A very popular chart is the waterfall chart which shows the impact of various items on a total e.g. the various components that explain the move from budgeted profit to actual profit. A common way to build this is using column charts and spending hours colouring the columns as clear or using a template. An alternate way to create a waterfall chart in excel is by using stock charts.
An easier way involves using the Stock Charts in Excel which allow you to differentiate between upwards and downwards movements. To obtain a waterfall chart template go to the waterfall chart template for Excel 2007, Excel 2010 and Excel 2013
The benefit of stock charts are that they allow you to change the colour of the column depending on whether the movement is upwards or downwards.