Last Updated: 2026-10-26
The earlier page presented a personal trading week without the underlying fills and balances needed to reproduce it. Its daily totals and final summary disagreed. Those results are withdrawn. The example below is entirely synthetic and is not a forecast or a set of bot parameters to copy.
Keep three records, not one profit screenshot
- Account record: opening and closing cash, every asset quantity, valuation time, outstanding liabilities and any transfers in or out.
- Activity record: order IDs, fills, cancellations, fees, funding, bot settings and manual interventions. A submitted order and an executed fill are different events.
- Outside costs: subscriptions, data or hosting paid outside the trading account. Allocate the stated period consistently and do not deduct a cost twice.
Record the product and margin mode. Spot inventory, a leveraged perpetual and an exchange's displayed “grid profit” do not measure the same thing. Keep the raw exports; the summary should be traceable back to them.
One week, one consistent balance
Assume a spot account starts with $1,000, no deposits or withdrawals occur, there are no liabilities, and the chosen end-of-week mark is documented. This is a valuation example, not an executable liquidation quote.
Scroll sideways to see every column. Keyboard: focus the table region and use the arrow keys.
| Item | Amount | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Opening equity | $1,000 | Starting balance |
| Closing cash | $580 | From account record |
| Closing inventory at the chosen mark | $460 | Quantity multiplied by stated price |
| Closing equity | $1,040 | $580 + $460 |
| Account gain | $40 | $1,040 − $1,000 |
| Subscription paid outside the account | $20 | Additional cost, not already deducted |
| Gain after that external cost | $20 | $40 − $20, or 2% of starting equity in this no-flow example |
The activity explanation must agree: suppose closed trades produced $100 before $20 in trading fees, while remaining inventory cost $500 and is now marked at $460. Closed net profit is $80, unrealized loss is $40, and account gain is $40. Reporting only the $80 would hide half the result. Deducting those same trading fees again from closing equity would also be wrong.
Transfers change the reconciliation
Use account P&L = closing equity − opening equity − deposits + withdrawals, with all values on a consistent basis. If the same account ends at $1,190 after a $200 deposit and $50 withdrawal, its account P&L is still $40. The deposit is not profit.
That formula gives a cash-flow-adjusted dollar result, not a time-weighted return. To compare returns when money moved during the week, retain the timing and intermediate valuations. Do not divide by whichever “active capital” amount makes the percentage more flattering.
What a week cannot establish
A rising cumulative grid-profit counter can coexist with falling total equity. A profitable week does not establish a sustainable monthly return, a Sharpe ratio, or superiority to holding the same assets. Compare a declared benchmark over the same timestamps, with its costs and allocation stated; do not select it after seeing the outcome.
Likewise, the largest drawdown of one bot is not automatically the portfolio drawdown. That requires the combined equity series. Keep missing marks and unavailable history visible rather than filling them with a smooth line.
A useful Friday review
- Can every closing quantity and cash amount be explained by the opening record, fills, fees and transfers?
- Which positions or orders remain open? “Stopped” is not proof that they were closed.
- Did a manual intervention change the predeclared rule? Record when and why, without rewriting the original plan.
- Did a timeout, duplicate request or stale price occur? Preserve the sequence and the venue's final state.
- What remains unreconciled? Mark the result provisional until it is resolved.
Finish with a factual note such as “$40 account gain, $20 external cost, two open positions; one transfer still under review.” Do not turn a short journal into a return promise. The grid P&L guide explains inventory effects, and the DCA worksheet separates order sizes from reserved capital.
Trading and automation can lose money. This is an educational reconciliation exercise, not financial advice or a personal trading record. AITR may earn commissions through referral links elsewhere; no subscription or deposit is recommended here.