---
schema_version: "1"
id: 80af5a5e63e1e054c663f7b2e1c0eb81bd6759140c95a0672586baf4846dffcc
title: Present Data Effectively with Charts
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/analytics/264-0-0/reports_builder_chart_tips.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.reports_builder_chart_tips.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: c430ae985351201a8b413c0cb096404cbbe8444cc7df734081c6d5bb2f542763
description: Report chart appearance depends on the chart type. For example, donut and funnel charts don't render negative values. Chart appearance can also be affected by very large or small numbers, custom summary formulas, and field-level security. Chart appearance can change when you switch the report format or change groupings and blocks.
products:
  - Cross Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Present Data Effectively with Charts

Report chart appearance depends on the chart type. For example, donut and funnel charts don't render negative values. Chart appearance can also be affected by very large or small numbers, custom summary formulas, and field-level security. Chart appearance can change when you switch the report format or change groupings and blocks.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Essentials</strong>, <strong>Group</strong>, <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: Enhanced Folder Sharing</td></tr></tbody></table>

- You can't have more than 250 groups or 4,000 values in a chart. If you see an error message saying that your chart has too many groups or values to plot, adjust the report filters to reduce the number. In [combination charts](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.reports_combination_charts_using.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "A combination chart plots multiple sets of data on a single chart. Each set of data is based on a different field, so values are easy to compare. You can also combine certain chart types to present data in different ways in a single chart."), all groups and values count against the total.
- If you lose access to a field used in a chart, use another field in its place. If no other fields are available, record count is used.
- Decimal-place precision on charts isn’t customizable. Numeric and currency values round to two decimal places. Percentage values round to one decimal place.
- If numeric values are too large or too small, they’re shown in scientific notation. For example, the number 5,750,000,000 is displayed as 5.75E9; -0.0000000061 is displayed as -6.1E-9.
- Some charts may display shortened numbers with a unit symbol.
    
      
    | Symbol | Unit | Example |
    | --- | --- | --- |
    | K | Thousand (10^3) | 4K = 4,000 |
    | M | Million (10^6) | 4M = 4,000,000 |
    | B | Billion (10^9) | 4B = 4,000,000,000 |
    | T | Trillion (10^12) | 4T = 4,000,000,000,000 |
    | P | Quadrillion (10^15) | 4P = 4,000,000,000,000,000 |
    | X | Quintillion (10^18) | 4X= 4,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
    | Z | Sextillion (10^21) | 4Z = 4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
    | Y | Septillion (10^24) | 4Y = 4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
    | m | Thousandth (10^-3) | 4m = 0.004 |
    | μ | Millionth (10^-6) | 4μ = 0.000004 |
    | n | Billionth (10^-9) | 4n = 0.000000004 |
    | p | Trillionth (10^-12) | 4p = 0.000000000004 |
    | f | Quadrillionth (10^-15) | 4f = 0.000000000000004 |
    | a | Quintillionth (10^-18) | 4a = 0.000000000000000004 |
    | z | Sextillionth (10^-21) | 4z = 0.000000000000000000004 |
    | y | Septillionth (10^-24) | 4y = 0.000000000000000000000004 |
- Line, bar, and column charts display negative values.
- In Salesforce Classic, pie, donut, and funnel charts don't render negative values. Groupings that contain negative values still appear in the legend, and negative values are still included in summary calculations, including the donut total.
- In Lightning Experience, donut and funnel charts don't render negative values.
- When creating charts, it isn’t good practice to group by a field on a child object and then sum by a field on the parent object. On a donut chart, for example, it’s possible that the total shown doesn’t match the sum of the wedges.
- In Salesforce Classic, dashboard and report charts that display values from summary formulas display decimal places using your default currency setting instead of what you specified for the formula. For example, if the summary formula specifies zero decimal places, no decimal places appear in columns, but chart values show the number of decimal places specified for your default currency (usually two decimal places). This limit applies to currencies, numbers, and percentages.
- With joined reports, summary field names contain both the field name and the block name. For example, if you’ve summarized the Amount field in Block 1, it appears as Block 1 — Sum of Amount in the Chart Editor. A cross-block or standard custom summary formula contains the block name when the formula is included in multiple blocks.
- When a report already has a chart, changing the report format or removing blocks, groupings, or summary fields has the impacts described in this table.
    
