A trade journal template: the fields that matter, measured in R

A practical trade journal template with the fields that matter, a filled-in example with losses, mistake tags you can count, and about five minutes per trade.

Most traders who quit a journal do so because it asked too much. What follows is a short, fixed set of fields you can fill in about five minutes per trade, laid out so a weekly review can add up the numbers without guessing.

The goal is not a diary. A journal answers three questions: did I take the trades my plan describes, did I manage them the way I said I would, and what did each kind of mistake cost?

The template

Copy these fields into a spreadsheet, one row per trade, one column per field. Fill in the first group before you enter, while the plan is still only a plan.

Trade journal fields (one row per trade)

Field	What to write	Why it matters
Date and time	Entry date and time, with time zone (for example 2026-10-23 09:42 ET)	Lets you sort by time of day and spot a weak session
Instrument	Symbol and contract month if it is a future	Results often differ by market
Setup name	One name from your written playbook, or OFF-PLAN	The review grades setups, not moods
Planned entry, stop, target	Three prices, written before entry	Defines the trade you meant to take
Size	Contracts or shares	Checks that size came from the stop, not from a feeling
Planned risk ($ and R)	Distance to stop x size x value per point; and that amount as a multiple of your 1R	Every result is measured against this number
Actual fills	Real entry and exit prices from your statement	Shows slippage and late entries
Fees	Commissions and exchange or platform fees, round trip	Small per trade, large across a year
Result ($ and R)	Net dollars after fees, divided by planned risk	The number the weekly review adds up
Followed the plan?	Yes or No, nothing in between	Separates a bad outcome from a bad decision
Mistake tag	One code from a fixed list, or NONE	Makes errors countable
Screenshot note	File name of a chart saved at entry and at exit	Memory edits itself; a picture does not
Lesson	One line, written as a rule you could follow next time	Forces a usable conclusion instead of venting

Why measure in R, not dollars

R is the amount you planned to lose if the stop is hit. If your normal risk per trade is $100, then 1R is $100, a trade that makes $150 after fees is +1.5R, and a trade that loses $120 is -1.2R.

Dollars change meaning as your account and size change. R strips that out, so trades from different weeks, markets and sizes sit on the same scale. It also makes two problems visible that dollar totals hide: losses bigger than -1R (stops moved, skipped or slipped badly) and winners cut far short of the planned target.

The formula is simple:

Result in R = net result in $ (after fees) / planned risk in $

Use the planned risk as the divisor, not the risk you ended up taking. If you moved your stop and lost more, the journal should show a loss bigger than 1R. That is the point. There is more on sizing from a fixed R on the risk topic page.

A filled-in example

Illustrative example: three trades in one session on a micro index future. The contract value is set at $5 per index point for round numbers; check the real specification on the exchange site before you use any figure. 1R is $100. Fees are set at $2 per contract round trip, also illustrative. These are not real trades and the prices are invented for the arithmetic.

Illustrative journal rows (not real trades)

Field	Trade 1	Trade 2	Trade 3
Time	09:42 ET	10:55 ET	13:20 ET
Setup	Opening range breakout	Failed breakout (short)	First pullback
Plan: entry / stop / target	5000.00 / 4996.00 / 5008.00	5012.00 / 5016.00 / 5004.00	5006.00 / 5002.00 / 5014.00
Size	5 contracts	5 contracts	5 contracts
Planned risk	4 pts x $5 x 5 = $100 (1R)	$100 (1R)	$100 (1R)
Actual fills	In 5000.25, out 5008.00	In 5012.00, out 5016.50	In 5006.00, out 4999.00
Fees	$10	$10	$10
Net result	+$183.75 (+1.84R)	-$122.50 (-1.23R)	-$185.00 (-1.85R)
Followed plan?	Yes	Yes	No
Mistake tag	NONE	NONE	MOVED-STOP
Screenshot	t1-in.png, t1-out.png	t2-in.png, t2-out.png	t3-in.png, t3-out.png
Lesson	Entry a tick late cost little; keep the limit order	Stop orders can fill past the price; size for some slippage	The stop stays where it was planned or the trade is closed

The arithmetic, so you can check it. Trade 1: 7.75 points x $5 x 5 contracts = $193.75, minus $10 fees = $183.75, divided by $100 = +1.84R. Trade 2: 4.5 points against x $5 x 5 = $112.50, plus $10 fees = $122.50 lost, or -1.23R. Trade 3: 7 points against x $5 x 5 = $175, plus $10 = $185 lost, or -1.85R.

