How to walk from the start to the end
The first row is often a total. Mark it with the total box and type the opening amount. The chart draws that bar from zero. Later rows are changes. A positive number rises. A negative number falls. You do not retype the running sum. The chart adds the change to the previous end. A later row marked as a total ignores its own number and draws the sum reached so far, from zero up to that sum. Use that for a closing bar or a subtotal.
Keep the list short enough to tell. Opening, two or three drivers, and closing is a clear bridge. Ten small adjustments become a fence. Combine the petty items into one bar called Other changes, and put the detail in a table if someone needs it. The order is the story. Do not sort a waterfall by size. Sorting would detach a cost from the moment it happens in the explanation.
Color separates totals, increases, and decreases. Totals use the first color. Increases use the second. Decreases use the third. Pick three colors that a reader can name, such as a dark neutral, a green, and a rust. The connectors are dashed so they read as guides rather than as another series. Value labels show the change with a sign, and they show the level on a total bar. Turn them on for a financial bridge. Turn them off if the axis is enough and the labels crowd a small chart.
The vertical axis is the unit of the total: dollars, hours, people. Title it. There is no need for a legend beyond the colors if the subtitle says that green is an increase and rust is a decrease. Say that in the subtitle in words. Color alone will fail in a black-and-white print. The grid helps a reader check the closing total against the axis.
Export PDF for a board page, PNG for a slide, and JPEG if required. If you need every line item rather than the bridge, use the table maker. If the parts are shares of one whole with no sequence of changes, use a stacked bar or a pie. Reset restores the sample profit bridge. Replace the labels and the amounts. Nothing is uploaded. The chart lives in this browser until you download it or clear the site data.