Importing Trades (Broker Reconciliation)
Purpose
Trade import establishes financial ground truth.
Importing trades lets TradeMonkey load broker-confirmed execution data so outcomes, equity curves, rules, and analytics are based on what actually happened — not estimates or memory.
This is a core part of the Behavior Dashcam loop:
Behavior is captured in real time.
Financial truth is reconciled from the broker.
When to Import Trade Data
Trade import is used at two key moments in your workflow.
1. When Getting Started (Baseline)
If you are new to TradeMonkey, your first import creates a historical baseline.
Use a broker CSV to:
Build your equity and P&L history
Activate rule checks on real outcomes
Give Drift Detection and analytics enough data to surface patterns
Without a baseline import, TradeMonkey can record behavior, but outcome-based insights are limited.
2. Ongoing Reconciliation (Weekly / Monthly)
After you begin logging trades live:
You record intent, emotions, conviction, and plan adherence during or right after trades.
Later, you import the broker CSV for that period.
TradeMonkey then reconciles:
Logged trades ↔ broker-confirmed prices, timing, and P&L
Preserves all behavioral data
Corrects financial fields to broker truth
This ensures:
Rules are evaluated against real execution
Analytics reflect actual money outcomes
Behavioral drift is measured against reality, not approximation
What Trade Import Does
When you import a CSV, TradeMonkey:
Loads broker trades into a specific TradeMonkey account
Maps broker fields (symbol, times, prices, size, P&L)
Supports two financial formats:
Direct P&L – profit/loss per trade
Balance-based – P&L calculated from balance changes
Matches imported trades to existing entries when possible
Prevents duplicate trades on re-import
Highlights equity jumps to surface missing trades, deposits, or withdrawals
Trade import is the fastest way to move from behavioral logging to verified execution analysis.
How to Import Trades
1. Export a CSV from your broker
Use your platform's trade history or statement export
Choose a clean date range (e.g., last 3–12 months or last week)
Export one account or challenge at a time
2. Select the target TradeMonkey account
Choose the TradeMonkey account that corresponds to the broker account
Each TradeMonkey account should represent one real account or prop challenge
3. Upload and map columns
Upload your CSV
If the format is recognized, mapping happens automatically
Otherwise, map required fields:
Symbol
Side (Buy / Sell)
Entry time and price
Exit time and price
Position size
Either:
Per-trade P&L or
Opening and closing balance
4. Confirm the P&L mode
Direct P&L – use when your CSV includes profit per trade
Balance-based – use when only balances are provided
5. Review the import summary
See which trades were imported
See which matched existing logged trades
Review any rows that failed validation
Failed rows do not block the rest of the import.
6. Verify the equity curve
Open the account's balance/equity view
Look for unexpected jumps or gaps
Jumps usually indicate deposits, withdrawals, or missing trades
Imported Trades Without Behavior (Orphaned Trades)
When trades are imported without prior behavioral logging, they include:
Entry and exit prices
Position size
Broker-confirmed P&L
They do not include:
Emotional state
Conviction (1–10)
Plan adherence
Notes or reflections
These trades still:
Count toward P&L and equity
Participate in rule checks
To include them in behavioral analysis:
Open the trade
Add reflections, emotions, and notes
The trade then becomes a complete dashcam record
Exporting Data
You can export your TradeMonkey data to CSV at any time for:
External analysis
Backup
Review outside the platform
Important Notes
One CSV per account
Import each broker account or prop challenge separately.
Duplicate protection is automatic
Re-importing overlapping history will not double-count trades.
Psychology never comes from brokers
Emotional and plan-related fields must be recorded in TradeMonkey.
Time zones matter
Broker timestamps are imported as-is. Ensure your account and rule time zones match.
Partial imports still apply
Valid rows are imported even if some fail validation.
Support
If your CSV format is unclear or imported data doesn't look right, contact
hello@trademonkey.app