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Businesses in today’s world accumulate gigantic amounts of data associated with financial transactions.
Every coin that gets in and out of the business’s coffers must be accounted for. And this means the data generated is incredibly humongous. Remember, in today’s world, data is the new gold. The actionable insights it provides can stimulate growth and boost profitability.
Data is pretty voiceless on its own. You’ve got to harness insights to feel its power firsthand. This is where financial graphs and charts in Excel come in.
Some of the tested and proven financial graphs and charts in Excel include:
Excel is one of the go-to popular data visualization tools among professionals and business owners worldwide.
However, the visualization tool has very basic charts, such as Scatter Plots and Stacked Bar Charts. And this implies you’ve got to invest extra effort and time to edit the charts to align with your needs.
You can download and install a specific add-in in your Excel to access ready-to-use creative data visualization examples (highlighted above).
In this blog post, you’ll learn the following:
Before diving into the how-to guide, we’ll address the following question: What are financial graphs?
Definition: Financial graphs and charts can help visually track liquidity, budgets, expenses, cash flow, and many other metrics.
Also, you can easily avoid a monetary crisis by leveraging financial data in real-time, with a comprehensive overview of actionable insights.
Some of the tested and proven financial graphs include:
To drive maximum performance, conduct regular analysis to make credible and sound financial decisions.
In the coming section, we’ll address the following question: which chart type is best suited for visualizing financial data?
A Stacked Waterfall Chart visually represents changes in values over time or across multiple data sets. It depicts the cumulative effect of a data series or enables comparison between multiple data series through stacked bars. It’s the same as a Waterfall chart.
A Scatter plot visualization design that uses Cartesian coordinates to display values in dots.
As we said, this chart distills key insights into the collection of points, along x and y-axes.
So, when can I use this chart?
Use the chart to compare two key variables in your data to determine the relationship. For instance, you can use this chart to track the relationship between click-through rate and conversion metrics in digital marketing. In this scenario, you would want to know whether the growth of the click-through rate has an impact on the conversion value.
You can use Scatter Plot (one of the tested and proven financial graphs and charts in Excel) to determine relationships or associations between key data points.
The actual analysis comes in when trying to discern the relationship between key metrics you’re tracking closely.
You can use the chart to uncover hidden “cause-and-effect” relationships between two key variables in data.
A Scatter Plot is categorized into the following:
A Dual Axis Bar and Line Graph (one of the best financial graphs and charts in Excel) is best suited for comparing two sets of key metrics for a presentation.
The visualization design uses two axes to easily illustrate the relationships between two variables with different magnitudes and scales of measurement.
The relationship between two variables is referred to as correlation. The chart illustrates a wealth of information using limited space, allowing you to discover trends you might have otherwise missed. Understanding how to make a graph from a table is crucial for effectively visualizing this data.
The Stacked Bar Chart is essentially an extension of the standard Bar Chart.
Each bar in this chart is divided into several sub-bars stacked end to end. The Stacked Bar Chart is best suited for tracking the trends of key data points over time. Besides, it outperforms other visualization designs in displaying part-to-whole relationships.
Why?
The Stacked Bar Diagram is easy to read and interpret. Besides, it can handle bulky data without appearing cluttered. You can leverage the chart to display how the composition of the subcategory changes over time.
A Progress Bar Chart is a visualization design that displays the progress made in a task or project.
You can use the chart to monitor and prioritize your objectives, including tracking long-term financial goals and providing critical data for strategic decision-making. Besides, it uses filled bars to display how much of the planned activity or goal has been completed.
The chart is significant, especially in tasks that require continuous monitoring and evaluation. It uses green and red bars to show the growth and decline of a variable under study.
In the coming section, we’ll cover how to create financial charts in Excel.
Excel, often supplemented with an income statement template, is one of the go-to data visualization tools for businesses and professionals
However, this freemium spreadsheet tool comes with very basic financial graphs and charts in Excel, such as Progress Graphs and Mosaic plots using Excel.
Well, you don’t have to do away with the spreadsheet app.
You can turn Excel into a reliable data visualization tool loaded with ready-made charts, such as Progress and Stacked Bar Charts or side-by-side Bar Charts and many more charts by installing third-party apps like ChartExpo.
