YEAR-OVER-YEAR WATERFALL
The year-over-year column chart, inspired by this [IBCS template](https://www.ibcs.com/resource/horizontal-waterfall-chart/, contains three parts.
The lower tier of this chart shows grouped columns for AC and PY combined with a horizontal waterfall chart showing the absolute variances. An additional tiers show the relative variances to PY.
PLOT DETAIL
The plot is run for at the total level...
..and, for each dimension, it is run for the chosen metric.
The most recent, Actual, value is show with in black. The less recent PY value is shown with in grey, in white if Plan. Red is "bad" while green is "good."
If the dataset has Plan vs Actual data and Previous Year vs Actual data, it is possible to chose what to compare.
The app will visualize Forecast (FC) data as hatched in the monthly bar charts. FC total value on the right total bar will not be shown as hatched, but just as a dotted rectangle.
SMALL MULTIPLES PLOT
To plot the items as small multiples, set the Plot Small multiples widget to True
and hit the Submit button.
The small multiples only show the waterfalls, not the percent differences and the monthly values.
SAVING THE PLOT
To save the plot as a PNG file, hover the top right side on the chart. A menu will appear. Click on the camera
OTHER OPTIONS
Open the expander under the 📊 Plot type drop down menu by clicking on the ➕ sign.
Additional options are available for selection.
METRIC AND DIMENSION SELECTION
You can choose the metric to plot, for instance "COGS", as well as the dimension to slice by item.
The COGS metric will be plotted for each Region.
SMALLER ITEMS AGGREGATION
By default, the four top items in terms of total Amount of the two periods are plotted, while the other items are aggregated together.
You can change the number of top items.
EDIT AND MOVE LABELS
You can edit and move around plot titles and labels. In this chart..
..the title has been edited.
ANNOTATE CHARTS
It is possible to annotate charts with lines, rectangles and circles. It is possible to modify the shapes and move them around, and delete them.
Hover and click on the "draw line", "draw circle" and "draw rectangle" icons on the menu bar on the upper right of the chart.
Draw and edit your shapes.
ADD PLOT MESSAGE
It is possible to add messages to the chart, in the style suggested by the IBCS standard.
Add your message in the text box, one chart at a time.
Once you have finished writing the message for a chart, click on the 🚀 Submit button.
Your message will appear above the chart title. You can save the chart with the message and the annotations.
CHART TITLE
By default, the chart title is set on three lines, the first line contains the reporting unit ("who"), the second line the business metric ("what") and the third line the time period ("when").
You can adjust the position of the title, the message text and the horizontal line by moving them around with the mouse.
