Google-sheets – Change cell color of a range of cells based on data in another column

Assuming the actual finishing date is in Column F and the sheet is called Sheet1, paste the code below inside your spreadsheet under Tools >> Script editor, then hit Save.

/***
* Color Code+ 
* Conditional formatting with cell referencing for Google Spreadsheets
* Support: scripts@bryanp.com
**/

function onEdit() {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var s = ss.getSheetByName('Sheet1');
var values1Rule1 = s.getRange('E1:E').getValues();
var values2Rule1 = s.getRange('F1:F').getValues();
var range3Rule1 = s.getRange('E1:E');
var color1 = 'red';

for (var row in values1Rule1) {
for (var col in values1Rule1[row]) {
if (values1Rule1[row][col] == values2Rule1[row][col]) s.getRange(s.getRange('E1').offset(row, col, 1, 1).getA1Notation()).setBackgroundColor(color1);
else s.getRange(s.getRange('E1').offset(row, col, 1, 1).getA1Notation()).setBackgroundColor('white'); }}
};

I used this script generator to make creating the code easier. You can adapt it to your needs.

You can reproduce the required table using a formula (this will only work on the newest version of Sheets):

=QUERY({A:A,A:A},"select Col1, count(Col2) where Col1 is not null group by Col1 label Col1 'Date', count(Col2) 'Number'",0)

And then reference that output for your graph.

If you are on the old version:

=ArrayFormula(QUERY(IF({1,1},A:A),"select Col1, count(Col2) where Col1 is not null group by Col1 label Col1 'Date', count(Col2) 'Number'",0))