Free Trading Journal Template: Excel, Google Sheets & Examples

Free Trading Journal Template for Excel and Google Sheets

A trading journal records what you planned, what actually filled, and what you learned. Start with the spreadsheet header below, record one closed stock trade per row, and keep the original stop and thesis unchanged after entry. The worked examples show how to calculate net profit or loss and R-multiples for both long and short trades.

This is a free, copyable framework, not a downloadable workbook or a brokerage import. It needs no Tradewink account. It covers shares in one currency; options, futures, foreign exchange, multi-currency trades, and complex position adjustments need additional fields and instrument-specific calculations. Journaling can help you inspect decisions, but it does not establish profitability or remove trading risk.

Copy the Spreadsheet Header

Copy this CSV header into a plain text file and import it into Excel or Google Sheets with comma as the delimiter. Alternatively, paste the header into A1 and use your spreadsheet's split-text-to-columns command. The formulas below assume these exact column positions.

Date,Ticker,Direction,Setup,Entry,Initial stop,Shares,Exit,Total costs,Net P&L,Initial price risk,R-multiple,Mode,Original thesis,Exit reason,Process note

Put numbers in E–L without currency symbols. Enter 0 in costs when costs are genuinely zero; do not leave unknown costs blank. Costs can include commissions, fees, and applicable borrow charges. Actual fills already reflect the price you received, so do not subtract an additional slippage estimate from actual P&L. Record a separate planned-versus-actual price comparison if you want to study slippage.

For partial fills and scale-outs, keep a second fill-level sheet with trade ID, timestamp, side, quantity, price, and fees. Calculate quantity-weighted average prices and total costs before filling the summary row. Only use the simple formula when the entry and exit share quantities match and the position is closed. Open trades belong in a separate view and should not enter closed-trade statistics.

Spreadsheet Formulas for Row 2

Paste each formula into its named cell, then fill it down. These formulas use English function names and comma separators; spreadsheet locales may require different separators. Google's function reference documents IF, COUNT, COUNTIF, SUMIF, and AVERAGE.

J2 — net P&L after costs:

=IF(AND(COUNT(E2,G2,H2,I2)=4,E2>0,G2>0,H2>0,I2>=0,OR(C2="Long",C2="Short")),IF(C2="Long",(H2-E2)*G2,(E2-H2)*G2)-I2,"")

K2 — initial price risk:

=IF(AND(COUNT(E2,F2,G2)=3,E2>0,F2>0,G2>0,OR(AND(C2="Long",F2<E2),AND(C2="Short",F2>E2))),ABS(E2-F2)*G2,"")

L2 — realized R-multiple:

=IF(AND(ISNUMBER(J2),ISNUMBER(K2),K2>0),J2/K2,"")

A blank calculation is a prompt to check the inputs. A long trade requires an initial stop below entry; a short trade requires one above entry. A zero-distance stop, missing costs, or an unknown direction should not silently become a valid result. Review blanks rather than treating them as breakeven trades.

Here, 1R is the original entry-to-stop distance multiplied by shares, excluding costs. Net P&L includes costs. Keep that convention consistent so a later stop adjustment does not change the original denominator. This price-risk amount is not a maximum-loss guarantee: Investor.gov explains that a stop can execute at a price different from its trigger, and a stop-limit can fail to execute. A realized loss can exceed 1R.

Worked Trading Journal Examples

These are fictional completed trades using a made-up ticker, not recommendations or historical performance. They demonstrate arithmetic only.

For a losing long example with the same entry, quantity, and stop, an exit at 47.80 and costs of 2 produce net P&L of −24 and −1.2R. That is why a journal must use actual fills rather than assuming every stopped trade loses exactly 1R.

A useful process note could read: "The thesis was invalidated before the exit. I followed the documented exit rule, but the actual fill differed from the stop level." Separate this observation from the financial result. A losing trade can follow the plan; a winning trade can break it.

Summary Metrics That Handle Blank Rows

Run these formulas on a sheet containing only the closed trades in the group you want to study. For example, make separate filtered copies for live and paper, or for each setup version. Do not hide rows and assume these basic formulas will exclude them.

Use COUNT rather than COUNTA for numeric result columns. Formula cells that return empty text must not inflate the denominator. Google documents COUNTIF for conditional counts and COUNT for numeric counts.

A profit factor above 1 describes net gains in the recorded sample. It does not prove a repeatable edge. Average R and dollar profit factor answer different questions because trade sizes and initial risk vary. Report both with sample count, dates, setup versions, market conditions, and missing-data count. No universal threshold of 50, 100, or 200 trades establishes statistical reliability; correlated trades, outliers, costs, and changing conditions matter.

A Weekly Trading Journal Review Checklist

1. Reconcile the record. Match every closed position to broker fills and costs. Check duplicates, unmatched quantities, and blank formulas. Label estimates rather than presenting them as confirmed fills.
2. Keep comparable groups together. Separate live from simulated trades and record strategy version, instrument, and session. Do not mix unrelated setups to make the aggregate look better.
3. Compare decisions with the original plan. Review the thesis, stop, intended size, and exit rule as they were written at entry. Identify changes without editing the original record.
4. Inspect both wins and losses. Review the largest gains and losses, but also ordinary trades. Ask whether one outlier or one day dominates the result.
5. Choose one testable process change. Write the observation, proposed change, and what evidence would contradict it. Test a new version separately rather than rewriting past rows.

Optional fields include entry and exit chart references, order type, session, emotional state, maximum favorable excursion (MFE), and maximum adverse excursion (MAE). MFE and MAE describe the observed price path, not prices you necessarily could have filled. They can motivate a hypothesis about exits or stops; they do not establish the correct rule by themselves.

For practice records, see the paper trading guide. For historical rule testing, see how to backtest a trading strategy. Keep those records distinct from actual executions.

What Tradewink Records

Tradewink's trade analytics can record trades closed by its own trading loops. Its day-trade monitoring tracks MFE and MAE, and a post-trade AI analysis can store a root cause and lesson when that analysis succeeds. These records are inputs to review; AI explanations are interpretations, not verified causes or promises of better results.

Tradewink does not automatically journal every trade you place manually on another platform. Use this template or a journal with a documented import for those trades, and reconcile any automated record with broker fills. A private paper-track signal decision is also different from a brokerage fill: it records a research decision without placing an order or creating a broker position.

Common Template Mistakes to Avoid

• Changing the initial stop after a loss to improve the reported R-multiple.
• Leaving costs blank or subtracting slippage twice from actual fills.
• Counting open positions, blank formula cells, or duplicate fills as closed trades.
• Calculating profit factor from R values while labeling it dollar profit factor.
• Treating a favorable small sample as proof of future returns.
• Recording only profitable trades or using an AI explanation without checking the underlying fills and plan.