Trading process
Trading journal for futures prop accounts: a practical template
A hypothetical MES trade earns $58 after commission, yet its closing result leaves a rule check unresolved. These journal fields show what else to record.
Save an account snapshot before the session
Keep a separate account profile and trade log for each account ID. Record the account's current limits before trading, then attach fills and review notes to that profile. Label the stage: evaluation, simulated-funded or live. At Boxcar, evaluation and simulated-funded accounts use virtual funds; live accounts have separately agreed terms.
Copy the fields below into a spreadsheet or journal app. Save the rule source and the date you checked it. When an account changes stage, its limits change or a payout changes the balance, start a new dated snapshot instead of overwriting the old one.
| Account field | What to save |
|---|---|
| Account and stage | Firm, account ID, program, size label and current stage. |
| Session | Trading-session date, reporting timezone and applicable close/cutoff time. |
| Loss floor | Starting balance or equity, active breach floor, and whether that floor updates intraday, at end of day or stays fixed. |
| Daily limit | Daily-loss setting, its calculation basis and remaining room; explicitly record none when no daily limit applies. |
| Position allowance | Current enabled contract limit, the capacity already used by other positions, and any scaling tier. |
| Other requirements | Applicable minimum-day, consistency, news and payout conditions, linked to the current rule source. |
Sources: Boxcar: evaluation, simulated-funded and live stages · Boxcar: drawdown and Daily Loss Limits · Boxcar: account and position limits
Record the plan and every fill
Use one trade ID to group an entry and its exits, and keep the individual execution records underneath it. Partial exits must retain their own quantities, prices and times. A new position after you return to flat gets a new trade ID.
Write the setup and intended risk before entry. After the trade, add what actually happened; do not replace the original plan with an explanation written after seeing the result.
| Trade field | What to save |
|---|---|
| Contract and direction | Exact symbol and expiry month, long or short, and account/trade IDs. |
| Plan | Setup, reason for entry, intended exit or invalidation price, quantity and planned dollar loss including cost assumptions. |
| Executions | Every filled quantity and price, with entry/exit timestamps and timezone. Preserve the raw export or execution IDs. |
| Result and fees | Gross result from fills, actual commissions and other trading charges, then net result. Identify figures that already include fees. |
| Account path | Time-stamped equity and active loss-floor values; retain the high-water mark when the rule uses it. Mark gaps in the record. |
| Review | Departure from the plan, the rule check affected, supporting evidence and one specific adjustment. |
Sources: CME: keeping a trade log · Boxcar: supported futures and commissions · Boxcar: drawdown and Daily Loss Limits
Worked example: reconcile two MES exits
This is an invented trade record, not a historical price sequence or a recommended trade. Assume a Boxcar simulated account buys two MES contracts at 6,000.00, closes one at 6,005.00 and the other at 6,007.00.
MES is $5 per index point per contract. Boxcar lists simulated MES commission at $0.50 per filled contract per side. The example uses assumed execution prices, so do not deduct price slippage again; assume no other trading charges. Keep any plan purchase or software subscription in a separate account-cost record.
| Journal calculation | Amount |
|---|---|
| First exit: (6,005 - 6,000) × $5 × 1 contract | $25 gross profit |
| Second exit: (6,007 - 6,000) × $5 × 1 contract | $35 gross profit |
| Total gross: $25 + $35 | $60 |
| Commission: 2 entry sides + 2 exit sides, each at $0.50 | $2 |
| Net trading result: $60 - $2 | $58 profit |
Sources: CME: Micro E-mini contract specifications · Boxcar: supported futures and commissions
Check the account path as well as the result
For the same hypothetical trade, assume the account begins at $50,300 and its active loss floor stays at $49,900 throughout the trade. The initial distance is $400. After the $58 net gain, the closing balance is $50,358, or $458 above that floor. These are illustrative balances, not a Boxcar plan specification.
That closing balance does not reveal the lowest equity reached while the position was open. If the journal has only entry and exit fills, mark the intratrade floor check as unknown. Do not label it passed or breached from missing evidence.
At Boxcar, touching the loss floor breaches the account, including through open-position losses. For intraday trailing accounts, open profit can also raise the floor. Compare equity and the applicable floor at the same times; a single lowest-equity number paired with a later floor can misrepresent what happened. Use the firm's account status and available timestamped records to resolve a discrepancy.
Turn the session review into a specific change
Reconcile the imported fills and fees with the account record before reviewing patterns. Keep partial exits linked to their trade ID, remove duplicate imports, and check timezone/session boundaries before assigning a day's result.
Record financial result, plan adherence and rule exceptions separately. A losing trade can follow its plan; a winning one can depart from it. Group comparable trades by setup and account stage, and keep the number of observations beside any average.
Choose an adjustment tied to evidence: for example, if you moved a stop farther from entry, record the original stop, the changed stop and the added dollar exposure. Review that behavior in later entries.
Sources: CME: keeping a trade log · Boxcar: drawdown and Daily Loss Limits