Line charts in Excel - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a sales analyst at a retail company.

📋 Request: Your manager wants to see the monthly sales trends for the first half of the year to understand how sales are changing over time.

📊 Data: You have monthly sales data for January to June, including the month name and total sales amount.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a line chart that shows the sales trend from January to June.

Sample Data

Month	Sales
January	1200
February	1350
March	1500
April	1600
May	1700
June	1650

1

Step 1: Enter the monthly sales data into two columns: Column A for Month and Column B for Sales, starting from cell A1.

No formula needed. Just type the data as shown in sample_data.

Expected Result

Data is organized with months in A2:A7 and sales in B2:B7.

2

Step 2: Select the data range including headers from A1 to B7.

Select cells A1:B7.

Expected Result

The data range is highlighted and ready for chart creation.

3

Step 3: Insert a line chart to visualize the sales trend over the months.

Go to Insert tab > Charts group > Click on 'Insert Line or Area Chart' > Choose 'Line'.

Expected Result

A line chart appears showing months on the horizontal axis and sales on the vertical axis.

4

Step 4: Add chart title to describe the chart clearly.

Click on the chart title area and type 'Monthly Sales Trend (Jan-Jun)'.

Expected Result

Chart title is updated to 'Monthly Sales Trend (Jan-Jun)'.

5

Step 5: Format the horizontal axis to show all month names clearly.

Right-click horizontal axis > Format Axis > Ensure axis labels show all months.

Expected Result

Months January to June are clearly visible on the horizontal axis.

Final Result

Monthly Sales Trend (Jan-Jun)

 1800 |                       *
 1700 |                    *  
 1600 |                 *     
 1500 |              *        
 1400 |           *           
 1300 |        *              
 1200 |     *                 
       --------------------------------
        Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

✓Sales increased steadily from January to May.

✓There was a slight dip in sales in June compared to May.

✓The overall trend shows growth in the first half of the year.

Bonus Challenge

Add a second line to the chart showing the sales target for each month and compare actual sales against targets.

Show Hint

Add a new column with sales targets next to the sales data, then select all data including targets before inserting the line chart.