---
title: Why the Stacked Bar Chart is My Go-To in Smartsheet Dashboards
description: Smartsheet dashboards have limited charts, so you have to get creative. Here are my 4 favourite uses for the stacked bar chart.
image: https://www.adrienautomation.com/hubfs/Count%20of%20issues%20chart.png
---

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# Why the Stacked Bar Chart is My Go-To in Smartsheet Dashboards

![Adrien Leduc](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Photo%20profil.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=Photo%20profil.jpg)

 Adrien Leduc

May 18, 2026

## **Making the Most of Smartsheet's Stacked Bar Chart**

Let's be honest, Smartsheet dashboards offer a fairly limited chart library. You get your classics: pies, bars, lines, and scatter plots, with a few variations of each so creativity quickly becomes a necessity.

There are clever workarounds out there, like [this community-built speedometer chart](https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/145984/speedometer-chart-core-product), but as you can probably tell, it's not exactly a quick build.

Given those constraints, I think the better approach is to master what is already available and squeeze as much value as possible out of the native chart types.

My favourite is the **stacked bar chart**. It's the most versatile chart in the toolkit, and it works across a surprising range of use cases. Here are four of my favorites:

### **1. Positive and negative counts**

This is the stacked bar chart in its most traditional form: positive values stacked above the axis, negative values below. It's ideal for showing revenues and costs by month, for example. You can pair it with a simple bar chart showing the monthly balance, or a cumulative version that tracks the running total throughout the year.

![stacked horizontal bar](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/stacked%20horizontal%20bar.jpg?width=768&height=384&name=stacked%20horizontal%20bar.jpg)

### **2. Count by category (vertical or horizontal)**

Another classic use, breaking down a count of items by category. Clean, readable, and instantly familiar to any stakeholder. The horizontal variant works particularly well when you have long category labels.

| ![Smartsheet stacked horizontal bar by category](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Smartsheet%20stacked%20horizontal%20bar%20by%20category.jpg?width=255&height=255&name=Smartsheet%20stacked%20horizontal%20bar%20by%20category.jpg) | ![Project Portfolio launch date super compact](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Project%20Portfolio%20launch%20date%20super%20compact.jpg?width=511&height=175&name=Project%20Portfolio%20launch%20date%20super%20compact.jpg) |
| --- | --- |

 

### **3. RAG status (Red, Amber, Green)**

Most people would use the half-donut chart for RAG indicators, and I do too sometimes. But I find the arc shape can distort perception. The middle segment appears taller and therefore more prominent than it really is. A stacked bar keeps all three statuses visually comparable and on equal footing.

It's also a practical space-saver on a crowded dashboard.

| ![Smartsheet half donut RAG Chart Compact](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Smartsheet%20half%20donut%20RAG%20Chart%20Compact.jpg?width=1576&height=964&name=Smartsheet%20half%20donut%20RAG%20Chart%20Compact.jpg) | ![Smartsheet Stacked Chart RAG compact](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Smartsheet%20Stacked%20Chart%20RAG%20compact.jpg?width=2165&height=579&name=Smartsheet%20Stacked%20Chart%20RAG%20compact.jpg) |
| --- | --- |

 

### **4. Data quality and completeness tracking**

This is my personal favorite application of the stacked bar chart, and the one I find most underused.

When managing a portfolio of projects, it's easy for updates to slip through. Project managers miss their deadlines, fields get left blank, or entries contain errors. Conditional formatting on your portfolio sheet can flag these issues, but how do you surface that information quickly to leadership or PM managers?

The principle is straightforward (elegant even, if you allow me), every row in your chart must total the same value: the total number of items in your list (projects, in this case). You then divide each row into three segments:

- **Correct:** entries that are complete and accurate
- **Issues:** entries with errors or inconsistencies
- **Missing:** entries with no update at all

(Those are the best labels I've found, let me know if you have better taxonomy.)

This is typically built through an intermediary metrics sheet that calculates these three counts per project manager or time period. The result is a chart that makes gaps and errors visible at a glance, no digging required.

![Count of issues chart](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Count%20of%20issues%20chart.png?width=4000&height=2000&name=Count%20of%20issues%20chart.png)If you'd like help building charts like these in Smartsheet or need support designing your dashboards, use the form below to get in touch.

## Keep reading

### [![](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/How%20to%20Keep%20the%20Same%20Reviewer%20Assigned%20Across%20Resubmissions%20in%20Smartsheet%20with%20a%20unique%20ID.png?width=1200&height=600&name=How%20to%20Keep%20the%20Same%20Reviewer%20Assigned%20Across%20Resubmissions%20in%20Smartsheet%20with%20a%20unique%20ID.png) How to Keep the Same Reviewer Assigned Across Resubmissions in Smartsheet](https://www.adrienautomation.com/blog/how-to-keep-the-same-reviewer-assigned-across-resubmissions-in-smartsheet?hsLang=en)

### [![](https://www.adrienautomation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Do-you-need-this-smartsheet-premium-app-Control-Center-Bridge-Resource-Management-Data-Shuttle-Data-Mesh-Dynamic-View-Pivot-App.png?width=2000&height=1000&name=Do-you-need-this-smartsheet-premium-app-Control-Center-Bridge-Resource-Management-Data-Shuttle-Data-Mesh-Dynamic-View-Pivot-App.png) Do you need this app? A guide to Smartsheet's premium apps](https://www.adrienautomation.com/blog/do-you-need-this-smartsheet-premium-app-control-center-bridge-resource-management-data-shuttle-datamesh-dynamic-view-pivot-app?hsLang=en)

 © 2026 Adrien Leduc · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrienleduc/)

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