Chart Two Series with Differing Orders of Magnitude

July 14, 2023 - by Bill Jelen

Problem: I’m trying to create a combo chart that shows revenue and gross profit percentage. In Excel 2010, the legend shows that both items are in the chart, but I can see only the Revenue series on the chart.

Strategy: Excel easily handles this with their Recommended Charts feature. Make sure the gross profit percent series is formatted with a % format. Select the data. Go to Insert, Recommended Charts. Excel will offer a Clustered Column - Line on Secondary Axis chart:

The data for the chart is in thousands and percents. The Recommended Chart suggests a combo chart with a Clustered Column and then a Line on the Secondary Axis. — Figure 1189. Ever since Excel 2013, the combo chart is easy.

Starting in Excel 2013, a new interface for creating combo charts is available. For each series, you can choose the chart type and choose which series should be on the secondary axis.

The new Custom Combination section of Insert Chart lets you specify the Chart Type for each Series and which should be on the secondary axis. — Figure 1190. Easier combo charts.

This article is an excerpt from Power Excel With MrExcel

Title photo by Ruth H Curtis on Unsplash