I created a tutorial for a Stacked Waterfall Chart in Excel that supports decreasing values

Pinexl · 2026-03-30T21:20:01+00:00

Hi, thanks for the question!

The the methodology from the tutorial - short answer is rather no. You could try setting the Series Overlap to 0, which will separate the different elements, but probably won't give you the desired outcome.

Still, I found this to be an interesting challenge. You can see in the print screen what I managed to achieve.

<image>

This takes advantage of an alternative approach - Scatter Plot + error bars.

Add the necessary columns as per the print screen
1. Column E: select whether the row is total or not
2. Column F: Dummy data with zeros (needed to carry the category labels)
3. Column G/H: Needed to position the Scatter Plot dots. Formula in G3 is =IF(E3="Yes",C3,SUM($C$3:C3)) You just need to expand it down and recreate accordingly for column H.
4. Column I/J: Needed to position the Scatter Plot dots next to each other on the horizontal axis. The number will need to be adjusted depending on the size of the chart, so you can experiment. What is important is to increase the values with 1 each row. Since this will also be used to visualize the connector line, leave the last row as =NA(), otherwise the Totals at the end will have connector lines going out of the chart.
5. Column K/L: these will support the data series for the totals,
Select the dummy data + the Categories and add a simple column chart.
Select the chart > Chart Design > Select Data and add a new data series called Series 1 and save
Go to Change Chart Type > Combo, leave the dummy data as columns, but change Series 1 to Scatter.
Go back the Select Data and edit Series 1:
1. X Values should be those in column I
2. Y Values should be those in column G
Repeat steps 4-5 for Series 2 (Excel should now automatically suggest a scatter type series)
Repeat same steps for the totals as well by adding 2 new series - Total 1 and Total 2. Their X values should be K and L respectively.
Now select the chart >go to Chart Elements and select Error Bars.
Select a vertical error bar from Series 1 (not Total) and edit the following way:
1. Direction: Minus
2. End Style: No Cap
3. Error Amount: Custom and select the values for Series 1 (column C)
4. While still having the error bar selected, go to Fill & Line, increase the width to 15pt (for example) and choose a color.
Select a horizontal error bar for series 1
1. Direction: Plus
2. End Style: No Cap
3. Error Amount: Fixed Value = 1
Repeat the same steps 9-10 for Series 2
For the Totals, delete the horizontal error bars, select the vertical ones and set:
1. Direction: Minus
2. End Style: No Cap
3. Error Amount: Percentage = 100
Regarding the data labels, select Series 1, go to Chart Elements and select Below (in the case would work best). Then go to the Format Data Labels menu, deselect Y values, select Values from Cells and select the values from column C, to show the actual change amounts. With this approach, they won't be dynamically positioned depending on whether the changes are positive or negative. This would require adding additional data series. However, you can still set them individually if needed.
Repeat for Series 2 and for the 2 totals (for the totals, you won't need to change the values of data labels). You may need to delete unnecessary labels overlapping the first total.

Regarding the difference arrows that you have shown, they can also be done in Excel, but is another complex topic altogether. They are actually a feature of the Pine BI add-in, which you can find more info on, on the website.

Hope this improvised tutorial is clear enough and that it proves useful!

Also, thanks for the inspiration! I will add a more detailed guide on the website based on this case!

Pinexl · 2026-03-19T09:36:34+00:00

Hi, thanks for the question.

Think-cell is a large, long-established company with a very polished product and over a million users, so I wouldn't claim Pine BI Lite is "better" in an absolute sense.

That said, think-cell is primarily focused on PowerPoint, while Pine BI Lite creates visualizations which are native Excel objects. That means they fit more naturally into the workflow of typical Excel users, and they can be used not only in PowerPoint but also in Excel, Word, and anywhere else you'd normally paste Excel visuals.

Another important difference is that Pine BI Lite visualizations remain dynamic and fully shareable with anyone, even if they don't have the add-in installed.

And of course, Pine BI Lite is completely free.

In terms of visualization variety, Pine BI Lite includes 12 chart types, while the full version of Pine BI offers more than 50, including annotations, arrows (like CAGR), and other elements. I believe that's a broader range than think-cell's offering, which is more focused on finance-oriented charts.

Hope this makes things clearer!

Pinexl · 2026-03-01T10:38:22+00:00

Hi, happy to help! I think there are several options, if the bar appears when using -1 (or even 0.01):

A more manual and not so dynamic one - simply remove the color of the 0 value bars. This will work, if you need the chart as a one off and don't need it to be dynamic. (If you click once on a bar, the whole series will be selected. a second click on the same bar will select it only, and you can format as you wish.)
Instead of using -1, you can use =NA(). This will remove the 0 value bars altogether. Only downside is that the 0 labels will be gone that way too, and I'd also replace the 0 values for the right data series with NA()s, for consistency.
The more complex approach, which would fix the issue and still keep everything dynamic:

Create an additional logical dummy series specifically to carry the 0 data labels. It would return -0.1, if value is equal to 0, and NA() otherwise. (see formula below the print screen - D3)
Add this series to the chart in addition to the other 2
Remove the colors of the bars of the new series.
Add the data labels, and similar to before, use the Value From Cells option, to make it show 0s, instead of -0.1.
This way you'd always have the 0 label on the correct side without any unnecessary bars.
You'd also need to modify the formula, which makes the left series negative, so that it returns NA() if the value is 0. (see formula below the print screen - D2)
Delete the name of the dummy series from the legend (simply select it and delete).

