Quick Start Setup Guide
Before following this guide, ensure you've completed the Official Template and Install & Uninstall steps.
You can start tracking right away — no configuration required. The add-on ships with sensible defaults that work out of the box, and you can log up to 30 transactions for free, without entering any license key. Tweaking the ⚙️ Settings is entirely optional and covered at the end of this guide.
If you click Extensions > tradeGIST and only see one option ("Enable extension"), click it to activate the full suite of tools. Once enabled, the full menu appears.
1. Enter your transactions
Add your trades to the Transactions sheet — one row per transaction. The required columns are Date, Asset type, Op, Ticker, Volume, and Price. See Managing Transactions for the full column reference and bulk-import tips.
2. Generate trades
Open the tradeGIST menu and click Generate trades. After a few seconds, your matched trades appear in the Trades sheet.
The first time you run it, tradeGIST shows a dialog listing every asset found in your transactions that isn't yet declared in your configuration, organized by type (equity, crypto, option). Each group has a Copy button so you can paste the tickers straight into the right place:
- Equity and crypto tickers → the Asset Configuration section of the Configuration sheet.
- Option contracts → the Option Contracts section.
Add the listed assets to those sections — then update prices (next step) to value your positions.
3. Update prices
To value your open positions at the latest market prices, open the tradeGIST menu and click Update prices. This inserts the GOOGLEFINANCE formula for your equities and fetches live crypto and option prices (where an API key is configured).
Then check the Summary sheet for an aggregated view of your holdings, and the Dashboard sheet for a visual breakdown of your performance.
Adjusting settings (optional)
The defaults work out of the box, so you can skip this when starting out. When you're ready to fine-tune, open the tradeGIST menu and click ⚙️ Settings:
- Portfolio base currency — the currency your total value and P&L are reported in (default: USD).
- Matching method — FIFO or LIFO for pairing your buy and sell transactions (default: FIFO).
- API keys — only needed for live crypto (CoinMarketCap) and options (Massive) prices.
See the Configuration guide for the full list of settings.
If you need to change how dates or currencies are displayed (e.g., changing from $1,000.00 to 1.000,00 €), refer to the spreadsheet "Locale" in the advanced topics Locale.
License
You can track up to 30 transactions for free, without entering any license key. Beyond 30 transactions you'll need a paid license. Activate it from the License tab of the ⚙️ Settings dialog (or the 🔑 Manage License menu item). You can get a license here.
Next Steps
Now that you've generated your initial trades, explore the Trades sheet for detailed breakdowns, the Summary for overviews, and the Dashboard for visualizations.