Waterfall Chart functionality

[Shreyash_Sanket]

Hi ,

I need help building a Waterfall chart in Power BI that meets the following requirements:

Key Requirements

1. Define pillars with breakdowns
   I want to display the main pillars/categories, each with its own breakdown components.

2. Dynamic coloring

   • The pillars should have dynamic colors.
   • The breakdown items should also have dynamic colors.
   • I was able to achieve the layout using the custom visual “Simple Waterfall Chart,” but its limitation is that it does not allow dynamic color settings for both pillars and breakdowns.

What I Need Help With

• Is there any default Power BI visual that supports waterfall chart functionality and allows dynamic coloring for both the main pillars and their breakdowns?
• If possible, I would like a practical example with a Power BI (.pbix) file.
• I can share sample data for you to build the example.
• Please let me know if the data needs to be in a specific structure or format for this type of Waterfall chart to work correctly.
  

  Driver	DriverValues
  Baseline	1991195637.00	Pillar
  bas+avg	-1142736824.00	Breakdown
  Avg	848458813.00	Pillar
  FVA	880187097.00	Breakdown
  backendforecast	1728645910.00	Pillar
  anaplan	291941841.00	Breakdown
  KNX	2020587751.00	Pillar
  Total add	-29392114.00	Breakdown
  Modelling Data	-114314356.00	Pillar
  Actual Required	1876881281.00	Breakdown
  Actuals	2447480686.00	Pillar

  
  
  

[Shreyash_Sanket]

@grazitti_sapna 
HI ,I have checked the deneb chart it is not interactive one .It seems evething is static

[v-menakakota]

Hi @Shreyash_Sanket ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.

This is not fully supported by the default Power BI Waterfall visual. The native visual is designed around a single category axis, not a hierarchical structure, so it doesn’t inherently understand pillar vs breakdown. Because of that, things like treating pillars as totals and applying different colour logic to each role cannot be handled purely dynamically.

You can approximate the behaviour by adding a Type column (Pillar/Breakdown) and a colour measure, then applying conditional formatting and manually marking pillar bars as totals. This works for a fixed layout, but it’s still a workaround totals are not dynamic and the structure won’t scale cleanly if your data changes.

If your requirement is strict with fully dynamic colours + clear pillar/breakdown behaviour without manual steps, then the native visual won’t meet it. In that case, you’ll need a custom approach where you control the structure and colouring logic explicitly.

Best Regards, 
Community Support Team

[v-menakakota]

Hi @Shreyash_Sanket ,

I hope the above details help you fix the issue. If you still have any questions or need more help, feel free to reach out. We’re always here to support you.

Best Regards, 
Community Support Team

[Shreyash_Sanket]

It seems there is no solution in PBI for the scrnario above 

[v-menakakota]

Hi @Shreyash_Sanket ,

Currently Power BI does not fully support this scenario using the native Waterfall visual.

I would suggest raising this in the Microsoft Fabric Ideas forum. This is the best place to request new features, and many improvements come based on customer feedback.

Fabric Ideas - Microsoft Fabric Community

Best Regards, 
Community Support Team

[v-menakakota]

Hi @Shreyash_Sanket ,

Could you please confirm if you've submitted this as an idea in the Ideas Forum? If so, sharing the link here would be helpful for other community members who may have similar feedback.

Best Regards, 
Community Support Team 

[mj29109]

follow the following steps. i hoope your issue will be resolved. 🙂

Create a column so Power BI keeps your sequence:

DAX:

SortOrder =
SWITCH(
'Table'[Driver],
"Baseline", 1,
"bas+avg", 2,
"Avg", 3,
"FVA", 4,
"backendfore", 5,
"anaplan", 6,
"KNX", 7,
"Total add", 8,
"Modelling D", 9,
"Actual Requ", 10,
"Actuals", 11
)

Then: Sort Driver by SortOrder

Step 2 — Dynamic Color Logic Now the key part

Create a color measure:

Color Measure =
VAR TypeVal = SELECTEDVALUE('Table'[Type])
VAR ValueVal = SUM('Table'[DriverValues])
RETURN
SWITCH(
TRUE(),

-- Pillars (main bars)
TypeVal = "Pillar", "#1f77b4", -- blue

-- Breakdown positive
TypeVal = "Breakdown" && ValueVal > 0, "#2ca02c", -- green

-- Breakdown negative
TypeVal = "Breakdown" && ValueVal < 0, "#d62728", -- red

"#7f7f7f"
)

Step 3 — Build the Waterfall (Default Visual)

Use the built-in waterfall from Power BI:

Fields:
Category → Driver
Y-axis → DriverValues

Step 4 — Apply Dynamic Colors

Select the visual

1. Go to Format → Data colors
2. Click fx (conditional formatting)

Set:
  Format by → Field value
  Based on → Color Measure

Step 5 — Mark Pillars as Totals (CRITICAL)

Power BI doesn’t automatically treat your pillars correctly.

You must: Right-click each pillar bar:

1. Baseline
2. Avg
3. backendfore
4. KNX
5. Modelling D
6. Actuals

Then select: “Set as total”

This creates the proper waterfall reset behavior.

[Shreyash_Sanket]

@mj29109 The solution you inplemented can you provide the PBI file for the same 

[grazitti_sapna]

Hi @Shreyash_Sanket,

It is not possible to change the colors dynamically for waterfall/stached column charts in Power BI.

I've used Deneb visual (Free) and I was able to create the same, I've added few columns to the report. 

You can download the free visual from app store, by clicking in ... under the visualization pane and click get mre visiuals.

You can tweek the json code as per your requirement by clicking on ... on visual then selecting edit.

Please see attached .pbix solution.

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