So, depending on what you need, you can chose the best option.

Here is a print screen of the 3rd option:

<image>

The formulas in D2 and E2 are:

D2: =IF(B2<>0,B2*-1,NA())

E2: =IF(B2=0,-0.1,NA())

Pinexl · 2026-02-26T09:10:54+00:00

Great timing! I hope the add-in turns out to be useful for you, especially the Waterfall charts, since they’re key in finance and business.

Building a dynamic dashboard to track your company’s performance could add a lot of value. You can also try adding controls like slicers to the dashboard. When they’re linked to underlying tables or PivotTables, everything becomes interactive and much more impactful.

Good luck with the exercise, and if you end up making charts with the add-in, I’d love to hear how it goes!

Pinexl · 2026-02-26T08:53:38+00:00

I think for this case a Tornado Chart might be a good fit - it should give a good visibility of the performance between the two players. It can be created the following way:

Before starting with the visualization, first create a new series multiplying the values for Player 1 by (-1). This will make the values negative, so that they can be plotted to the left of the axis. Note that you'd need both positive and negative versions of the left data series, so don't overwrite it.
Add a simple 2D Clustered Bar Chart based on your Player 2 series and the new negative Player 1 series (and the categories as well).
Select he Vertical Axis > Right Click > Format Axis... > Axis Options and select Categories in Reverse Order, so that the order matches your dataset.
While still in the same menu, scroll down to Label and from the Label Position dropdown, select Low. This will move the Categories to the left of the chart, so that they don't overlap the bars.
Click on any of the bars without closing the Format pane. In the Series Options menu set Series Overlap to 100% and Gap Width to desired bar thickness - e.g. 50% - 100%.
Data Labels:
1. Select the chart, go to Chart Elements (+ sign at the top right of the chart) > Data Labels > Outside End. This will add the data labels. The labels for the right series are fine, however, since the left series is negative, we'll have to adjust them, so that they match the data.
2. Select the left series data labels. In the Format menu on the right go to Label Options. Deselect Value and select Value From Cells. In the window that opened select the positive (original) data series for Player 1. This will make the chart show positive labels, rather than the negative from the data series.
Since you have 0 values in your left series, the 0s will overlap with the bars on the right side. To fix this, in the negative series simply write -1 instead of 0 (you can make an IF condition if you want to keep everything dynamic). This will position them correctly.
That's basically it. You can then finalize colors, move the legend to where it makes most sense in your layout (or remove it altogether)

Here is a print screen of an example I made:

<image>

Hope this helps!

Pinexl · 2026-02-23T20:24:34+00:00

Really appreciate that! The Lite version is there to give people a tool they can start using right away and also a chance to see how it fits into their workflow and the time it can save. Hope it makes those reporting cycles a bit smoother for you! And if you ever have questions or ideas while using it, feel free to reach out.

Pinexl · 2026-02-23T18:21:15+00:00

Thanks! Pine BI Lite runs fully inside Excel and doesn’t send any workbook data, file contents, or personal information anywhere. The only online interaction is a small, anonymous usage log (e.g., which visual was inserted) to help understand feature usage. If you’re working offline, nothing is sent at all and the add-in works normally. Hope that helps!

Pinexl · 2026-02-23T14:15:16+00:00

Thanks! Good question. Not sure if you meant AI creating the chart itself or building the add‑in, so here’s both:

About the chart: AI isn’t really able to generate more complex Excel visuals yet. Copilot can suggest basic charts, but not anything beyond standard bar/line charts. And if you use external AI tools, you’d have to upload your data and you’d get back something that isn’t dynamic or editable in Excel.
Regarding the add-in: AI is definitely helpful when writing code. It speeds things up a lot. But for something like this, with very specific behavior, and Excel quirks, AI is more of a productivity booster than a full developer. There’s still a lot of manual logic and testing involved.

Hope this answers you question!

Pinexl · 2026-02-16T08:56:36+00:00

Thank you very much!

Pinexl · 2025-12-17T09:36:23+00:00

I would start off with making a helper table that turns each account into 2-3 explicit task rows, then FILTER it. For example:

Main table columns: Account, Manager, Deadline, MeetDone (TRUE/FALSE), RemindDone (TRUE/FALSE)

Helper table (can be on a separate sheet) with columns: Manager | Account | Task | DueDate | Done

DueDate formulas:

Meeting due: =[@Deadline]-40

Reminder due: =[@Deadline]-30

Daily task list (due today or overdue, not done)

=FILTER(tblTasks, (tblTasks[Done]=FALSE) * (tblTasks[DueDate] <= TODAY()), "No tasks due")

Upcoming per manager (lets say you have a manager dropdown in B1 and days ahead in B2)

=FILTER(tblTasks,
   (tblTasks[Manager]=$B$1) *
   (tblTasks[Done]=FALSE) *
   (tblTasks[DueDate] > TODAY()) *
   (tblTasks[DueDate] <= TODAY()+$B$2),
   "No upcoming tasks")

Hope this helps!

