Shea Laughlin the blog…

Side by Side Stacked Bar Chart in Excel

Completed Chart.

Problem:

This type of chart has stumped Google searches and some of the Excel gurus that I know… How on earth do you compare daily, monthly, or quarterly data by year using stacked bar charts?  The catch:  the bar charts need to be next to each other.  Example:  Q1 of 2009 data should be represented next Q1 of 2008 data.

Solution:

• Each month, quarter, or day needs to have it’s own row. (X-Axis Label)
• The data for each month, quarter, or day needs to be staggered year by year.
• When all the data is entered, select your data, insert chart  (stacked bar).  Note:  If you’re using a Mac you might have to change the format of the data.

Data behind the chart.

Download Excel File here.