Achieved R:R vs. Planned R:R

Achieved R:R vs. Planned R:R measures the gap between the risk-reward ratio you set at entry and the ratio you actually realized when you closed the trade. It sits in the execution category because the math in your trade plan is irrelevant if your exits don’t reflect it — this metric makes that gap visible and quantifiable.

Formula & Calculation

R:R Fulfillment (%) = (Achieved R:R / Planned R:R) × 100

Where:

• Planned R:R = (Target price − Entry price) / (Entry price − Stop loss) for a long position
• Achieved R:R = (Exit price − Entry price) / (Entry price − Stop loss) for a long position
• R:R Fulfillment = the percentage of your planned reward captured at the actual exit

For a short position, reverse the numerator and denominator signs: Planned R:R = (Entry − Target) / (Stop − Entry), and Achieved R:R = (Entry − Exit) / (Stop − Entry).

The calculation runs trade-by-trade. Average the fulfillment percentages over a sample of at least 30 trades for a reliable read on your exit discipline.

Benchmarks

Level	Range	What It Means
Excellent	90% – 110%	Exits at or near target; tight plan adherence with occasional runner extension
Good	70% – 89%	Captures most of the planned move; minor early exits with limited P&L impact
Average	50% – 69%	Consistent early exits; leaving meaningful reward on the table each trade
Poor	20% – 49%	Chronic premature exits; planned R:R is largely theoretical, not realized
Critical	Below 20% or negative	Exits in scratch or loss territory despite a planned profit target; severe execution breakdown

Note that values above 110% are possible and generally positive — they indicate the trader let a winner run beyond the original target, which is a valid strategy if rule-based.

Practical Example

A trader goes long EUR/USD at 1.0850, sets a stop at 1.0820 (30 pips of risk), and targets 1.0910 (60 pips of reward). The planned R:R is 60 / 30 = 2.0:1.

Price reaches 1.0880 (30 pips of open profit). The trader, watching the candle stall, exits manually.

• Achieved R:R = (1.0880 − 1.0850) / (1.0850 − 1.0820) = 30 / 30 = 1.0:1
• R:R Fulfillment = (1.0 / 2.0) × 100 = 50%

The trade was profitable — 30 pips gained, $300 on a standard lot — but the trader captured only half of their planned reward. Across 50 trades with this pattern, a strategy designed to require a 35% win rate to break even at 2:1 now needs a 50% win rate to break even at 1:1. That’s a significant, hidden increase in required accuracy. According to the benchmarks, 50% fulfillment falls in the Average range and warrants a review of exit triggers.

How to Track Achieved R:R vs. Planned R:R

1. Record your target and stop at entry — Write down the exact price levels before the trade opens. Post-entry target placement is not valid data.
2. Log your actual exit price — For partial closes, log each exit leg separately with the lot size closed.
3. Calculate both R:R values — Planned R:R = (Target − Entry) / (Entry − Stop); Achieved R:R = (Exit − Entry) / (Entry − Stop). For shorts, reverse the signs.
4. Compute and log the fulfillment percentage — (Achieved / Planned) × 100 per trade.
5. Segment monthly reviews — Filter by setup type, session, and pair to identify whether early exits cluster around specific conditions.

How to Improve Achieved R:R vs. Planned R:R

1. Place a hard take-profit order at entry — Removing the manual exit decision eliminates the most common source of early exits. If your broker supports it, set TP and SL simultaneously when the trade opens.
2. Move your stop to breakeven at 1R — Once the trade is up by the amount you risked, moving the stop to entry eliminates the fear of giving back profit, which is the emotion most responsible for premature closes.
3. Audit your last 10 early exits — Categorize each by trigger: was it fear, a P&L number on screen, a news headline, or a genuine chart reason? Emotion-driven exits are fixable; you need to eliminate them from your process, not your strategy.
4. Define partial-close rules before entry — If you intend to scale out at 1R and let the rest run to 2R, document that plan before the trade opens. Mid-trade decisions to partially close are usually emotional, not systematic.
5. Track early exits as a KPI — Set a weekly limit (for example, no more than 2 unplanned early exits per week) and review any breach at the end of the session.

Common Mistakes

1. Setting targets retroactively — Adjusting the planned target after price moves in your favor inflates fulfillment and hides the real problem. Your plan must be locked at entry.
2. Averaging across all trades including stopped-out trades — A trade that hits your stop has a negative or zero fulfillment by definition. Analyze fulfillment on profitable trades separately to isolate exit discipline from strategy performance.
3. Ignoring the metric on winning trades — A winning trade that captures only 40% of the planned reward is still an execution failure. Profitability alone does not signal good exit discipline; fulfillment rate does.
4. Blaming the market — “Price never reached my target” is valid for stopped-out trades but not for trades you closed manually before the target. Distinguish between the market taking you out and you taking yourself out.

How PipJournal Calculates Achieved R:R vs. Planned R:R

PipJournal captures both your planned target price and actual exit price at the trade-log level, then calculates R:R Fulfillment automatically for every closed trade. The analytics dashboard displays your average fulfillment rate across any filtered date range or setup tag, so you can compare exit discipline across setups, pairs, or sessions side by side. Trades with fulfillment below your personal threshold are flagged in the trade log, making it easy to spot the early-exit patterns without manually reviewing every row. You can also view your R:R distribution and average R per trade alongside fulfillment data to understand how exit discipline affects your overall expectancy.