The Final Tape
Spreadsheet Migration Checklist
Failure audit, formula drift test, and 14-day tracker for Excel → structured journal
Spreadsheet failure audit
Check 3 or more and migration should be on your calendar this month.
- Global risk cell — one change breaks R on hundreds of old rows
- Blended books — eval, funded, and personal in one expectancy pivot
- Actual loss as R — scratches and partial fills distort risk-reward
- Tag soup — free-text labels you cannot rank or count
- Self-graded compliance — "followed plan" scored after P&L is known
- Stale exports — weekly CSV means analytics are always behind
- File archaeology — master_v7_FINAL.xlsx is a signal, not a workflow
5-trade formula drift test
Recalculate R using planned risk at entry, not a global cell. Material shifts = formula drift.
| trade_id | planned_risk_$ | Sheet R | Recalc R | Drift? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9 essential columns
| Column | What to record |
|---|---|
| trade_id | Unique ID |
| portfolio_phase | Eval / Funded / Personal |
| setup_name | Fixed dropdown list |
| planned_risk_$ | Dollar risk at entry (frozen per row) |
| outcome_r | Net P&L ÷ planned_risk_$ |
| compliance_% | Checklist score 0–100 at entry |
| exit_tag | Controlled vocabulary (fear exit, etc.) |
| regime | Trend / Chop / News |
| risk_%_version | e.g. v1_static_1pct |
14-day migration tracker
| Day | Action | Done | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Make old sheet read-only (frozen backup) | ||
| 2 | Define setup names and checklists in plain language | ||
| 3 | One portfolio per phase; lock static risk + starting balance | ||
| 4 | Map old columns to new required fields | ||
| 5 | Re-log last 20–30 trades with full structure | ||
| 6 | Verify R on 5 trades against old sheet | ||
| 7 | First compliance filter (≥80%) | ||
| 8 | Compare filtered R review to old pivot | ||
| 9 | Controlled tags on every new trade | ||
| 10 | Add missed trades if your process includes them | ||
| 11 | First analytics view on live data | ||
| 12 | Remove one formula you will not maintain | ||
| 13 | First Kill List item from tag ranking | ||
| 14 | Archive old file; new system = single source of truth |
Full guide: Trading Journal vs Spreadsheet (2026 Guide)
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