Please Don’t Turn Your Income Statement Into a Bar Chart

Updated onMarch 15, 2026 Reading Time: 1 minute

The image shows a colorful bar chart with an arrow on top of the growing bars from left to right going upward.

I’m assuming that the only content writers who present income statements as bar charts are non-financial people. Am I right?

In this short article, I will show you a couple of examples and explain why they add no value in the analytical process. But I will still show you my options that provide context, trending, and even predictability, thanks to a person named Shewhart.

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Mark Gandy

Mark is one of the pioneers in the CFO and Controllership professional services industry having launched his practice in 2001. Today, he teaches CEOs and CFOs critical financial leadership and management concepts so that they can continue to grow and prosper in times of adversity, transition, and renewal. He is also the host of the CFO Bookshelf podcast.