MT5 trading costs in your trade history: spread, commission, swap

The Profit column is not the whole result. Where each cost shows up in MetaTrader 5, a worked net example and how costs change your statistics.

Four costs hide behind one profit number

When you look at a closed trade in MetaTrader 5, the Profit column is not the whole story. A trade’s real result is the price movement minus what it cost you to take the trade. In your History you will normally see up to four separate items, and one that never gets its own column at all.

Cost	Where it shows	When it applies
Spread	Not as a column. It is built into the entry and exit prices	Every trade: you buy at the ask and sell at the bid
Commission	Commission column (Deals view)	Brokers that charge per lot, often on both the opening and closing deal
Swap	Swap column	Positions held past the broker’s rollover time. See MT5 swap explained
Fee	Fee column, where your broker uses it	Some brokers and exchange-traded symbols add a regulatory or exchange fee

Which of these your account pays depends on your broker and account type. A raw-spread account usually has a small spread and a commission. A standard account usually has a wider spread and no commission. The cheapest-looking account is not always the cheapest once you add them up, which is a good reason to measure it from your own history.

Why one trade has several lines

MetaTrader 5 records activity as orders, deals and positions. A position is what you hold. Each time it is opened, added to, reduced or closed, a deal is created. Commission is often charged per deal, so a trade that opens and closes in one go shows commission on both the opening and the closing deal. A trade closed in two parts has three or more deals. The History tab’s Positions view combines them, while the Deals view lists each. If you are unsure which view you are in, the Journal tab guide explains the modes, and hedging vs netting explains why the same trade can look different on two accounts.

A worked example (hypothetical)

A trader buys 0.50 lots of gold, which is 50 ounces at 100 ounces per lot, and closes the next day. The price moves up $1.20 per ounce. The broker charges $3.50 commission per lot per side and the swap for the night is -$1.20. The spread at the time of entry was $0.25 per ounce, which is already inside the entry price.

Item	Calculation	Amount
Price result	1.20 x 50 oz	+$60.00
Commission, opening deal	0.50 lots x $3.50	-$1.75
Commission, closing deal	0.50 lots x $3.50	-$1.75
Swap, one night	As charged by the broker	-$1.20
Net result	60.00 - 1.75 - 1.75 - 1.20	+$55.30
Spread already paid (not a line)	0.25 x 50 oz	about $12.50 inside the prices

The commission and the swap together took $4.70 off the $60, a drop of nearly 8%. The spread cost about $12.50 on top, but it is hidden inside the price move, so it never appears as a separate line. All figures are invented. Check your own figures for per-lot rates.

What it means for your statistics

Win rate. A trade that gains $2 on price and pays $4 in costs is recorded as a loss if you use net figures, and as a win if you use price only. A short-term strategy with many small winners is the most exposed to this.
Profit factor and expectancy. Costs lower the winners and raise the losers, so both measures are lower when computed net. See the profit factor calculator.
Scalpers and high-frequency styles. Costs are charged per trade, so they scale with the number of trades. The more trades, the more the costs matter. See the scalping journal guide.
Swing and position traders. Swap is charged per night, so it scales with holding time. See the swing trading journal.

A simple way to measure what your costs really are

Export or copy your closed trades for a month. The export guide shows how.
Add the commission column and the swap column. Divide each by the number of trades and by the total lots.
Compare that cost per lot to the average price move of your winners. If costs eat a large share of your average win, the setup has little margin for error.
Repeat for a second month and compare. If your costs jump, look at which symbols or hours caused it.

None of this requires a special tool, but it is tedious in a spreadsheet and easy to skip. That is the reason it rarely gets done. AI Trading Journal stores the result of every closed position as profit plus commission plus swap, so the dashboard, the calendar and the Excel report all use the net number by default. The Excel export lists each trade so you can still inspect the amounts yourself.

Honest limits

The spread is not recorded as a separate figure in the History, and the app does not record intended prices or slippage. You cannot rebuild exact spread cost from a closed-trade list.
Column names, and whether a fee column exists, differ between brokers and builds. Confirm them in your own terminal.
The rates in the example are invented. Your broker’s commission, swap and fees are the only ones that count.
This page is information about how costs appear in a platform and is not trading or financial advice.

Try the trading cost calculator to see what share of a target your costs take.

Two costs never appear as their own value: read MT5 spread and slippage.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I see commission in MT5?

In the History tab of the Toolbox, in the Deals view, there is a Commission column. If it is hidden, right-click the table and enable it. Commission is often charged on both the opening and the closing deal.

Is the spread shown in my trade history?

Not as a column. The spread is built into the entry and exit prices, because you buy at the ask and sell at the bid.

What is the net result of a trade?

The profit plus commission plus swap, plus any fee your broker charges. Commission and swap are usually negative numbers.

Why does my trade show a loss when the price moved in my favour?

Costs can be larger than a small price move. A tiny win on price can be a loss once commission and swap are added.

Does AI Trading Journal use net results?

Yes. The result of each closed position is profit plus commission plus swap, summed over all its deals.

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