How to Create Sales Charts in Excel
By Amy Dombrower
Microsoft Excel has the tools to create a variety of chart types, from pie charts to scatter plots. The chart you choose depends on the type of data you want to display. For sales charts, you may want to create a line chart, showing the pattern of company sales over time. But you also could form a column chart, comparing the number of sales for different products.
Line Chart
Step 1
Open a blank workbook in Microsoft Excel.
Step 2
Enter "Date" in cell A1. This will be the column header for the x-axis values (time). Press the down arrow to move to the next cell down.
Step 3
Enter regular intervals of time in each cell, such as months of the year. So, for instance, in cell A2, enter "Jan," then "Feb," and so on.
Step 4
Tab over to column B. Enter "Sales." Press the down arrow to move to the next cell down. Enter the corresponding sales for each month. Determine the unit of measurement (such as in millions).
Step 5
Highlight all of the data.
Step 6
Click the "Insert" tab. Click "Line" in the "Charts" group. Select "Line with Markers." The new chart will appear on your workbook.
Step 7
Select the bounding box around the chart. The "Chart Tools," including the "Design, Layout and Format" tabs will appear in the Ribbon. Browse these tabs to set a chart style and layout of chart elements, such as axes and chart title.
Step 8
Select a chart element, such as the chart title, on the worksheet to edit it.
Step 9
Click the "Microsoft Office Button," and select "Save as" to save the chart.
Column Chart
Step 1
Open a blank workbook in Microsoft Excel. Enter the category you want to compare in cell A1. For instance, to compare different products, enter "Product." In the cells below, enter the name of each product. You could also use a column chart to compare sales in different regions. Tab over to column B. Enter "Sales." Below, enter the sale values for each product.
Step 2
Highlight the data. Click the "Insert" tab. In the "Chart" group, click "Column." Select a column chart subtype you want to use. For instance, for a simple data series, choose "2D Clustered Column." The chart will appear in the workbook.
Step 3
Select the bounding box around the chart. The "Chart Tools," including the "Design, Layout and Format" tabs will appear in the Ribbon. Browse these tabs to set a chart style and layout of chart elements, such as axes and chart title.
Step 4
Click the chart title inside the chart. Replace it with an appropriate title for the chart. To add the unit of measurement (i.e. Sales in millions), click the vertical axis. On the "Format" tab, click "Format Selection" in the "Current Selection" group. In "Axis Options," select "Millions" in the "Display Units" field. Click "Save and Close."
Step 5
Click the "Microsoft Office Button," and select "Save as" to save the chart.
References
Tips
- Create stacked column charts if you want to compare categories of sales over time. To do this, enter a separate column of sales for each period of time (columns B, C, D, E). For example, you could plot sales of each product over four fiscal quarters. Then you can use a stacked column to display the sales of each quarter as well as the total. (Ref. 2)
Writer Bio
Amy Dombrower is a journalist and freelance writer living in Chicago. She worked in the newspaper industry for three years and enjoys writing about technology, health, paper crafts and life improvement. Some of her passions are graphic design, movies, music and fitness. Dombrower earned her Bachelor of Arts in journalism from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.