How to Read a Profit and Loss Statement in MT4

The profit and loss statement in MetaTrader 4 is found in the Account History tab of the Terminal window. It shows your closed trades, deposits, withdrawals, swap charges, commissions, and the resulting balance over time. Reading the P&L statement clearly is essential for tracking realised trading performance, reviewing past trades, and reconciling account activity.

This article covers where to find the P&L statement in MT4, what each column shows, how to interpret the summary row at the bottom, how to filter by date, how to save the statement as a report, and how the P&L statement differs from the floating profit on open positions.

What Is the Profit and Loss Statement in MT4?

The profit and loss statement in MT4 is the record of all account transactions that have closed: completed trades, deposits, withdrawals, swap charges, commissions, and any other account adjustments. It is distinct from the open positions list (which shows floating P&L on trades that have not yet closed).

The P&L statement is essentially the closed history of your account. Once a trade is closed, it moves from the Trade tab to the Account History tab, where it becomes part of the realised P&L record.

Where to Find the P&L Statement on MT4

The P&L statement is in the Terminal window's Account History tab.

Open the Terminal window with Ctrl+T (or View > Terminal if the window is closed). At the bottom of the Terminal window, you will see a row of tabs: Trade, Exposure, Account History, News, Alerts, Mailbox, Market, Signals, Articles, Code Base, Experts, Journal.

Click "Account History" to see the closed trade history.

Reading the Account History Tab

The Account History tab is organised in columns. The standard columns are:

Order: A unique numeric identifier for each trade or transaction.

Time: The opening time of the trade.

Type: The type of transaction. For trades, this is "buy" or "sell" (with the original pending order type shown for pending orders that triggered). For non-trade transactions, this can be "balance" (deposits and withdrawals) or "credit" (credit adjustments).

Size: The lot size of the trade.

Symbol (or Item): The instrument traded, such as EURUSD or XAUUSD.

Price: The opening price of the trade.

S/L: The stop loss level set on the trade at the time of closure (if any). Blank if no SL was set.

T/P: The take profit level set on the trade at the time of closure (if any). Blank if no TP was set.

Time (close): The closing time of the trade.

Price (close): The closing price of the trade.

Commission: Any commission charged on the trade. For Standard and VIP Black accounts on forex, this is typically zero. For Raw and Nano accounts, commission of USD 6 per round turn lot applies and is charged in full at the time the trade is opened.

Taxes: Any taxes applied to the trade. Typically zero for most retail forex trading.

Swap: The total swap (overnight financing) charged or credited on the trade during the time it was held. Positive figures indicate swap was credited; negative figures indicate swap was debited.

Profit: The gross profit or loss on the trade from the price movement alone, before swap or commission.

Understanding the Summary Row

The bottom of the Account History tab shows a summary row with several figures. These are the totals across all the displayed history (which depends on your date filter).

Profit: The total profit and loss from all closed trades shown, in your account base currency.

Deposit: The total amount deposited into your account during the period shown.

Withdrawal: The total amount withdrawn from your account during the period shown.

Credit: The total credit adjustments to your account during the period shown.

Balance: The current account balance. This figure does not include floating profit and loss from open positions; it reflects only realised activity.

To see your full equity (Balance plus floating P&L from open positions), check the bottom of the Trade tab, not the Account History tab.

Filtering the Account History by Date

By default, the Account History tab shows a recent period. To change what is shown, right-click anywhere within the Account History tab.

The context menu offers preset filters:

All History: Shows all closed transactions in the account from its inception.

Last 3 Months, Last Month: Shows recent periods.

Custom Period: Lets you specify a custom start and end date for the displayed history.

After applying a filter, the displayed transactions and the summary row both update to reflect the new range.

Saving the Statement as a Report

The Account History tab can be exported as an HTML report for record-keeping or further analysis.

Right-click within the Account History tab. The context menu shows two save options:

Save as Detailed Report: Exports a detailed HTML statement including each individual trade with all columns, the summary row, and additional performance metrics (such as gross profit, gross loss, profit factor, expected payoff, drawdown statistics, and win/loss streak statistics).

Save as Report: Exports a simpler HTML statement with the trade list and summary row, without the additional performance metrics.

You can save the statement to any location on your computer. The exported HTML file can be opened in any web browser, attached to an email, or imported into spreadsheet software for further analysis.

Realised P&L versus Unrealised P&L

The Account History tab shows realised profit and loss (closed trades). The Trade tab shows unrealised profit and loss (open positions).

Total realised P&L is the sum of the Profit column on the Account History tab. This is fixed: the trade is closed, and the result is locked in.

Total unrealised P&L is the sum of the Profit column on the Trade tab. This changes in real time as prices move and only becomes realised when you close the trade.

Account Equity equals Balance (realised activity including profit, deposits, withdrawals, credit) plus Floating P&L (unrealised on open positions). Equity is shown at the bottom of the Trade tab.

Commission and Swap on the P&L Statement

Commission and swap are tracked separately from the Profit column in the Account History tab.

The Profit column shows only the gross profit or loss from the price movement (entry to exit). Commission and swap are in their own columns and must be added or subtracted to determine the net result of a trade.

Net trade result equals Profit minus Commission plus Swap (where swap is positive when credited, negative when debited).

For example, a Raw account trade closed with a Profit column entry of USD 100, a Commission column entry of USD 6 charged at opening, and a Swap column entry of USD 5 debited over the holding period, produces a net result of 100 - 6 - 5 = USD 89. The summary row Balance figure incorporates all these adjustments automatically.

For Raw and Nano account commission specifics: USD 6 commission per round turn lot is charged at the moment the trade opens and covers both the open and close of the trade. The Commission column entry reflects this charge.

P&L Statement on MT5

MT5 has a similar feature in its Toolbox window. The equivalent of the MT4 Account History tab is the History tab on MT5. The columns shown and the report export functions are similar.

If you trade on both MT4 and MT5, note that the two platforms maintain separate account histories. Each platform's P&L statement reflects only the trades made on that platform.

Practical Considerations

The Account History tab is the authoritative record of your closed trading activity at TIOmarkets. It is useful for:

Reconciling your trading results at the end of a period.

Reviewing past trades to identify patterns (winners, losers, time-of-day patterns).

Preparing tax records, where applicable in your jurisdiction.

Tracking commission and swap as separate cost categories.

Confirming deposits and withdrawals against your bank or e-wallet records.

For periodic review, exporting a Detailed Report and saving it for your records is a good practice. The Detailed Report includes useful summary statistics that go beyond the basic trade-by-trade view.

Spreads are variable and are typically higher than minimum figures shown. Leverage on each instrument is subject to change depending on market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements. Orders are executed at the best available market price, which may result in positive or negative slippage. Demo accounts often execute instantly and may not fully replicate live slippage conditions.

Trading at TIOmarkets

TIOmarkets offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 on desktop, web, and mobile, across four account types. The Standard account is created automatically on registration with a minimum deposit of $20 or currency equivalent. The Raw and VIP Black accounts are opened separately through the client area. The Nano account is MT5 only with a $20 minimum deposit, USD only. Hedging is supported on all accounts. A swap-free Islamic account is available; contact TIOmarkets for eligibility and instrument requirements. Copy trading is available on both MT4 and MT5.

Orders are executed at the best available market price, which may result in positive or negative slippage. Demo accounts often execute instantly and may not fully replicate live slippage conditions. Spreads are variable and are typically higher than minimum figures shown. Leverage on each instrument is subject to change depending on market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements. You can review the full list of account types on the TIOmarkets accounts page.