Free Trading Journal Template
Twenty columns, three worked examples, and the two formulas that do the arithmetic for you. Opens in Google Sheets, Excel or Numbers.
Here it is
Save the file, then in Google Sheets use File, Import, Upload. In Excel or Numbers just open it.
Download the CSVCheck your inbox and confirm your email if you want to stay on the list. The file is yours regardless.
The 20 columns
Most journal templates stop at the numbers your broker statement already gives you. Those columns tell you what happened. The last six are the ones that tell you why, and they are the reason a journal changes anything.
- 1 Date Trade date, ISO format so sorting works
- 2 Time Entry time, for spotting your worst hour of the day
- 3 Symbol Ticker or full option contract
- 4 Asset Class Stock, Option, Future, Forex, Crypto
- 5 Side Long or Short
- 6 Quantity Shares or contracts
- 7 Entry Price Average fill on the way in
- 8 Exit Price Average fill on the way out
- 9 Stop Price Where you said you would get out
- 10 Target Price Where you said you would take profit
- 11 Fees Commission plus exchange fees
- 12 Gross P&L Before costs
- 13 Net P&L After costs, the only one that pays rent
- 14 R Multiple Result divided by what you risked
- 15 Setup The pattern you thought you were trading
- 16 Mistake Tags Free text: chased, moved stop, revenge, oversized
- 17 Emotion Before (1-5) Calm at 1, wired at 5
- 18 Emotion After (1-5) Same scale, filled in at the exit
- 19 Followed Plan (Y/N) The single most useful column in the file
- 20 Notes / Lesson One sentence you would tell yourself tomorrow
Two formulas to paste in
The file ships with plain numbers so it opens cleanly everywhere. If you would rather have it calculate, drop these into row 2 and fill down. They handle shorts and the 100x option multiplier.
=IF(E2="Short",(G2-H2),(H2-G2))*F2*IF(D2="Option",100,1)
=M2/(ABS(G2-I2)*F2*IF(D2="Option",100,1))
Net P&L in column M is simply =L2-K2. Leave the R multiple blank on any trade you took without a stop, because there is no R to measure.
A spreadsheet is a good start. It is also the part people quit.
Typing every fill by hand tends to last about three weeks. VEXA pulls the trades in from 21+ brokers, keeps the columns you would have filled by hand, and tells you which mistake is costing you the most.
See plansQuestions
What should a trading journal track?
The numbers your broker already knows are the easy half: date, symbol, side, size, prices, fees and P&L. The half that changes behaviour is the part only you can log, which is the setup you thought you were taking, the rule you broke, and how you felt before and after.
Does it work in Google Sheets and Excel?
Yes. It is a plain CSV, so File then Import in Google Sheets, or double click to open it in Excel or Numbers. Nothing in the file needs a macro or an add-on.
How many trades before a journal tells me anything?
Roughly 30 to 50 trades of the same setup before the win rate means much. Mistake tags are useful far sooner, because the same three mistakes usually show up inside the first two weeks.
Is the template really free?
Yes. Download it, edit it, share it with your trading group. We ask for an email so we can send it and keep in touch, and every email we send has a one click unsubscribe.