Combo charts in Google Sheets - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants a visual report showing monthly sales revenue and units sold together to understand sales performance trends.

📊 Data: You have monthly data for sales revenue in dollars and units sold for the first half of the year.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a combo chart that shows sales revenue as columns and units sold as a line on the same chart.

Sample Data

Month	Sales Revenue ($)	Units Sold
January	12000	300
February	15000	350
March	13000	320
April	17000	400
May	16000	380
June	18000	420

1

Step 1: Select the data range including headers: A1:C7.

Expected Result

The data range with months, sales revenue, and units sold is selected.

2

Step 2: Insert a chart by clicking Insert > Chart.

Expected Result

A default chart appears on the sheet.

3

Step 3: In the Chart Editor on the right, set Chart type to Combo chart.

Expected Result

The chart changes to a combo chart showing columns and lines.

4

Step 4: Set 'Sales Revenue ($)' series to Column type and 'Units Sold' series to Line type in the Series section.

Expected Result

Sales revenue is displayed as columns and units sold as a line on the same chart.

5

Step 5: Add chart title 'Monthly Sales Revenue and Units Sold'.

Expected Result

The chart has a clear title describing the data.

6

Step 6: Label the vertical axes: left axis for Sales Revenue ($), right axis for Units Sold.

Expected Result

The chart shows two vertical axes with correct labels for clarity.

Final Result

Monthly Sales Revenue and Units Sold

Month     | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
------------------------------------------------
Sales $   | ||| | ||||| | |||| | ||||||| | ||||| | |||||||| |
Units Sold|  --  --  --  --  --  --  (line connecting points)

Legend:
||| = Sales Revenue columns
-- = Units Sold line

Left axis: Sales Revenue ($)
Right axis: Units Sold

✓Sales revenue generally increases from January to June.

✓Units sold follow a similar upward trend, indicating consistent sales growth.

✓The combo chart clearly shows the relationship between revenue and units sold.

Bonus Challenge

Add a third data series for 'Profit Margin (%)' and include it as a line on a secondary axis in the combo chart.

Show Hint

Add a new column with profit margin data, then update the chart data range and set the new series to Line type with the right axis.