The session total is -1.24R (-$123.75). Two of the three trades were taken and managed as planned. Trade 2 lost a little more than 1R because of slippage and fees, which is normal and is why your sizing should leave room for it. Trade 3 is where the damage came from: had the stop stayed at 5002.00, the loss would have been about $110 (-1.10R) instead of -1.85R. The moved stop cost roughly 0.75R on one trade.

How to tag mistakes so you can count them

Free-text notes cannot be added up. Codes can. Pick a short fixed list, write it at the top of the sheet, and use only those codes. Six to eight is enough:

• OFF-PLAN: the setup is not in your written playbook.
• CHASE: entered well past the planned entry price.
• EARLY: entered before the setup's trigger actually happened.
• MOVED-STOP: widened or removed the stop after entry.
• OVERSIZE: more size than the stop and 1R allow.
• EARLY-EXIT: closed a trade before stop or target with no rule-based reason.
• REVENGE: a trade taken mainly to win back the previous loss.
• NONE: the plan was followed. Most rows should say this.

Rules for tagging: one primary tag per trade (the first mistake in the sequence, because it usually caused the others), tag on the same day, and do not invent new codes mid-week. A losing trade that followed the plan gets NONE. A losing trade is not a mistake on its own; a broken rule is.

At the weekly review, count the tags and add up the R cost of each. The R cost of a mistake is the actual result minus what the result would have been under the plan, as in trade 3 above. A simple summary looks like this: "MOVED-STOP: 3 times, -2.1R. CHASE: 2 times, -0.6R. Trades with NONE: +1.4R." That tells you which single rule to work on next week. The process topic page covers the weekly review itself.

How long it takes

About five minutes per trade if the sheet is set up well:

1. Before entry, about two minutes: setup name, planned entry, stop, target, size, planned risk. A formula column can calculate the risk in $ and R for you.
2. At entry and exit, a few seconds each: save a screenshot with a consistent file name.
3. After exit, about two minutes: fills, fees, result, followed-plan yes/no, tag, one-line lesson.

Fill the post-trade fields at the end of the session at the latest; next morning is too late,.

Records also help at tax time

A journal is a decision tool first, but the same data (dates, quantities, prices, fees) is what you need when working out gains and losses for a tax return. General information only: tax authorities set their own record-keeping rules. In Canada, the CRA says required records and supporting documents generally must be kept for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, with some longer periods (see the CRA page on how long to keep records). In the US, the IRS describes a general three-year period with several longer exceptions (see IRS: how long should I keep records).

Your journal does not replace official statements and trade confirmations; keep those too, and treat the broker's figures as the source of truth when they differ from your notes. Rules change and individual situations differ, so for how your trading is taxed, speak with a qualified tax professional. The Canada topic page has general background for Canadian traders.

Common mistakes

• Writing the plan after the trade. A stop recorded after exit is a guess shaped by the outcome. If you forgot to write it down, tag the trade OFF-PLAN.
• Only logging the good days. Skipped losing days make the record useless. Every trade gets a row, including the ones you are embarrassed by.
• Dividing by actual risk. If you moved the stop, dividing by the new, larger risk makes the loss look like -1R. Always divide by the planned risk.
• Ignoring fees. Gross results flatter a high-frequency style. Record net.
• Lessons that are not rules. "Be more patient" cannot be checked. "No entry until the bar closes beyond the level" can.

Start with the next trade, not with a redesign of the spreadsheet. For current market context before you plan a session, see the news page.

Examples use round, illustrative numbers and are not actual trades or results. Education only — not investment, tax or legal advice.

More on process