In TradeJournal, an account represents one of your real brokerage (or paper-trading) accounts — the place your trades live. You'll create at least one before you can log or import any trades, and it only takes a minute. This guide walks you through it.
Before you start
You don't need to connect anything or enter a password. An account in TradeJournal is a record you set up to organize and track your trading — it isn't a live link to your broker. (To bring in trades, you'll later import a file you download from your broker; that's covered in a separate article.)
Create your account
- In the left navigation, go to Accounts.
- Click New Account (top right).
- Fill in the form (see the field guide below — only a few fields are required).
- Click Save.
That's it — you'll land back on the Accounts page with your new account card.
What each field means
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Name (required) | A friendly label so you can tell your accounts apart — e.g. "Schwab Roth IRA" or "Main Trading". |
| Brokerage | Pick your broker from the list (Charles Schwab, Tastytrade, and others). Don't see yours? Choose to enter a custom broker name instead. This is just a label — it doesn't log in anywhere. |
| Account type | Whether this is a live (real-money) account or a paper (practice) account, so your real and practice results stay separate. |
| Starting balance | How much the account is funded with. TradeJournal uses this as the baseline for your equity and profit/loss over time. |
| Currency | The account's base currency (e.g. USD). |
| Date opened | When you opened the account. |
| Account number (optional) | If you add it, it's shown masked (e.g. 12•••345) for privacy. You can leave it blank. |
| Color | A color used on this account's cards and chips so it's easy to spot at a glance. A default is provided — change it if you like. |
| Daily loss limit (optional) | An optional safety guardrail — a maximum loss for a single day. You can set this later. |
What happens after you save
- A portfolio is created for you. Every account gets a "Default" portfolio automatically, so you can start logging trades right away — no extra setup.
- Your first account becomes your default. It's pre-selected for you whenever you log a new trade, so the common case is one click. (You can change which account is the default anytime — see Setting a default account.)
- You're ready to trade-journal. Head to New Trade to log one by hand, or use Import to bring trades in from a broker file.
Good to know
- You can add more than one account. Many traders keep separate accounts (e.g. an IRA and a taxable account, or live vs. paper) — just repeat the steps above. Each shows as its own card on the Accounts page.
- You can edit or delete an account later. Open the account from the Accounts page to update its details. Deleting is reversible for 30 days, so an accidental deletion isn't permanent.
- Is my information shared with my broker? No. TradeJournal doesn't connect to or sign in to your broker — everything you enter stays in your journal.
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