This makeover shows a way to compare the revenue and profit from multiple lines of business

1. FinancialViz Makeover:
Comparing Revenue & Profit in
lines of business

2. Original
Source: ROB Magazine May 2018 issue

3. Discussion of original visual
• Each line of business has the same color in the two columns, which is helpful, but
the segments are ordered by size, not line of business, making it harder to
associate the revenue and profit from each line of business.
• The height of the two columns is similar, suggesting that the total of the segments
is similar. This is not true and could be misleading to the viewer. For example, the
profit segment for Merchandise & Services is taller than the revenue segment for
the same line of business, which is not possible.
• Most people will find related data harder to compare when positioned above and
below each other compared to side-by-side.
• The total revenue & profit doesn’t seem to be part of the message since there is no
total on the columns.
• One message the visual could be trying to communicate is where the revenue &
related profits come from. This can help the viewer understand which lines of
business are more profitable (have a higher margin).

4. Makeover
All values in $ US billions from fiscal 2017
Fuel
$29.8
$3.0
Merchand
ise &
Services
$11.5
$4.0
Other $1.2 $0.2
Revenue Profit
Merchandise
& Services

5. Discussion of makeover visual
• To more easily compare the revenue and profit for each line of business, the
profit and revenue values have the same scale and are put beside each
other.
• The visual is created in Excel. I used a stacked column graph with invisible
spacer segments to position each category properly.
• The baseline for each category is created by using gridlines positioned in
the correct spot using the Major Units setting and the vertical axis Min and
Max value settings.
• The line of business labels are part of the graph using data labels of the
data series name for a column with no visible segments. This helps when
you move or change the graph because the labels stay with the data. I did
have to add a text box for the Merchandise & Services label because the
label text did not wrap properly; this is necessary sometimes.

6. Lessons
1. Comparing related data is usually easier side-by-side
2. Compare related data on the same scale
3. Use the same color for related data and the same order of
categories to make comparisons easier