The Chart and Visual Analysis

The Economic Loss Comparison chart provides a visual representation of the gap between what the claimant earned and what they would have earned but for the injury. It is designed to be clear enough for use in correspondence, mediation packs, and court documents.

Reading the Chart

The chart plots gross yearly income on the Y axis against financial years on the X axis. Three data series are shown:

Line	Colour	Style	What It Shows
Claimant Gross	Blue	Solid	The claimant's actual gross yearly income
Comparison Gross	Orange	Solid	The but-for gross yearly income (what they would have earned)
Loss Line	Red	Dashed	The comparison earnings reduced by the impairment percentage

A legend at the bottom of the chart identifies each line.

The Gap Shading

When the comparison earnings exceed the claimant's earnings, the area between the two lines is shaded in a light blue. This shaded region represents the economic loss at a glance -- the larger the shaded area, the greater the loss. This makes it straightforward to see at which points in time the loss was greatest.

The Loss Period Outline

If you have set a Loss Period in the Economic Loss Calculations section, it appears on the chart as a dotted rectangular outline labelled "Loss Period". Only the earnings within this period are included in the loss calculations below the chart.

Annotations on the Chart

There are two types of annotations that can appear on the chart:

Modifier Annotations

Modifiers that have the Add as Note on Graph option enabled will appear as annotations on the chart:

Single-year modifiers appear as a vertical dashed line at the relevant financial year
Multi-year modifiers appear as a shaded reference area spanning the financial year range

Both types display the modifier's annotation label. Claimant modifier annotations appear in blue; comparison modifier annotations appear in orange. For example, a modifier modelling a promotion might display "Promotion to Senior Role" at the relevant year on the chart.

Pure Annotation Labels

You can also add annotation labels without modifying any earnings data. These are useful for marking key events on the chart, such as the date of injury. For example, adding an "Injury" annotation at the 2004/05 financial year places a clear marker on the chart showing when the injury occurred -- making the deviation between the claimant and comparison earnings trajectories immediately visible in context.

💡 Tip

To add a modifier annotation, expand a modifier in the right-hand panel and click Add as Note on Graph. For pure annotations (labels without data modification), use the annotation controls in the right-hand panel to set the financial year and label text.

Annotations help you communicate the rationale behind adjustments and the timeline of key events directly on the chart, which is particularly useful when the chart is included in submissions, correspondence, or mediation packs.

Hovering for Detail

Hover your mouse over any point on the chart to see a tooltip showing the exact earnings values for that financial year across all three series (Claimant, Comparison, and Loss Line). This lets you quickly verify specific data points -- for example, checking the claimant's gross earnings in the year of injury or confirming the gap between the comparison and claimant figures at a particular year -- without needing to expand the earnings tables.

Exporting the Chart

You can export the chart as a standalone PNG image:

Click the Export Chart button below the chart
The chart is saved as eco-loss-chart.png to your downloads folder

The exported image uses a white background regardless of whether you are using dark or light mode, ensuring it reproduces well in printed documents.

ℹ️ Note

The chart is also embedded in the Word document when you export the full analysis using the Export button in the top-right corner. The Word document includes Appendix A with a full-page landscape version of the chart, suitable for inclusion in submissions or correspondence.

Toggling Data Series

You can show or hide the claimant and comparison lines independently using the toggle switches on each earnings table header. This is useful when you want to focus on just one dataset or check whether a particular series is affecting the chart as expected.

The Loss Line visibility is controlled from the Loss Line toggle in the Economic Loss Calculations section.

Next Steps

Learn how to import earnings data and export your completed analysis in Importing Data and Exporting Results.