Waterfall charts in Excel - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the formula to calculate the net change between two values in Excel.

Excel

=B2[1]C2

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A+

B-

C*

D/

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using + instead of - causes incorrect net change.

Using * or / will not calculate the difference.

The net change is calculated by subtracting the previous value from the current value, so the correct operator is -.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the formula to calculate the cumulative total in a waterfall chart in Excel.

Excel

=SUM($B$2:B[1])

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A3

B6

C4

D5

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using a wrong row number causes incorrect cumulative sums.

Not fixing the start cell with $ signs breaks the formula when copied.

The formula sums from the fixed start cell B2 to the current row cell B4 to get the cumulative total.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the formula that calculates the starting point for the next bar in a waterfall chart.

Excel

=IF(B3>0, [1] + B3, [1])

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AB2

BC2

CA2

DD2

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong column letter causes reference errors.

Using the same row instead of the previous row breaks the logic.

The formula should add the current value B3 to the previous cumulative total B2 to get the next starting point.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a formula that sets the base for positive and negative changes in a waterfall chart.

Excel

=IF(B4>0, [1], [2])

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AB3

B0

CB3 + B4

DB4

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using the current change value as base causes wrong bar positions.

Not using zero for negative changes breaks the waterfall effect.

If the change is positive, the base is the previous total B3. If negative, the base is zero to start the drop from the baseline.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a formula that calculates the height of bars in a waterfall chart, distinguishing increases and decreases.

Excel

=IF(B5>0, [1] - [2], [3] - B5)

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AB5

BB4

DB3

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Mixing up cell references causes incorrect bar heights.

Using the same cell for both parts breaks the formula logic.

For positive changes, subtract the previous total B4 from the current value B5. For negative changes, subtract the change B5 from the previous total B3.