Layout Pattern

Waterfall / Bridge

Step chart showing how a starting value becomes an ending value. Makes variances and drivers legible.

VarianceDriversFinance

How to Use It

Waterfall charts explain the why behind a number change. Start with the beginning value on the left (e.g. Q3 revenue), show each positive and negative driver as a stepped bar, and land on the ending value on the right. Color positives one way, negatives another. Label each bar with its magnitude. Works for P&L variance, customer count changes, headcount bridges, or any delta that decomposes into named components.

Content Zones

HeadlineKey insight

EvidenceChart, metric, or table

OPF Config

layouts:waterfall-bridge

Open Presentation Format

{
  "$schema": "https://pptx.dev/schema/opf/v1",
  "version": "1.0",
  "meta": {
    "title": "PPTX.gallery — layouts/waterfall-bridge"
  },
  "design": {},
  "slides": [
    {
      "id": "gallery-preview-1",
      "layout": "waterfall-bridge",
      "elements": []
    }
  ]
}

Open in OPF Playground

Preview this config live at pptx.dev/playground.

View registry.json