Signature self-audit
Traders are audited on results and almost never on process. That is backwards: results are noisy over any period short enough to care about, while process is observable today. The Desk Standard is the twelve-point checklist we use to decide whether an account is being run professionally, regardless of what the equity curve happens to be doing this month.
Tick the statements that are true of your desk right now — not the ones you intend to make true. The score at the bottom updates as you go, and the weakest areas are named so you know where to start.
0 / 12
Tick the statements that are true of your desk today.
How to read your score
| Score | Reading | Next move |
|---|---|---|
| 11 to 12 | Controls are institutional grade | Work on edge and sizing efficiency, not on process |
| 8 to 10 | Sound with specific gaps | Close the named gaps before increasing size |
| 5 to 7 | Trading without a business around it | Build the journal and the exposure sheet first |
| 0 to 4 | Exposed to a single bad week | Reduce size now; rebuild the basics before adding capital |
Why these twelve
Each item maps to a failure that ends accounts. Unknown position risk and size creep after losses cause the slow bleed. No exposure netting and no resting stop cause the sudden hole. No adherence record and no retirement criteria mean you cannot tell a broken strategy from a bad month, so you change systems at the worst possible moment. Unverified counterparties and untested withdrawals mean everything above can be correct and you still do not get paid.
Nothing on this list requires talent, capital or a better strategy. That is exactly why it separates the desks that last.