Trading rules template: rules you can check on every trade

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Trading rules are the written conditions that decide what you trade, when you enter and exit, how much you risk and when you stop. A rule helps only if you can tell afterwards whether you kept it. “Don’t chase” can’t be checked; “no entry more than 1% above the setup’s trigger price” can, from the order record alone. This template is built around that test: every rule has a column for how to check it and a number that makes it precise.

The workbook has three sheets. Rules holds ten numbered rules in five sections (market and setups, entry, exit, risk, conduct), each with its yes-or-no check and your number; the ten filled in are illustrative examples to replace. Rule check is one row per trade: Yes or No for each rule, the share of rules followed, whether every rule was followed and the trade’s result in R, with a summary that compares the trades that followed every rule with those that broke one. How to use explains the steps.

Rules belong in a trading plan, which covers your whole operation. The pre-trade checklist applies them before each order, and the trading journal template records each trade’s plan and result.

What makes a trading rule checkable

A checkable rule names something you can see in the trade record (a price, a time, a count, a percentage) and a limit. The test: given only your order history and the chart, could someone else say whether you kept it? Common vague rules, rewritten:

Vague ruleCheckable rule
Don’t chase.No entry more than 1% above the setup’s trigger price (below it, for a short).
Cut losers quickly.A stop order at the planned price is working from the entry fill and is never moved further from the entry.
Don’t overtrade.At most three new trades a day, and none after the day’s losses reach 3R.
Trade with the trend.Longs only when the stock closed above its 50-day moving average and the average is higher than 20 trading days earlier.
Be patient at the open.No entries before 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time.
Size sensibly.The risk per trade, |entry − stop| × shares, is at most 1% of the account.

The template, section by section

One rule, one test: when a rule joins two conditions, make sure both can be checked, or split it in two. Keep the list short. Ten rules you check on every trade do more than thirty you remember now and then.

  1. Market and setups

    Which trades you take at all: the written setups, the market conditions that allow new positions, and the stocks you trade (price, liquidity, no earnings report before the planned exit).

    • Rule 1: Take only setups written in the plan.
      How to check: The setup recorded for the trade is listed in the plan under the same name, and each of its written conditions was met at entry.
      Example number: Two setups: breakout, pullback
    • Rule 2: Open new longs only while the market is in an uptrend.
      How to check: The S&P 500 closed above its 50-day moving average on the day before the entry.
      Example number: 50-day moving average

  2. Entry

    How and when you get in: the trigger, how far past it you may still enter, the times you don’t enter, and what must be written down before the order.

    • Rule 3: Don’t chase the trigger.
      How to check: Entry price ÷ trigger price − 1 is at or below the limit (for a short, trigger ÷ entry − 1).
      Example number: 1%
    • Rule 4: No entries in the first minutes after the open.
      How to check: The entry time is at or after the cut-off.
      Example number: 9:45 a.m. ET

  3. Exit

    How every trade ends: the initial stop, the target or trailing exit, and a time stop for trades that go nowhere. Every exit should be one of the planned ones.

    • Rule 5: Place the stop order with the entry.
      How to check: A stop order at the planned price was working from the entry fill.
      Example number: At entry
    • Rule 6: Exit only at the stop, the target or the time stop.
      How to check: The trade closed at the stop, at the target, or at the close of the last day allowed; no other exit.
      Example number: Target 2R; 10 trading days

  4. Risk

    How much a trade and a day may cost: the risk per trade as a share of the account, the most positions or risk open at once, and the daily loss limit in R.

    • Rule 7: Limit the risk per trade.
      How to check: |Entry − stop| × shares ÷ account size is at or below the limit.
      Example number: 1% of the account
    • Rule 8: Limit the number of open positions.
      How to check: Counting this trade, no more positions were open than the limit.
      Example number: 5 positions

  5. Conduct

    The rules that protect the others: when you stop for the day, what you never do to a stop, and how you respond to a losing streak.

    • Rule 9: Stop trading for the day at the daily loss limit.
      How to check: No new entry after the day’s closed losses reached the limit.
      Example number: 3R
    • Rule 10: Never move a stop further from the entry.
      How to check: Every change to the stop moved it in the trade’s favor (up for a long, down for a short).
      Example number: Every trade

Preview

Five illustrative trades with fictional tickers, as the Rule check sheet shows them with the example rules. The percentage, the all-followed column and the summary are worked out by formulas.

