> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mercora.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Trades > Find a trade, read what it's making, and close it out. A trade (also called a deal) groups everything about one physical transaction: its purchase and sale contracts, documents, shipments, invoices and payments. This page shows you how to find a trade, read it, and close it out. > [!NOTE] > > Needs the **Trades** module, which is on by default. **New deal** also needs the **Contracts** module, and **Book** and **Entity** need the **P\&L** module. Ask your workspace admin. ## Find a trade Open **Trades** in the sidebar. ![The Trades list with the search box, the Active, Complete, Terminated and Cancelled chips, and the Counterparty and Owner filters](https://mintcdn.com/placeholder-f4ffdeec/22McaegbdDRSI41b/images/trades/trades-list.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=22McaegbdDRSI41b\&q=85\&s=fd9a4684640ae68db7aba59c732c48b3) The Trades list with VCS-S-2026-0714 at the Loaded stage, bought from Kanchana Siam Sugar and sold to Meridian Foodstuffs. Each row shows the reference, counterparties, product, stage, laycan (loading window), owner and open issues: discrepancies, or **Missing docs** when an expected document hasn't arrived. Search by reference, counterparty or product, and narrow by **Counterparty** or **Owner**. Only the **Active** chip is on at first; switch on **Complete**, **Terminated** or **Cancelled** to see those trades. Filters are kept in the page address, so you can bookmark or share a filtered list. ## How trades are created Mercora doesn't create trades on its own. Someone on your team starts one: * **From the Inbox**, by approving a contract or recap that doesn't belong to an existing trade. See [Inbox](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/inbox.md) and [Matching](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/matching.md). * **From Deal Capture**, when deal terms from email or chat are confirmed in the Inbox. See [Deal Capture](https://docs.mercora.io/workflows/deal-capture.md). * **With New deal**, from contracts you already have (below). ### Create a deal from contracts 1. On **Trades**, click **New deal**. 2. Under **Contracts**, search for the purchase and sale contracts, or create one in place. Each side can hold several contracts. A new second side is prefilled from the first. 3. Check the **Deal ref** (filled from the contract numbers), pick an **Owner** and, if you use books, a **Book**. 4. Click **Create deal**. With both sides linked, the dialog first previews the quantity, laycan and margin per unit. You can link one side only; the counterpart pairs in when it lands. A deal reference alone starts an empty deal. ## Read a trade Click a row to open the trade. The header shows its status and whether the cargo is **Insured**. If you can edit trades, you also get **Edit**, **Mark complete** (or **Reopen**) and a **…** menu to terminate, cancel or delete. Depending on your role and modules, the trade has up to five tabs: * **Overview**: the P\&L card, the legs, short status **Updates** (**On track**, **At risk**, **Off track**) and **Notes**. * **Documents**: every document on the trade, plus the **Expected Documents** checklist. * **Discrepancies**: differences between the trade's documents and contracts. See [Discrepancies](https://docs.mercora.io/documents/discrepancies.md). * **Financials**: invoices, payments and the cost plan. See [Trade financials](https://docs.mercora.io/trades/financials.md). * **Shipments**: the movements carrying the cargo. See [Shipments](https://docs.mercora.io/trades/shipments.md). ### The P\&L card ![A trade's Overview tab with the P\&L card (Contracted, Invoiced, Realized) and the sale and purchase legs](https://mintcdn.com/placeholder-f4ffdeec/22McaegbdDRSI41b/images/trades/trade-pnl-card.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=22McaegbdDRSI41b\&q=85\&s=e57dc86e0d795fc19ca724d5e3d23046) VCS-S-2026-0714: contracted and invoiced margin are both \$999.00; nothing is realized until payments are recorded. | Number | What it is | | - | - | | **Contracted** | Sale value minus purchase value, from the contracts. Needs both sides. | | **Invoiced** | Invoiced to customers (AR, money owed to you) minus invoiced by suppliers (AP, money you owe), paid or not. | | **Realized** | Cash received minus cash paid, from recorded payments. | All three are in your reporting currency; Invoiced and Realized need Financials access. If an amount has no exchange rate, the card says how many items it skipped. On the sugar trade, Contracted and Invoiced both read $999.00 (sale $15,255.00 minus purchase \$14,256.00). That's gross margin: freight and insurance count only once their invoices are filed on the trade. ### Legs and documents A leg is one side of the deal: a purchase or sale contract. Open a leg to see its terms and set the quantity actually loaded, or click **Use loaded** to take it from the trade's shipments. On **Documents**, **Upload** adds files. **Generate** builds the Expected Documents checklist from the documents-required clauses of the contract and letter of credit, and approved documents tick it off. ### The properties panel The panel on the right holds the trade's key facts. Three of them you may want to change: * **Lifecycle stage** (Contract, Pre-ship, Loaded, In transit, Delivered, Complete) is read from the trade's shipments or cargo documents, for example "From B/L". Pick a stage to override it; **Use the evidence** hands it back. * **Book** is where the deal sits on the P\&L, matched from a code at the end of its reference unless someone picks one. **Entity** is your own company on the deal, read from the contract. Admins set up [books](https://docs.mercora.io/admin/workspace-settings.md#books) and [legal entities](https://docs.mercora.io/admin/workspace-settings.md#legal-entities). ### FX overrides When a trade involves a currency other than USD, **FX overrides** lists each currency's rate. Click one to pin your own, for example a hedged rate, entered as that currency's rate to USD; **Use live** removes it. The override applies everywhere the trade is converted: the Overview card, the Financials tab and the P\&L. ## Close out a trade | Action | What happens | Undo | | - | - | - | | **Mark complete** | Drops off the Active list. Its contracts read Complete, and the P\&L values it from contracts or invoices, not a cost plan. | **Reopen** | | **Terminate trade** | Ends without further delivery. Stays in the P\&L and AR/AP; no more documents are expected. You can record a reason. | **Undo** | | **Cancel trade** | Kept for audit but hidden from running views and left out of the P\&L and AR/AP. Documents and discrepancies stay. | **Un-cancel** | | **Delete trade** | Removes the trade, its legs and discrepancies. You choose whether its documents go back to the Inbox (approval kept) or are removed too. | None | > [!WARNING] > > Deleting a trade can't be undone. To take it off the running list, cancel it instead. ## Next steps * [Trade financials](https://docs.mercora.io/trades/financials.md): record invoices and payments, and plan costs. * [Shipments](https://docs.mercora.io/trades/shipments.md): follow the cargo. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.