Trading Journal Template: Record Decisions and Results

A trading journal template should preserve what you planned before the trade and what actually happened afterward. Keeping those separate makes it harder to turn a lucky result into a good decision, or a normal loss into evidence that every rule needs changing.

This template works as a starting point for a futures trading journal in a spreadsheet, document or notebook. It does not require a paid journal product. We focus on fields you can complete consistently and questions that make the record useful at review time.

Trading journal template: two records for each trade

Give every trade a unique identifier and keep the planned record intact. Add actual results in separate fields instead of overwriting the entry, stop or reason that existed before execution.

CME's trade-log guidance recommends recording the reasons and circumstances of trades so that later review goes beyond adding up profit and loss. The structure here makes those reasons comparable.

Record enough context to reproduce the decision

A screenshot without a symbol or time can be difficult to interpret a week later. Save the contract and expiry, chart timeframe, timezone, session setting and the timestamp of the image.

Write the reason for a level in plain language. “Support” is less useful than an explanation of which prior activity made the area relevant and what would show that the interpretation was wrong.

For an Ai-assisted review, preserve the question and the returned explanation if your workflow permits it. Record which parts you accepted, which you rejected and why. The journal should describe your decision rather than attribute responsibility to a tool.

Our article on what Ai chart analysis checks can help define that context. Do not record an explanation generated after the outcome as if it had been available before entry.

Use one definition of planned risk

Choose a consistent definition for the initial risk figure and label it. If it includes estimated fees and execution allowance, use that definition throughout the sample. If it excludes them, say so and keep costs in another field.

For a hypothetical example, suppose a trade had $50 of initial planned risk under your chosen definition. A net realized gain of $75 is +1.5 times that initial risk, often written +1.5R. A net loss of $60 is -1.2R.

The second result is useful information. It shows that the actual loss exceeded the original denominator. Do not redefine the denominator afterward to make the trade look like exactly -1R.

For multiple entries or exits, preserve the fills needed to calculate a weighted result. A single average price can be useful, but it should remain traceable to the underlying transaction records.

Build a review sheet without creating false precision

A small worksheet can track the trade identifier, setup version, planned risk, net result, result divided by initial risk, and whether the trade followed the written conditions.

Add tags only when they answer a question. If every trade receives ten subjective labels, it becomes easy to discover a favorable pattern by changing the labels after the fact.

Start with a few observable categories such as session, setup version, entry-condition adherence and whether the exit followed the recorded plan. Keep “unclear” available when the evidence does not justify a confident classification.

Do not treat missing data as zero. If a fee record is unavailable, mark it missing. If you forgot the original screenshot, mark it missing rather than replacing it with a reconstructed chart and pretending it is equivalent.

Separate process review from outcome review

Ask two different questions: did the trade follow the plan, and what result did it produce? A four-cell comparison helps keep those questions apart.

A trade can follow the plan and gain, follow the plan and lose, break the plan and gain, or break the plan and lose. The third category deserves attention because a favorable result can reinforce a decision you had already ruled out.

The reasons traders fail evaluations include process issues that a profit-only journal may hide. Account-rule adherence should have its own field where relevant.

Likewise, an evaluation's consistency rule may require a separate calculation from ordinary trade statistics. Do not assume a positive total result means the account meets every withdrawal condition.

Make the weekly review a specific investigation

Choose a question before filtering the data. For example: “Did I submit orders before the required confirmation?” is more useful than “Which combination of tags makes the results look best?”

Review a comparable group, retain the losing and skipped examples, and count the records you excluded because information was missing. A tiny or selectively chosen sample cannot establish a reliable edge.

Inspect the original chart and order evidence for the largest differences between planned and actual risk. Those differences might come from fees, slippage, changed quantity, moved stops or incomplete records. Each explanation suggests a different operational correction.

Write one testable change for the next review period if the evidence supports it. Keep the old plan version attached to old trades. Otherwise, the journal loses the ability to show which rules were actually in force.

A five-minute completion routine

A short routine is more likely to survive a difficult session than an elaborate report you postpone.

1. Confirm the trade identifier and exact contract.
2. Save the original plan and before-entry image.
3. Import or transcribe actual fills and costs.
4. Record rule adherence before judging the result.
5. Note one question that requires later review.
6. Back up the record without exposing account credentials.

If you missed the pre-trade record, say so plainly. A truthful incomplete entry is more useful than a polished reconstruction that creates evidence you never had.

For another view of chart context during preparation or review, compare MyTradingBuddy Ai plans. Keep the original reasoning, your own decision and the actual result distinct so the journal remains a record you can trust.