ChartExpo is a Chart maker that comes as an add-in you can easily install in your Excel.
ith different insightful and ready-to-use visualizations, including Tornado charts, ChartExpo turns your complex, raw data into compelling visual renderings that tell the story of your data.
With just a few clicks, the app produces simple and clear visualization designs.
Yes, ChartExpo generates financial graphs that are amazingly easy to interpret, even for non-technical audiences.
Keep reading because we’ll show you how to install and use ChartExpo to generate visually stunning financial charts in the coming section.
In this section, we’ll use a Progress Visualization (one of the proven financial graphs and charts in Excel) to display insights into the table below:
| Products | Previous Sales | Current Sales |
| Bread | 141 | 176 |
| Butter | 181 | 166 |
| Jelly | 148 | 128 |
| Pasta | 121 | 172 |
| Cheese | 146 | 158 |
| Ice Cream | 149 | 192 |
| Soda | 100 | 152 |
| Ketchup | 124 | 191 |
To install ChartExpo into your Excel, click this link.
You can also use the ChartExpo add-on for Google Sheets to create financial charts and graphs in Google Sheets.
In the coming section, we’ll address the following question: why do you need financial analysis graphs?
Remember, we process visual content 60,000 times faster than text or numbers.
That said, well-designed financial graphs and charts, including Mekko graphs, offer the best solution, especially when creating compelling data stories for audiences.
Essentially, charts should provide:
Use Financial Graphs and Charts in Excel to enjoy the benefits below:
It’s needless to reiterate the power of simple and easy-to-interpret charts. Charts that lend clarity and simplicity make financial data stories understandable and persuasive to the audience.
Let’s agree on this! The financial success of your business piggybacks on the massive data sets you generate. This data is gold only if you’re able to extract actionable insights.
Remember, you can leverage your data to forecast an emerging opportunity or risk. Use financial graphs, charts, and Treemaps in Excel to separate signals from noise.
You don’t have to crunch data manually to get answers. You have the option of using smarter tools to do the heavy lifting.
In the coming section, we’ll address the following question: what is the role of financial graphs and charts?
Financial graphs and charts in Excel can help you grasp large volumes of insights literally in the blink of an eye.
Financial graphs and charts in Excel can improve productivity and efficiency in your business. In other words, you can leverage data to predict risks, such as declining productivity.
Also, you can use them to track productivity metrics in real time. With a solid financial analytics strategy, including a comprehensive 3-statement financial model, you can easily identify gaps and areas for improvement in your business.
Graphs have two axes, the lines that run across the bottom and up the side. The line along the bottom is called the horizontal or x-axis, and the line up the side is called the vertical or y-axis. The x-axis may contain categories or numbers.
Spreadsheet applications, such as Google Sheets, lack ready-to-go financial graphs and charts. You don’t have to do away with Google Sheets in favor of pricey data visualization applications.
Install add-ons, such as ChartExpo to access ready-made and visually stunning financial graphs.
The current businesses accumulate gigantic amounts of data associated with financial transactions.
Every coin that gets in and out of the coffers of the business has to be accounted for. And this means the data generated is incredibly humongous. Remember, in today’s world, data is the new gold. The actionable insights it provides can stimulate growth and boost profitability.
Data is voiceless on its own. You’ve got to harness insights to feel its power-fast hand. This is where financial graphs and charts in Excel come in.
Some of the tested and proven financial graphs and charts in Excel include:
Excel is one of the go-to popular data visualization tools among professionals and business owners worldwide.
However, the visualization tool has very basic financial graphs and charts. And this implies you’ve got to invest extra effort and time to edit the charts to align with your needs.
So, what’s the solution?
We recommend you install third-party apps, such as ChartExpo, to access ready-to-use financial charts and graphs in Excel.
ChartExpo is an add-in for Excel that’s loaded with insightful and ready-to-go financial charts. You don’t need programming or coding skills to use ChartExpo.
Sign up for a 7-day free trial today to access ready-made financial graphs and charts that are easy to interpret and visually appealing to your target audience.
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