Waterfall & PVM

For items sold in both periods, price is the change in unit price times the current units, volume is the change in total units valued at the base average price, and mix is the shift of units towards items priced above or below that average. Items sold only in the current period form the New bar and items no longer sold form the Lost bar, so price, volume and mix compare like with like. Items are classified by volume, never by amount, so a credit note cannot pose as a product.

That default, price at current volume, is the management-accounting sales price variance. Three more documented methods are a format-pane choice: price at base volume, price at base volume with a separate price-by-volume interaction bar, and a symmetric midpoint whose result does not depend on the order. Mix can be folded back into volume for the classic two-way split, which is the right choice when items are counted in different units, and new and lost items can be imputed into volume and mix instead of shown as their own effects.

Yes. For every item and under every method, volume, mix, price, cost, interaction, currency, new, lost and other sum to the change by algebra, and the bridge closes on the data's own end pillar. With Rounded labels add up, on by default, the steps between two pillars are rounded with the largest-remainder method, so the labels you read sum to the pillar labels. The data table and the item table use the same rounded ledger, and tooltips show two more decimals than the labels.

The engine is validated against an independent reference implementation on 480 scenarios, including new and discontinued products, returns, zero volume and mixed currencies, and property tests close 400 random portfolios under random option combinations.

The free tier is a complete waterfall for every viewer, with no licence. Subtotals and totals come from a Step type field or an "=" prefix on the step name, and a waterfall can have thousands of steps. Variance bridges from budget or prior year to actual by category come from a comparison measure or a Period field. Vertical or horizontal, Top N with Others, sort by impact and drill-down are all free.

Lower is better turns a cost bridge the right way round, and any step can be inverted. IBCS notation styles the pillars as PY, PL, FC and AC with hatched adverse bars. An automatic axis break keeps small steps readable on a large base, the difference highlight shows the change in value and percent, a data table sits under the chart and a one-line insight states the result.

Map a Period field with three or more values and a chained bridge runs through every period, 2024 to 2025 to 2026, as a variance or a price-volume-mix bridge, up to the latest 24 periods. If there are more, the footnote says which periods are shown, and you filter the Period field to choose others.

Map a region or segment to Small multiples and you get one bridge per value, on a shared or an independent scale. Any effect can be broken down by product inside a labelled band, every effect tooltip lists the top contributors, and an item table ties the bars back to the items. Chained bridges, small multiples and the price-volume-mix bridge with its breakdowns are the premium features.