Every closed trade's net P&L is its gross result minus the cost of getting in and out. This page is about where that cost comes from — and about the one thing that genuinely differs between asset classes: the unit.
Per side, or per contract
Brokers do not charge in one shape, so Ledger of Alpha does not pretend they do:
- Stocks & ETFs, forex, crypto — per side. The number you enter is the whole commission for one side of the trade. A round trip bills it twice, no matter how large the position is. Enter $5 and a closed trade costs $10.
- Futures, commodities, options — per contract, per side. The number is a rate, multiplied by your size on each side. Enter $2.25 on 3 contracts and a round trip costs $13.50. For a multi-leg options structure it is charged per leg, so a 4-leg condor at 1 combo bills 4 contracts each way.
You never have to do that arithmetic yourself: the trade form prints the unit next to the Commission box and the resulting round trip underneath it, and the Trade Plan and Trade Result cards show the same figure as Fees · round trip.
Where the number comes from
- The account default. In Settings → Accounts each account can carry a commission per asset class, plus one flat fallback for any class you leave blank. This is what pre-fills a new trade.
- The trade's own Commission box overrides that default for that trade.
- The fills, if you are scaling in or out. Then the fills are the only fee source and the Commission box switches off — see below.
- Whatever your broker reported, for trades that arrive by CSV import or auto-sync. A real commission from a statement always wins over a default.
Scaled trades: the fills carry the fees
With Scale in / out on, each fill has its own fee box and the trade's fee is their sum. The unit follows the same rule as above — on a stock the box asks for that fill's total in dollars, on futures and options for a rate per contract, and the column header says which. The fills summary shows the total as Fees, right beside the realized figure it has already been subtracted from.
What is not included
Commissions only. Slippage, financing and borrow costs are not modelled, and forex spread costs are not either. If your broker bills exchange and clearing fees separately from commission, add them into the rate you enter — the futures defaults are meant as the all-in figure.
If a number looks wrong
- Check the unit printed next to the Commission box — the same “$2” means very different totals on a stock and on 100 futures contracts.
- On a scaled trade, check the Fees figure in the fills summary rather than the Commission box, which is switched off.
- An imported trade keeps its broker's commission; editing the account default does not rewrite it.