Example rows (illustrative numbers, fictional tickers)
DateTickerRule 1Rule 2Rule 3Rule 4Rule 5Rule 6Rule 7Rule 8Rule 9Rule 10Rules followedAll followed?R result
2026-10-05XMPLYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes100.0%Yes+1.80R
2026-10-07YMPLYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes100.0%Yes−1.00R
2026-10-12ZMPLYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesYes90.0%No+0.40R
2026-10-14QMPLYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNo90.0%No−2.10R
2026-10-19WMPLYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes100.0%Yes+0.60R

Summary of the five trades (illustrative numbers)

  • Trades checked: 5, with every rule followed on 3 of them (60%).
  • Average R with every rule followed: +0.47R. Average R with a rule broken: −0.85R.
  • Times broken: rule 3 (entering too far above the trigger) once, rule 10 (moving the stop away) once.

Review your rule-following every week

Once a week, read the Rule check summary with three questions. Which rule was broken most often? The row of counts above the table shows it. Was it broken in the same situation each time, for example after a loss or in the first hour? And how did the trades that broke it turn out compared with the rest? The guide How to review your trades sets out a full weekly routine.

Comparing the average R of trades that followed every rule with trades that broke one separates two problems. If the rule-following trades hold up and the rule-breaking ones don’t, the rules are sound and the execution needs work. If both groups look about the same, a rule may not be adding anything; a rule that is broken all the time may be unrealistic as written. A few dozen trades still leave a lot of noise, so treat the comparison as a question to look into rather than a verdict. The expectancy calculator shows what an average R adds up to over many trades.

Change a rule only at a scheduled review, and note the reason. The free Clear Tape journal runs this check for you: its AI score grades each closed trade on how closely it followed your own plan and rules (the setup, entry, risk, management and discipline), never on the profit or loss.

How to use it

  1. Download the workbook and open the Rules sheet. Replace the example rules with your own, section by section: the rule, how to check it and your number. Keep ten at most; rules 1 to 10 are the columns of the Rule check sheet.
  2. Test each check: could someone else answer it with yes or no from your order history and the chart? If not, add a price, a time, a count or a percentage until they could.
  3. Before each order, size the position from your risk rule; the position size calculator gives the shares for a chosen risk.
  4. When a trade closes, add a row to the Rule check sheet: the date, the ticker, Yes or No for each rule, and the result in R from your trading journal. Leave a rule empty if it did not apply; it is then left out of that trade’s percentage.
  5. Once a week, read the summary and the times-broken row and choose one rule to work on. Change the rules themselves only at a scheduled review.

Use it in Google Sheets

  1. Download the .xlsx file above.
  2. In Google Sheets, choose File › Import › Upload and select the file (or upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets).
  3. Choose “Create new spreadsheet”. The formulas, the drop-down lists and every sheet come across; the template is then yours, in your own Google account.

Questions

What are trading rules?

Written conditions that govern your trading: which setups and stocks you trade, how you enter and exit, how much you risk per trade and per day, and when you stop. Good rules are specific enough that anyone could check from the trade record whether they were followed.

What are some examples of good trading rules?

Rules written so they can be checked: risk at most 1% of the account per trade; place the stop order with the entry and never move it further away; no entry more than 1% above the trigger price; no entries in the first 15 minutes after the open; stop trading for the day after losing 3R. These numbers are illustrations; yours should come from your plan and your records.

How many trading rules should I have?

Few enough to check on every trade. The template allows ten, and five to eight is often enough. A rule you can’t check every time, or one you break constantly, usually needs rewriting rather than more rules around it.

How do I know whether my trading rules work?

Record for each trade whether every rule was followed and the result in R, then compare the two groups over a few dozen trades; the template’s summary does this. A backtest answers a different question, whether the setup itself has an edge. Checking rules tells you whether you traded it as written.

Are these the same as broker or regulatory trading rules?

No: this template is for the rules you set for yourself, while requirements such as the pattern day trader rule come from FINRA and your broker.

Is the template free, and do I need to sign up?

It is free and downloads without an account or an email address. You can use it, change it and keep it. The online Clear Tape journal is a separate, optional tool with a free plan.

Related guides and tools

Other templates

An educational template. The formulas and examples illustrate record keeping and risk arithmetic; they are not investment advice.

Prefer it calculated for you?

The free Clear Tape journal does the same work without a spreadsheet: plan the trade, log or import the fills from your broker’s CSV, and it works out R, expectancy and drawdown, then gives each trade an AI score for how closely it followed the plan. The template stays yours either way.