Column chart
The column chart is the most used chart type in Excel. It is a great visual representation of numerical values against a few categories or labels, depicting the numerical values with vertical bars against a horizontal axis. Think of showing sales value against regions, or expenses incurred against expense categories. As long as the categories to represent visually are not over a dozen, a column chart often works nicely. It has the dual advantage of being easy to create and easy to read. The following screenshot shows an example of a column chart showing sales across five regions:
Figure 8.1 – Column chart showing company sales across five regions
Once you’ve decided to go with a column chart, based on your data and the insights you want to graphically present, the next important task is the design of the chart. A column chart can be created as a clustered column chart, a stacked column chart, or a 100% stacked column chart. Oftentimes...
