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How to track wheel trades: the spreadsheet columns that matter
A wheel position is several trades on one stock over months. If you track each option on its own, you lose the thread. Track the stock as one row that carries its cost basis forward, and the picture stays honest. Here are the columns.
Why the wheel needs its own sheet
A single Covered call is easy to score. The wheel strategy is a put, maybe an assignment, several calls, maybe a sale, all on one stock across months. Score each piece alone and you'll see six small wins and one big loss and not notice they're the same position.
The fix is one sheet with two kinds of rows: one row per option trade, and one line per stock that carries the running Cost basis.
The trade rows
One row every time you sell or close an option, or buy or sell shares.
| Column | What goes in it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Date | The day you placed it | Lets you see how long each leg took |
| Stock | Ticker | Groups the position |
| Action | Sell put, sell call, buy to close, assigned, called away, sold shares | The leg you're on |
| Strike | The strike | The price you promised |
| Expiry | The date | How long the cash is spoken for |
| Contracts | Usually 1 | The size |
| Premium | Per share, and the total | What you were paid, or paid to close |
| Cash tied up | Strike × 100 for a put; share value for a call | The real size of the position |
| Earnings inside? | Yes / No | The check you must not skip |
| Exit price | Where you'd sell the shares if it goes wrong | Written before, not after |
| Outcome | Expired / assigned / closed / called away | What happened |
The position line
One line per stock, updated every time a trade row closes.
| Column | How to compute it |
|---|---|
| Shares held | 0 or 100 (or more) |
| Share cost | What you paid at assignment (strike × 100) |
| Premium collected, this position | Sum of premiums since you last went to cash on this stock |
| Cost basis per share | (Share cost − premium collected) ÷ shares |
| Current price | Today's price |
| Open on paper | (Current price − cost basis) × shares |
| Open obligation | The strike of any put or call still open, and its expiry |
| Closed result | Only once you're back in cash: everything in minus everything out |
That last line is the only true scoreboard. Until the shares are gone, the position isn't done.
One position in the sheet (an illustration, not a trade idea)
A made-up stock, XYZ, at $50. Here's the sheet after four months.
| Date | Action | Strike | Premium | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Sell put | $45 | +$100 | Assigned at $45 |
| Month 2 | Sell call | $47 | +$100 | Expired |
| Month 3 | Sell call | $47 | +$100 | Expired |
| Month 4 | Sell call | $47 | +$60 | Open; stock at $43 |
Position line: shares 100, share cost $4,500, premium collected $360, cost basis $41.40, current price $43, open on paper +$160, open obligation: $47 call, expires month 5.
Now the same sheet if XYZ had fallen instead. Assigned at $45, then the stock slid to $40, then $36.
| Date | Action | Strike | Premium | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Sell put | $45 | +$100 | Assigned at $45 |
| Month 2 | Sell call | $47 | +$40 | Expired; stock at $40 |
| Month 3 | Sell call | $47 | +$10 | Expired; stock at $36 |
| Position line | 100 shares, basis $43.50 | $150 collected | Open on paper −$750 |
Premium collected $150. Cost basis ($4,500 − $150) ÷ 100 = $43.50. Current price $36. Open on paper ($36 − $43.50) × 100 = −$750.
Same stock, same first trade, same spreadsheet. The second version is the one the sheet exists for. Without the position line, you'd see "$150 collected" and feel fine.
The total most people get wrong
Don't add the "premium collected" column across stocks and call it your result. That number ignores the shares. A sheet that says "$1,200 collected this year" while two positions sit $900 under water each is telling you a story, not a result.
The honest yearly number is: closed results, plus open on paper, across every stock. It's smaller and it's true. See wheel strategy cost basis for the premium-counted-twice mistake.
Start with the free template
If you don't have a sheet yet, our free journal template is a plain CSV you can open anywhere. It's built for one trade per row. Add the position line underneath for each stock you wheel, with the columns above. Keep it simpler than you think you need. The sheet you'll update is the one that's quick.
Then run three paper turns through it before any real money. See how to paper trade the wheel.
Questions
What should I track for the wheel strategy?
Every option sold or closed, every assignment or call-away, and a running position line per stock: shares held, premium collected on this position, cost basis, current price, what's open on paper, and any open obligation.
How do I calculate cost basis in a wheel spreadsheet?
Share cost at assignment minus every premium collected since you last went to cash on that stock, divided by shares held. Premiums from earlier, finished positions on the same stock don't count toward the current one.
Should I track premium collected as profit?
No. It's one column, not the result. The result is premium plus what happened to the shares. Track both, and only call a position done when you're back in cash.
Is a spreadsheet enough, or do I need software?
A spreadsheet is enough for a handful of positions. The point is the position line and the written exit price, not the tool.
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