CSV trade import checklist before you review a session

A CSV import can feel finished too early.

Rows appear. Trades show up. The dashboard moves. It is tempting to start writing lessons right away.

But if the import is slightly wrong, the review starts from the wrong story. A missing commission, shifted timezone, or split scale-out can make a session look cleaner or messier than it really was.

Before reviewing the session, give the import a short inspection pass.

Check the file before the journal

Open the export once before uploading it anywhere.

You are not trying to audit every row by hand. You are checking whether the file looks like the thing you think it is.

Look for:

• completed trades or executions
• entry and exit timestamps
• side or buy/sell fields
• quantity
• symbol or market
• gross P&L
• fees or commissions
• account name or account number
• currency

The important question is simple: does this file describe completed trades, or does it describe every execution fill?

Those are different review objects. If the file is executions, one trade idea may be spread across several rows.

Confirm the timezone

Timezone mistakes are quiet.

The trade can look valid, but the session is wrong. Morning trades drift into afternoon review. A news trade looks like it happened before the event. A rule about the first 30 minutes becomes useless because the clock is off.

Before you trust the import, check one trade you remember:

• Did the entry time match your platform?
• Did the session label make sense?
• Did the trade land on the right date?
• If you trade overnight, did the session boundary stay readable?

If one remembered trade is off by a few hours, stop there. Fix the time issue before writing any lesson.

Use net P&L when possible

Gross P&L is not the whole trade.

For futures traders, fees can turn a scratch trade into a small loss. They can also change how a scalping session reads at the end of the day.

Check whether the export includes:

• commissions
• exchange fees
• clearing fees
• total fees
• net P&L

If the file only has gross P&L, write that down as a limitation before reviewing the session. The review can still be useful, but you should know what is missing.

Do not let a missing fee column make the day look cleaner than it was.

Make sure scale-ins and partial exits stay together

This is where many imports get confusing.

One trade idea may have several rows:

• first entry
• add
• partial exit
• final exit
• commission adjustment

If every row becomes its own lesson, the review gets noisy fast.

For review, the question is usually about the completed trade idea. Did the setup make sense? Did the add follow the plan? Did the exit match the invalidation? Did the partial change the risk?

That means grouped trade shape matters.

After import, find one trade with a scale-in or partial exit and check:

• are the fills attached to one completed trade?
• is the direction right?
• is the average entry believable?
• is the exit sequence readable?
• does the final result match your platform closely enough?

You do not need perfection before every review. You do need enough structure that the lesson belongs to the trade idea, not to a random row.

Check symbols and contract names

Broker exports often use symbols that make sense to the platform but not to a human later.

That is fine as long as the journal still makes the market clear.

Check for:

• micro and full-size contracts staying distinct
• expired futures contracts mapping to the right market
• custom symbols that need a cleaner label
• account-specific naming quirks
• products with similar tickers

If the symbol is confusing today, it will be worse in three weeks.

Clean market labels make later filtering much more useful.

Attach the missing context before memory edits the trade

The import gives you the record. It does not give you the reason.

Before the session goes cold, add the context that will be hard to reconstruct:

• why you entered
• what invalidated the trade
• whether risk changed after entry
• what the chart looked like
• which screenshot belongs to the trade
• whether the trade followed the setup
• one note you would want before taking that setup again

This is the part CSV can never do for you.

The file can carry price, time, size, and result. The review still needs your judgment.

Do not tag everything

Tags are useful when they expose a repeat.

They are not useful when every trade becomes a special case.

After import, start with a small tag set:

• late entry
• moved stop
• added without fresh setup
• no screenshot
• fees matter
• wrong session
• clean plan

Keep the tags you will actually search later. Delete or ignore the ones that only decorate the trade.

A five-minute import review

Use this before writing session notes:

1. Confirm whether the file is completed trades or executions.
2. Check one remembered trade against platform time.
3. Confirm net P&L or note that fees are missing.
4. Inspect one scaled trade or partial exit.
5. Check market labels and account labels.
6. Attach the screenshot or chart context for the trades that need it.
7. Add one narrow tag only when it helps future review.
8. Write one next-session rule from the session.

If this pass finds a problem, fix the import before judging the trading.

Bad facts create bad lessons.

Where Ploutos fits

Ploutos is built so imported trades can move into review without becoming a spreadsheet cleanup project.

CSV import helps get the session in. The review still happens around the trade: grouped shape, fees, chart context, screenshots, notes, tags, risk, and reviewed state.

Ploutos is not a broker, signal tool, or trading advisor. It is a review workspace for traders who want the trade record and the lesson to stay close together.