Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
.svg)
If you run a business, agency, or sales team, you live inside Google Sheets. Revenue, ad spend, churn, headcount – it all ends up as rows and columns. A waterfall chart is the moment that chaos turns into a narrative: each bar shows how a starting value grows or shrinks step by step until you hit the final number. That makes it perfect for profit bridges, CAC breakdowns, budget changes, or mapping funnel drop-offs.In Sheets, waterfalls are built-in and flexible: you format your data, highlight it, insert a chart, then choose the waterfall type and customize labels, colors, and subtotals. You can show income vs. expenses, monthly net cash flow, or quarter-over-quarter changes in a few clicks.Now imagine an AI computer agent doing all of this for you. It opens the right Google Sheets file, cleans the data, inserts or updates the waterfall chart, tweaks colors and connector lines, and even exports images for your decks. While it quietly builds and refreshes the visuals, you stay focused on strategy, not pixel pushing.
## 1. Manual methods inside Google SheetsGoogle Sheets now has native waterfall charts, so you can go from raw numbers to a profit bridge in minutes.### Method 1: Simple waterfall from revenue and costs1) Prepare your data- In column A, list your steps (e.g. "Starting MRR", "New sales", "Upsells", "Churn", "Discounts", "Ending MRR").- In column B, enter the numeric change for each step. Positive numbers for gains, negative for losses. Include the starting and ending values.2) Insert the chart- Select your data range (A1:B7, for example).- Go to Insert > Chart.- In the Chart editor on the right, under Setup, open Chart type and choose "Waterfall" (under the Other category).- Google’s help doc for waterfall charts: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/91467793) Format and customize- Still in the Chart editor, use the Customize tab: - Chart style: set background, border, and whether to show connector lines. - Chart & axis titles: update the chart title to something like "MRR Waterfall – Q2". - Series: add data labels, change positive/negative colors, and mark any bar as a subtotal. - Legend and axes: adjust fonts, colors, and positions.### Method 2: Quarterly income vs. expenses waterfallUse the same approach for a P&L-style view:- Column A: Income, Wages, Cost of production, Taxes/fees, Net income.- Column B: Use a positive number for Income, negative numbers for costs, and the final net as the ending bar.- Insert a waterfall chart as above.- This layout mirrors the examples in Google’s guide and makes it easy to see which expense category hits you hardest.### Method 3: Headcount or funnel change waterfallWaterfalls aren’t just for money.- For hiring: Start headcount, Hires, Transfers in, Attrition, Transfers out, End headcount.- For marketing funnels: Site visits, Signups, Qualified leads, Opportunities, Customers.- Use positive values for additions and negative for drop-offs.- Insert the waterfall, then color positives in green and negatives in red so leadership instantly spots where you’re leaking.More chart customization options are covered in the official docs: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/63824 and axis/title settings at https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9085334## 2. No-code ways to streamline waterfall workflowsManual creation works, but as soon as you need weekly or multi-client reporting, you’ll want some automation.### No-code Method 1: Use add-ons to enhance visualsYou can install chart-focused add-ons from Google Workspace Marketplace:1) In Google Sheets, go to Extensions > Add-ons > Get add-ons.2) Search for "waterfall chart" or visualization tools like ChartExpo.3) Install, grant permissions, then access it from Extensions.4) Most add-ons: - Let you select a data range. - Offer advanced waterfall styles, themes, and annotations. - Export charts as images for slides and reports.Pros: Better visuals with minimal effort.Cons: Still requires you to trigger the add-on and manage data manually.### No-code Method 2: Connect data with automation toolsUse Zapier, Make, or similar tools to keep the underlying data fresh.- Example workflow: - Trigger: New Stripe payout, CRM revenue record, or ad platform report. - Action: Append or update the source data sheet in Google Sheets.- Your waterfall chart, which references this sheet, updates automatically when the data changes.Pros: Data stays live without exports.Cons: You still design and maintain the waterfall chart itself.### No-code Method 3: Use templates as a base- Start from Google’s own templates or community templates.- Copy a prebuilt waterfall sheet, then just paste in new data per period.- This is a great stepping stone before you bring in AI automation.Pros: Fast and repeatable for small teams.Cons: Still demands manual copy-paste and chart checks every cycle.## 3. Scaling with AI agents (Simular) at desktop levelAt some point, the tedious part isn’t the numbers – it’s the clicking. That’s where an AI agent like Simular Pro shines: it behaves like a power user who never gets tired.### Agent Method 1: Weekly profit bridge for multiple clientsStory: An agency CFO manages 15 client accounts. Every Monday, she used to:- Log into each client folder.- Open the P&L sheet.- Paste in fresh exports from QuickBooks or ad platforms.- Insert or adjust a waterfall chart for profit vs. prior period.- Download PNGs and drop them into a status deck.With Simular Pro:1) You define the workflow once: - Open the client’s Google Drive folder. - Locate the main financial Google Sheets file. - Navigate to the "Waterfall" tab. - Clear last week’s raw data range and paste the new export. - Confirm chart range is correct; if missing, insert a new waterfall chart via Insert > Chart. - Customize colors and labels according to your SOP. - Download the chart as PNG and upload it to a shared slide deck.2) Trigger this agent via a webhook or a simple schedule in your pipeline.Pros: Massive time savings, consistent formatting across all clients, and production-grade reliability for long, multi-step flows.Cons: Requires a clear SOP and initial agent setup; best suited once your reporting process is stable.### Agent Method 2: Daily SaaS revenue bridge with commentaryFor SaaS founders or revenue leaders:1) The Simular agent: - Opens your revenue Google Sheet. - Pulls or refreshes the MRR data tab. - Updates the monthly MRR waterfall chart. - Reads the changes and drafts a short plain-language summary ("New sales offset churn; net MRR up 4.2%."). - Pastes the chart and summary into a Google Doc or email draft.Pros: You wake up to a narrative dashboard – not just a chart – without touching Sheets.Cons: You still need to sanity-check the summary early on; over time the agent becomes more reliable as you refine prompts.### Agent Method 3: Cross-team scenario explorationYou can ask an AI agent to test scenarios:1) Duplicate your base sheet and waterfall tab.2) Change certain assumptions (e.g. +20% ad spend, -10% churn).3) Rebuild waterfalls for each scenario and export them.Simular Pro’s strengths here:- It can execute thousands of GUI steps reliably across desktop, browser, and cloud tools.- Every action is transparent and inspectable – you see exactly which buttons it clicked in Sheets.- It integrates into your existing data pipelines via webhooks: once a new dataset is ready, the agent runs the scenario pack.Pros: Lets non-technical leaders explore complex scenarios visually without learning scripting or BI tools.Cons: Overkill for very small teams who update charts only a few times per year.Official Google Sheets waterfall help for reference: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9146779Simular Pro overview and agent capabilities: https://www.simular.ai/simular-pro
