $8.7bn, $4.6bn, and $15bn respectively.
• $15bn of operating expenses was spent on R&D, Sales & marketing, and general admin of amount $6.9bn, $6.3bn, and $1.8bn respectively.
• Microsoft Operating profit was $20.5bn.
• From operating profit $16.7bn was net profit and $3.8bn.

FAQs:

What purpose do charts and graphs serve?

Charts and graphs express complex data. They can enhance the clarity and impact of your presentations and meetings.

What applications do graphs have in real-world situations?

Graphs facilitate analysis in daily life. They give structure when evaluating sales, performances, and even deadlines. Additionally, graphs make calculations simpler.

For instance, you’ll find them helpful in comprehending your sales figures if you’re a manager or a sales assistant.

Wrap Up

In the current cutthroat corporate environment finding data correlations via visual representations is essential for discovering business insights. Examining these insights is crucial for business users or executives to determine the best course for attaining the organization’s objectives.

Using data visualization, you may learn the most recent business trends to deliver high-quality products and spot issues before they happen. You can focus more energy on boosting your company’s earnings by following trends.

The excel graphs and charts tutorials discussed above can help you perfect the art of data visualization.

However, data visualization is a skill that takes practice to perfect. Thanks to ChartExpo, you will undoubtedly progress. It is expertly designed with the best standards for data visualization in mind.

Comprehending the final audience’s viewpoint is the secret to creating excellent data visualization. Always strive to determine what the final audience wants to know and then visualize your data.