Recording Deposits and Withdrawals

Every time money moves in or out of your private trading account, record it. This keeps your P&L calculations accurate and maintains a complete financial history.

How Recording Works

Deposits, withdrawals, and balance updates are all recorded through the CSV import in the Transactions tab of each Private Account. Manual one by one entry is not available, all updates go through the import.

The import is designed to handle three things in a single file:

  • Deposits — money you've put into the account

  • Withdrawals — money you've taken out of the account

  • Balance updates — snapshots of your current account balance

For the full step by step on the import, see Importing Broker Statements 

This article covers why you need to record these accurately and what they mean for your P&L.

Why Record Deposits and Withdrawals?

The platform calculates your trading P&L using this formula:

Net Trading P&L = (Current Balance − Starting Balance) − Deposits + Withdrawals

If you deposit $5,000 but don't record it, the platform thinks your balance increase came from trading, overstating your profits.

If you withdraw $3,000 but don't record it, the platform thinks your balance decrease came from losses, understating your profits.

Recording every capital movement ensures accurate performance tracking.

What Counts as a Deposit

  • Bank transfer into trading account

  • Credit card funding

  • Wire transfer

  • Internal transfer from another account

  • Broker bonuses added to balance (if they're real, withdrawable money)

What's NOT a Deposit

  • Trading profits (that's P&L, not a deposit)

  • Interest earned (if it's added automatically by your broker, decide on a consistent approach and stick with it)

  • Paper gains

What Counts as a Withdrawal

  • Bank transfer out of trading account

  • Wire withdrawal

  • Internal transfer to another account

  • Taking profits out (still a withdrawal, even though it's "profit")

What's NOT a Withdrawal

  • Trading losses (that's P&L, not a withdrawal)

  • Paper losses

What a Balance Update Does

A balance update is a snapshot of your current account balance at a point in time. You include one at the bottom of each import to tell the system "this is where the account stands as of this date."

Without a recent balance update, the platform can't calculate your true Trading P&L because it doesn't know your current balance.

Impact on P&L Calculations

When an import is processed:

  1. Each deposit and withdrawal is added to the ledger

  2. The latest balance update becomes your new Current Balance

  3. The P&L formula automatically adjusts

  4. Your Net Trading P&L updates to reflect everything

Example:

  • Starting balance: $10,000

  • Current balance: $11,000

  • Without recorded deposit: P&L shows +$1,000

If you import a $2,000 deposit:

  • P&L recalculates: $11,000 − $10,000 − $2,000 = −$1,000

  • You actually lost $1,000 from trading. The deposit masked it.

Editing After Import

Once your import is complete, every deposit, withdrawal, and balance update appears as an entry in the Transactions tab. If you need to adjust something, you can edit each entry individually.

You can edit:

  • Amount

  • Date

  • Notes

To edit, click the entry in the list, update the field, and save.

Warning: Editing or deleting an entry changes your P&L history. Only edit if the original entry was wrong (e.g. wrong amount typed in the CSV, wrong date, missing context that helps you remember what it was for).Where Private Deposits and Withdrawals Live

Private account deposits and withdrawals are capital movements, not income or expenses. They live inside the Private Accounts module only.

  • They do not appear as rows in the main Transactions module

  • They are not included in the Income Report or Expense Report

  • They do not affect your Net Business Result

Only the derived Net Trading P&L from your private accounts feeds into the Dashboard alongside payouts and other income. The raw deposits and withdrawals stay private to this module.

Best Practices

Import Monthly

At a minimum, run an import at the end of each month. This keeps your current balance fresh and your P&L accurate. Going more than 30 days between imports means stale numbers on your Dashboard.

Capture Everything Since Last Import

Each import should include every deposit and withdrawal that occurred since your last one, plus a balance update for the latest date.

Use Exact Amounts

Pull amounts directly from your broker statement or bank record. Don't estimate or round.

Use Real Transaction Dates

Use the date the transaction actually cleared, not when you initiated it.

Reconcile Against Broker Statements

After an import, the new Current Balance in Trader Node should match what your broker shows. If it doesn't, check the statement for transactions you missed.

Common Questions

Can I add a deposit or withdrawal manually? No. All deposits, withdrawals, and balance updates go through the CSV import in the Transactions tab.

What if I only have one new transaction to add? Still use the import. Create a one row CSV with that transaction plus a balance update row, and upload it.

Should I record broker fees? It depends. If fees are deducted from your balance, some traders record them as withdrawals. Others consider them part of P&L. Be consistent with your choice.

What about internal transfers between my trading accounts? Record as a withdrawal from one account and deposit to another. This keeps both accounts accurate.

What if I forgot old transactions? Estimate as best you can from statements, and add them in the next import. Approximate records are better than none for historical tracking.

Will my deposits and withdrawals show up in the Transactions module or reports? No. Private account capital movements live only inside the Private Accounts module. Only the calculated Net Trading P&L feeds into your wider business numbers.

Next: Importing Broker Statements →