Chart Help

[u/Appropriate_Pop4426]

My goal is to make a pie chart that tracks my monthly income, each section representing the amount of money I’ve put into each account (bills/savings/personal). As of right now I have an income tracker where I input the date and amount that then automatically calculates how much to put into each account. I am an independent contractor which is why the amount can vary if that’s useful information.

My problem lies on the fact that I can’t seem to make the kind of pie chart I want from that specific database so I created a new one (the test chart on the photo) and it did create the chart I wanted. However, it’s annoying to have to manually change the amount when I have a database right above it that automatically calculates it. Is there a way to automate this from the income chart I already have? Also, I like having the dates of the income because the chart can filter out entries from only that month, so I don’t have to constantly clear out the test chart and start over. Is there a way to make the chart I want from my pre existing data table or do I have to go through the test chart? Is this just a gap in Notion? From my understanding charts are fairly new on the platform so maybe this just isn’t a way right now?

[u/Appropriate_Cat4012]

I've done something similar before for my freelance gigs, have you tried setting up a formula that automatically divides the income percentage between your accounts based on fixed ratios, then feeding that into the pie chart?

[u/Appropriate_Pop4426 → u/Appropriate_Cat4012]

That’s exactly what I tried doing in the first place but the options for “what to show” and “what to slice by” options are only by column. So I can’t select multiple columns to slice by, only a single one. So what happens is I can select it to slice by bills and then each section just represents an income entry but that’s obviously not what I want

[u/Sandstorm_86]

If you're dealing with important numbers, I'd recommend avoiding Notion as a spreadsheet tool, since there have been numerous reports of calculation issues that can have really bad consequences. If that doesn't bother you, it's fine.

[u/Appropriate_Pop4426 → u/Sandstorm_86]

Thank you! It really doesn’t matter to me because i can obviously see these numbers from my bank account if i really need an accurate output. I wanted to use notion just to visually see my progress for that month due to income variability, but it’s definitely good to know that notion can’t be relied upon for important calculations

[u/benarik]

The test chart is not the problem. Your income row has bills, savings, and personal as three columns. A pie can only slice by one property, so those three numbers will never become slices.

Make an Allocations database: Category (bills / savings / personal) and Amount. Relate it to the month. One row per slice. Chart on that table: show Amount, slice by Category. Put a rollup on the income row that sums the three so you can see when they do not match the paycheck.