Waterfall component in Zoho CRM: Visualize how individual contributions build the result

Waterfall component in Zoho CRM: Visualize how individual contributions build the result

Dear Customers, 

We recently introduced three new chart types — Sankey, Treemap, Cluster and Butterfly — to offer you fresh ways to visualize your CRM data and gain new perspectives.

In line with that, we’re excited to bring you a new component—Waterfall in Zoho CRM Analytics.

What is a Waterfall component?
Waterfall is a powerful visualization tool, similar to charts, that illustrates how an initial value evolves through a series of positive and negative changes.
  • Unlike a simple column chart that displays isolated values, the Waterfall component shows cumulative progress, making it easy to pinpoint exactly how each value contributes to the outcome.
  • It doesn’t just present numbers—it shows you the flow of data, helping you pinpoint where gains are made or losses occur, which is critical for informed decision-making. 
Let's say you’re tracking revenue fluctuations, monitoring process efficiencies, or forecasting future trends; a waterfall component will offer a clear, intuitive way to understand the dynamics of your data.


Let’s say you want to understand how your total subscriber count is impacted by different subscription status. A Waterfall component that shows the number of subscribers across statuses like Active, Trial, Upgraded, Churned, and Expired gives you a clear idea of the total subscription.


For example, you might see that while Active and Trial users drive major gains, losses from Churned and Expired users reduce the net total. This helps you identify how much total value is effected by churned and expired subscriptions and whether it needs attention to retain or recover subscriptions.

To cater to the wide range of analytical needs, the Waterfall component comes in four distinct variants.

What're the different variants?

Basic variant: Visualizes categorical changes where each stage is assigned as either a positive (adding) or negative (reducing) factor. The final bar represents the net result after accounting for all additions and subtractions. 

  • Useful for cases where predefined picklist values represent distinct stages, such as sales stages or process steps.
Let’s say you want to understand how revenue accumulates or drops across different stages in your sales pipeline. A Waterfall component showing the revenue by stage helps you track how each stage contributes to—or reduces—the overall revenue.

For example, you may notice that stages like Qualification, Proposal, and Negotiation add significant value, but stages like Closed Lost and Closed Lost to Competitor pull down the total. This view helps you identify where your pipeline gains most of its value and where you're losing potential revenue.



Cumulative variant: Focuses on tracking cumulative changes over time. Users can optionally enable intermediate sums (quarterly, yearly) for better clarity. The final bar represents the total cumulative value at the end of the period.
  • Useful for scenarios where values accumulate over time—such as monthly profits, expenses, or revenue trends—making it easier to track growth, fluctuations, and periodic performance.
Let’s say you want to monitor how profit has grown or declined over time. A Cumulative Waterfall that shows profit across months, with quarterly intermediate sums, helps you track month-over-month changes and quarterly performance in one view.

For instance, while you may see steady growth in Q1 and Q4, Q2 and Q3 show noticeable dips in specific months like May and October. This helps you quickly spot which months drove growth, which pulled performance down, and how each quarter contributed to your overall profit.

Breakdown variant: The Breakdown variant is similar to Cumulative but provides a more granular view by breaking down each time period into different segments based on the business requirements.
  • It's useful for tracking various subcategories within each time period — the breakdown is among the picklist options like product type, regions, etc. even though the grouping is a time-related field.
Let’s say you want to compare product-wise subscription trends over the past few years. A Breakdown Waterfall component showing the product wise subscriptions across the year and broken down by product category gives you a clear picture of which product lines grew or declined year over year.

For instance, you might find that Mobile subscriptions dropped sharply in 2022, while Tabs showed consistent growth across all three years. This helps you evaluate product performance within each time period and understand what’s driving your overall subscription trend.



Projection variant: Perfect for financial forecasting and scenario planning, this variant starts with a user-defined initial value and tracks incremental changes over time. The initial bar’s value can be set as "All Time" (historical total) or "Previous Period" (last period’s final value). The final bar will show the total after incorporating all positive and negative changes over time.
  • It is ideal for scenarios where past values influence the present and future.
Let’s say you want to visualize how profit is expected to grow across the current year, starting from an initial value. A Projection Waterfall that shows the profit across quarters, with an initial value set from all-time data, helps you track projected gains quarter over quarter.
For example, you might see consistent growth of 3k each quarter, building toward a total profit of 15k by year-end. This helps in forecasting quarterly performance and understanding how current trends may shape your overall annual outcome.

That's all for the enhancements. Let us know your feedback in the comments below.

Release plan: We will open this for customers in phases over the week. 

Thanks and have a good one!

Kind regards,
Saranya Balasubramanian