Almost every trader starts with a spreadsheet. That is not a bad idea: it costs nothing, you learn what you need to track and you've started right away. In this article I show how to set up a good Excel template, which formulas you need, and when it is time to move to software.
This article describes the structure and formulas so you can build a working template in Excel or Google Sheets yourself in a few minutes. There is no download attached; you keep full control of your own sheet.
The three tabs you need
- Trades: one row per trade, all raw data
- Dashboard: formulas that calculate your key statistics from the Trades tab
- Weekly review: a fixed place to answer three questions every week
Columns for the Trades tab
| Column | Example | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Date and time | 2026-10-29 09:20 | Session analysis |
| Instrument | GER40 | Compare per market |
| Direction | Long / Short | Bias analysis |
| Entry / Stop / Exit | 18200 / 18180 / 18260 | Basis for R-multiple |
| Setup | Sweep + FVG | Which setup works |
| Result (R) | 3.0 | Comparable across trades |
| Plan followed? | Yes / No | Measure discipline |
| Emotion | Calm / FOMO | Behavior patterns |
The formulas you need
- Result in R (long):
=(Exit-Entry)/(Entry-Stop) - Win rate:
=COUNTIF(R_column,">0")/COUNT(R_column) - Average win in R:
=AVERAGEIF(R_column,">0") - Average loss in R:
=AVERAGEIF(R_column,"<0") - Profit factor:
=SUMIF(R_column,">0")/ABS(SUMIF(R_column,"<0")) - Rule compliance:
=COUNTIF(Plan_column,"Yes")/COUNTA(Plan_column)
Note: in some regional Excel versions you use a semicolon (;) instead of a comma as separator. Read more about the underlying concepts in how to calculate R-multiple, what is expectancy and what is a good profit factor.
The weekly review: three questions
- Which rule did I break most often this week?
- In which setup or session did I perform best and worst?
- What do I change next week, in one sentence?
Where a spreadsheet falls short
- Manual work: entering every trade yourself takes time and gets skipped when it's busy
- Error-prone: one wrong cell in a formula corrupts your statistics without you noticing
- No automatic patterns: a spreadsheet calculates what you ask but doesn't tell you what you're missing
- Poor on the go: logging trades from your phone is awkward
- No discipline score: you can build one, but maintaining it is a job in itself
A spreadsheet is a fine start. Once you've consistently logged around 50 trades and notice that tracking is becoming a burden, that is the moment to switch. That is exactly what Logify is built for: making discipline and patterns visible automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Read also: What to write in a trading journal · Tagging your trades · Statistics to track