How to use Blotterbook

First run

Blotterbook runs entirely in your browser — there's no sign-up and your trade data never leaves the page. Open the app and you'll land on the setup screen. The whole flow is four steps:

1. Pick your broker, data feed, and state — these drive the cost & tax model.
2. Load CSV — choose the export from your trading platform; Blotterbook detects the format.
3. Confirm the platform and hit Start Blotterbook.
4. Explore your dashboard — cards, equity curve, calendar, costs, and stats.

Broker & costs

The Broker & Costs panel sets how your true costs are modeled. Your broker sets commission rates; your data feed and platform fee are monthly subscriptions; your state drives the tax estimate (it's auto-filled from your region, but you can change it). None of this depends on which platform your CSV came from.

Loading your CSV

Click Load CSV and choose your platform's export. Blotterbook reads the header row, auto-detects the platform, and shows what it found — it does not enter the app until you confirm. If detection is wrong or blank, pick the platform from the dropdown to re-parse. Only .csv files are accepted, and nothing imports unless parsing succeeds.

Then press Start Blotterbook. Re-uploads are safe — trades are de-duplicated by a stable id, so importing an overlapping export only adds genuinely new rows.

Reading the dashboard

Once loaded, the dashboard summarizes performance after costs and an estimated tax bill — not just gross P&L. The headline cards give you the shape at a glance:

The Performance graph plots cumulative P&L; toggle the Gross / Net / Take-home overlays to see what costs and tax remove:

The Break-even & Cost Budget panel itemizes exactly where the money goes, from gross to take-home:

The Trading Calendar, Advanced Statistics (expectancy, streaks, best/worst day, and Avg Hold Time for fills-based imports), and Filters round out the view.

Managing & backing up data

Open Manage data (top bar) to import more CSVs, search and delete individual trades, and — importantly — Download backup (.json). Because everything is stored locally in this browser, a backup is your portable copy: keep one before clearing data or switching browsers, and restore it any time. Export a polished performance report from the top bar to download or email a condensed summary.

TradingView Tested on real data

Blotterbook's reference format. Works with the Paper Trading account and connected brokers.

1. Open the Trading Panel at the bottom of the chart and select the Account (e.g. Paper Trading).
2. Go to the History / List of Trades tab.
3. Use the export / download icon to save a CSV.

Expected columns: Time, Action, Realized PnL (value). Each row is a closed position, so P&L is exact and no hold time is derived.

Tradovate Beta · synthetic-tested

1. In the Tradovate web app, open the Orders tab (not Performance).
2. Set your date range and filters, then click Download Report to get Orders.csv.

Detected columns: B/S, Contract, Avg Fill Price, Fill Time (a fills export — Blotterbook pairs entries→exits and computes hold time). Tradovate doesn't include commissions in this file, so set them via the broker selector.

Rithmic R|Trader Beta · synthetic-tested

1. In R | Trader, click File → Orders History.
2. Choose the account and date (one day at a time), then export to CSV.
3. Make sure Buy/Sell, Symbol, Qty Filled, Avg Fill Price, and a time column are visible — hidden columns aren't exported.

Detected columns: Buy/Sell, Symbol, Qty Filled, Avg Fill Price, Update Time (fills).

Sierra Chart Beta · synthetic-tested

1. Open Trade → Trade Activity Log.
2. Use Save Log As… (not Export — Export writes raw, unadjusted prices) to save a text/CSV file.
3. Keep the Symbol, Quantity, BuySell, FillPrice, and date/time columns visible.

The file is usually tab-separated; Blotterbook handles that automatically. Detected columns: BuySell, Symbol, FillPrice, Quantity, DateTime (fills).

TradeStation Beta · synthetic-tested

1. From the platform's Accounts / trade history (or Client Center), choose a date range.
2. Exclude broken/canceled trades and download as CSV.

Detected columns: Symbol, Type (Buy/Sell), Quantity, Price, Date/Time (fills). Verify the filled price column is populated.

MotiveWave Beta · synthetic-tested

1. Add a Trades panel (Trade Report).
2. Click Export to CSV on the right of the panel.

Detected columns: Instrument, Side, Entry/Exit Price, Entry/Exit Time, P/L. These are closed round-trips, so hold time comes straight from the export.

Webull Beta · synthetic-tested

1. On Webull desktop, go to Account → Orders → Order History.
2. Select a date range (up to 90 days per export) and click Export CSV.

Detected columns: Symbol, Side, Status, Filled, Avg Price, Filled Time (equities fills; only filled rows are used).

Interactive Brokers Beta · synthetic-tested

1. Create a Flex Query (Trade Confirmation / Trades) — or use an Activity Statement.
2. Include DateTime, Symbol, Buy/Sell, Quantity, TradePrice, and (ideally) Realized P/L.
3. Run it and download the CSV.

When the export carries Realized P/L per closing row, Blotterbook uses it directly; otherwise P&L is computed from price × the contract's point value.

Schwab / thinkorswim Beta · synthetic-tested

1. Open the desktop thinkorswim platform → Monitor → Account Statement.
2. Set the date range, then the gear icon → Export to file → CSV.

The export has several sections; Blotterbook locates the Account Trade History block (columns Exec Time, Side, Qty, Pos Effect, Symbol, Price) and pairs the fills.