BTST Trading Journal for Indian Traders

A BTST (Buy Today, Sell Tomorrow) trading journal records why you bought a share, what happened overnight and how you sold it on the next trading day. Keep the planned stop, next-session opening price, actual exit and share-delivery notes together. Use the manual template below to separate the overnight market move from your decisions after the open.

Write the overnight plan before the session ends

BTST means Buy Today, Sell Tomorrow. “Tomorrow” refers to the next trading session, rather than necessarily the next calendar day. Zerodha’s current help describes buying shares and selling them on the next trading day, including the risk of selling before purchased shares are received.

Start with the reason you intended to hold overnight. “I expected a gap up” is too vague for later review. Record the observed setup, your chosen price level and what you had checked about known company events. Keep that original explanation even if the following session changes your view.

• Trade identity: stock, exchange, quantity, entry date and actual traded entry price.
• Setup: the condition observed, timeframe and the reason for carrying the holding overnight.
• Exit plan: planned stop, planned target and any time-based exit condition.
• Event check: the known announcement or result you checked, with the source and time.
• Decision context: confidence, stress, impulse reason and any exception to your usual plan.

The BTST definition explains the term. If the intended holding later extends beyond the next session, record that change explicitly instead of leaving it labelled as the original overnight plan.

Use a compact manual record

A planned stop is a reference price, not a guaranteed execution price. If the market opens beyond it, record both the stop and the actual traded exit. Do not rewrite the planned stop to make the final loss appear planned.

Worked example: gap versus the completed trade

Made-up BTST example: buy 20 shares at ₹500, record a planned stop at ₹490 and observe a closing price of ₹505. Suppose the next trading session opens at ₹485 and you actually sell at ₹484. Assume total charges of ₹30 solely for this example. These are invented prices and costs.

• Planned price-distance risk = (₹500 − ₹490) × 20 = ₹200.
• Opening gap per share = ₹485 − ₹505 = −₹20.
• Opening gap percentage = (485 − 505) ÷ 505 × 100 = −3.96%, rounded.
• Gross completed-trade result = (₹484 − ₹500) × 20 = −₹320.
• Net example result = −₹320 − ₹30 = −₹350.
• Extra price loss beyond the planned stop = (₹490 − ₹484) × 20 = ₹120.

The opening gap is measured against the previous close. The trade’s profit or loss is measured against the actual entry. They have different starting prices. The final exit was also below the opening price, so the whole loss cannot be described simply as “the gap”.

The example does not prove that a different decision would have produced a better exit. Its purpose is to preserve what was planned, what the market did and what actually traded. Check planned distances separately with the risk-reward calculator.

Settlement risk deserves its own note

Zerodha’s BTST risk guidance explains that an earlier seller’s failure to deliver shares can leave the BTST seller with a delivery obligation they cannot meet, creating auction risk. This is separate from a price falling overnight. Record any actual broker notice and eventual debit rather than estimating an auction amount from a generic percentage.

Zerodha’s settlement guide describes shares reaching the demat account, where shares are held electronically, being set aside for the sale and then debited for settlement. Check your own broker’s process and share-delivery records rather than assuming the shares never reach your account.

This page does not assign a tax category to BTST trades. Keep contract notes and settlement documents, and ask a chartered accountant how your transactions should be reported. OneTradeJournal does not certify the tax treatment.

Review comparable overnight decisions

• Separate exits made according to the original plan from unplanned extensions.
• Compare the opening gap with the later exit instead of merging them into a single explanation.
• Keep profitable exceptions visible as well as losing ones. A profit does not erase a rule change.
• Group similar setup labels and check the actual net outcomes after charges.
• Write a specific process change only when the recorded evidence supports it.

OneTradeJournal is a manual journal. You can record strategy, stop, target, emotions, mistakes and plan deviation, with overnight details in notes. It estimates per-trade charges and offers reports such as strategy analysis, equity curve and drawdown. These do not automatically reconstruct the opening gap or inspect settlement messages.

For longer holds, use the swing trading journal approach. The stock journal guide covers quantities, exits and charges that matter beyond the overnight setup.

BTST journal questions

Sources

• Zerodha: BTST definition and delivery risk, checked 15 Oct 2026.
• Zerodha: BTST settlement process, checked 15 Oct 2026.
• OneTradeJournal manual journal overview, checked 15 Oct 2026.