    <table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
          <colgroup>
            <col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
            <col style="width:66.66666666666666%">
          </colgroup>
          <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
            <tr class="">
              <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d70835e370">When you make this change ...</th>
              <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d70835e373">The effect is ...</th>
            </tr>
          </thead>
          <tbody>
            <tr class="">
              <td data-label="When you make this change ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e370 ">Switch format from summary, matrix, or joined to tabular</td>

              <td data-label="The effect is ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e373 ">All charts are removed from the report.</td>

            </tr>
            <tr class="">
              <td data-label="When you make this change ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e370 ">Switch format from summary to matrix</td>

              <td data-label="The effect is ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e373 ">The first summary grouping becomes the first row grouping. The second becomes
                the first column grouping. The third becomes the second row grouping. The chart is
                unchanged.</td>

            </tr>
            <tr class="">
              <td data-label="When you make this change ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e370 ">Switch format from matrix to summary</td>

              <td data-label="The effect is ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e373 ">The first row grouping becomes the first summary grouping. The second row
                grouping becomes the <em>third</em> summary grouping. The first column grouping
                becomes the <em>second</em> summary grouping. The second column grouping is removed.
                If the chart used the second column grouping, that grouping is replaced by the
                first available summary field that’s not already used in the chart.
              </td>

            </tr>
            <tr class="">
              <td data-label="When you make this change ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e370 ">Switch format from summary or matrix to joined</td>

              <td data-label="The effect is ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e373 ">
                <p>The existing report becomes the first block and the chart remains in the
                  report.</p>
                <p>If the matrix report used the second column grouping, that grouping is
                  replaced by the first available summary field that’s not already used in
                  the chart.</p>
                <p style="margin-bottom:0;">If the summary or matrix report included a grouping from a
                  bucket field, the grouping is replaced with the next available grouping not
                  already used in the chart.</p>
              </td>

            </tr>
            <tr class="">
              <td data-label="When you make this change ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e370 ">Switch format from joined to summary or matrix</td>

              <td data-label="The effect is ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e373 ">The first block becomes the report, and groupings and the chart are
                preserved. If the chart in the joined version contained summary fields from the
                first block, they remain in the chart in the summary report. Summaries from other
                blocks are removed from the chart.</td>

            </tr>
            <tr class="">
              <td data-label="When you make this change ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e370 ">Remove a block containing a summary field from a joined report</td>

              <td data-label="The effect is ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e373 ">The summary field is replaced with the next available summary field. If no
                additional summary fields are available, the original field is replaced with the
                record count from the first remaining block. Removing all blocks from a report
                removes the chart completely.</td>

            </tr>
            <tr class="">
              <td data-label="When you make this change ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e370 ">Remove a grouping used in the chart</td>

              <td data-label="The effect is ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e373 ">The grouping is replaced with the next available grouping. If all groupings
                are removed, the chart is removed as well. Groupings can be removed automatically
                when you add a report type to a joined report or if a field becomes unavailable,
                for example as a result of field-level security.</td>

            </tr>
            <tr class="">
              <td data-label="When you make this change ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e370 ">Remove a summary field used in the chart (including custom and cross-block
                summaries)</td>

              <td data-label="The effect is ..." class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d70835e373 ">The summary field is replaced with the next available summary field. If no
                additional summary fields are available, the field is replaced with the record
                count for either the report or the first block. Summary fields can be removed
                automatically, for example as a result of field-level security or when the report
                format changes.</td>

            </tr>
          </tbody>
        </table>

#### See Also

- [Add a Chart to a Report](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.reports_builder_charts.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Add a chart to give users a visual way to understand the data in your report.")
- [Chart Formatting Options](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.reports_chart_formatting.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Control the appearance and behavior of your chart.")
- [Show Multiple Sets of Data in One Chart](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.reports_combination_charts_using.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "A combination chart plots multiple sets of data on a single chart. Each set of data is based on a different field, so values are easy to compare. You can also combine certain chart types to present data in different ways in a single chart.")