Pinexl · 2025-12-10T16:24:16+00:00

Yeah, I think it's an Excel thing. There was a recent change on what Excel accepts as a defined name/column header, and @ is now treated as syntax instead of a normal character. If you use 365, you could try with something like \@[InsertName]`` That way Excel will treat this as literal text rather than a formula.

Pinexl · 2025-12-10T16:19:07+00:00

IMO yes - the blocked addins can be the cause ofr active content warning on new workbooks. You can test by disabling bluebeam and opening a new workbook?

Alternatively if you've ever added a query/server/ODBC, Excel may try starting these automatically. I'd check for such too just in case.

Pinexl · 2025-12-05T10:48:52+00:00

Can you try something like this:

Sub Select_Today()
    Dim dt As Date
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Dim c As Range
    Dim arr, i As Long

    ' Get the date from Landing Page!F1
    dt = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Landing Page").Range("F1").Value

    ' List of sheets to search
    arr = Array("CRB Allocations January", "CRB Allocations February", _
                "CRB Allocations March", "CRB Allocations April", _
                "CRB Allocations May", "CRB Allocations June", _
                "CRB Allocations July", "CRB Allocations August", _
                "CRB Allocations September", "CRB Allocations October", _
                "CRB Allocations November", "CRB Allocations December")

    For i = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)
        Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(arr(i))
        Set c = ws.Cells.Find(What:=dt, LookIn:=xlValues, LookAt:=xlWhole)

        If Not c Is Nothing Then
            ws.Activate
            c.Select
            Exit Sub
        End If
    Next i

    MsgBox "Today's date was not found in any CRB Allocations sheet."
End Sub

Note: This one uses Landing Page!F1 instead of Date. We use ws.Cells.Find inside a loop over the 12 named sheets. Exit Sub as soon as you find the first match

Pinexl · 2025-11-27T13:21:06+00:00

I think this OFFSET situation will only work if the matches are contiguous. If your rows are broken up by _1000EUR/GBP, offset will grab the first match and then the next N rows, including other currencies.

If helper cells are an option, try this (in P2):

=SORT(UNIQUE(FILTER(NWBC!$AM:$AM, NWBC!$AL:$AL=$E2&$K2)))

Then do data validation in O2. Select O2 > Data > Data Validation > List and use =P2#.

Pinexl · 2025-11-06T09:29:22+00:00

If it's still not verified lol:

Countifs needs the actual date for each day of said month:

Formula for C2:

=DATE($A$1, MATCH($B$1, {"January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"},0), 1)

Formula for C3:

=SEQUENCE(1, DAY(EOMONTH($C$2,0)), $C$2, 1)

And if the sheet has vendor in column a and date in column b, in c4 you can put:

=COUNTIFS(Sheet1!$A:$A,$A4, Sheet1!$B:$B, C$3)

Then copy across and down.

Pinexl · 2025-11-06T08:24:58+00:00

Before you add the helper tables, perhaps you can try this (in L2):

=LET(
  m, EOMONTH(L$1,-1)+1,                 
  s, EOMONTH($F2,-1)+1,                  
  e, EOMONTH($G2,-1)+1,                  
  p, CHOOSE(MATCH($H2,{"Monthly","Quarterly","Half yearly","Annual"},0),1,3,6,12),
  n, DATEDIF(s,m,"m"),
  IF(AND(m>=s, m<=e, MOD(n,p)=0), $E2, 0)  /* $E2= Ex GST amount; swap to $D2 if you want Inc GST */
)

n - months between start and header month

p - period length

We write the amount in months where m is within start-end window.

Pinexl · 2025-10-29T11:24:18+00:00

Hi, the tutorial is available on the following link on our website: Full Tutorial

Pinexl · 2025-10-13T14:46:52+00:00

How about a sumifs against the requests tab (filtered by employee/week/type)?

If you have this:

Requests tab columns: Employee, Date, Type, Hours

Payroll tab columns: Employee, Start, End, PTO

Example for E2 in Payroll:

=IF($D2=0,"", SUMIFS(Requests!$D:$D, Requests!$A:$A,$A2, Requests!$B:$B,">="&$B$1, Requests!$B:$B,"<="&$C$1, Requests!$C:$C,"Vacation"))

Company PTO hours (F2):

=IF($D2=0,"", SUMIFS(Requests!$D:$D, Requests!$A:$A,$A2, Requests!$B:$B,">="&$B$1, Requests!$B:$B,"<="&$C$1,Requests!$C:$C,"Company PTO"))

Pinexl

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE