Trading Journal in Excel or Google Sheets: Columns That Matter

A spreadsheet journal is free, infinitely customisable, and abandoned by most traders inside a month. The difference between the ones that last and the ones that do not is which columns you choose, and which half of the sheet you fill in before the open.

Split the sheet in two

Columns filled before the open: premarket bias, setup name, planned risk. Columns filled after the close: entry, exit, R multiple, in-plan flag, deviation note, process grade, one correction.

That split is the whole design. A spreadsheet completed entirely after the session is a record. A spreadsheet half completed before it is a commitment you can be measured against.

The twelve columns to build

1. 01

   Date / Session

   Lets you group performance by day of week and by session. Most traders have one recurring bad window.

2. 02

   Instrument

   ES, NQ, or options. Separating them stops one instrument's variance hiding the other's problem.

3. 03

   Premarket Bias

   Entered before the open. If it is blank, the row is already telling you something.

4. 04

   Setup Name

   Must match a name in your playbook. Anything typed as 'other' is an unplanned trade.

5. 05

   Planned Risk ($ or R)

   Filled before entry. This is the column that keeps a small loss small.

6. 06

   Actual Risk Taken

   The gap between this and planned risk is the single most useful number in the sheet.

7. 07

   Entry / Exit

   Straightforward record keeping, and the input for R multiple.

8. 08

   R Multiple

   =(Exit-Entry)*Direction/PlannedRisk. Normalises results so a big win on oversize does not read as skill.

9. 09

   In Plan? (Y/N)

   Binary. Filter on N and you are looking at the trades that cost you the year.

10. 10

    Deviation Note

    What you did instead of the plan, in one line. Moved stop. Added to loser. Chased.

11. 11

    Process Grade (A-F)

    Graded on adherence, not profit and loss. A red session executed to plan is an A.

12. 12

    One Correction

    A single behaviour for tomorrow. Not a list. Carry it into tomorrow's premarket bias cell.

The two views worth building

First, a filter on the in-plan column set to No. That view is your real profit and loss leak. Most traders find their planned trades are roughly breakeven to profitable and their unplanned trades pay for the whole drawdown.

Second, a weekly average of the process grade next to weekly R. Watch them over eight weeks. When grade leads and R follows, the process is working. When R is green and the grade is not, the account is being funded by luck and it will be reclaimed.

Resist adding more. Every extra metric is another reason to skip the sheet on the day it matters most.

Common questions

How do I make a trading journal in Excel or Google Sheets?

Create one row per trade with columns for date, instrument, premarket bias, setup name, planned risk, actual risk, entry, exit, R multiple, an in-plan yes or no flag, a deviation note, a process grade, and one correction. Fill bias and planned risk before the open, everything else within ten minutes of the close.

What formula should a trading journal spreadsheet use for R multiple?

Divide the realised result by the risk you planned before entry, not the risk you ended up taking. Using planned risk is what exposes oversized trades instead of rewarding them.

Is Excel or Google Sheets better for a trading journal?

Google Sheets is better for most traders because it syncs across devices and you can fill in premarket intent from your phone before the open. Excel is better if you want heavier pivot analysis on a large trade history.

Why do most trading journal spreadsheets get abandoned?

Because manual entry is a cost paid after a losing session, when motivation is lowest. Fix it by making the pre-open half of the sheet non-negotiable and keeping the post-close half to under two minutes.

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