How to record a roll

Rolling a covered call means buying back the call you have and selling another, usually with a later expiry and often a higher strike, on the same day. It is two trades, made as one decision. Recorded well, it tells you exactly what you have kept and what is still at risk. Recorded as one netted number, it hides both.

What a roll changes

The demo dataset, on a made-up ticker, DEMO, with 300 shares bought at 21.50:

• The old call is closed. 3 calls at 22.00, sold for 0.60 (180), are bought back at 0.10 (30). That leg is settled: 180 − 30 = 150 is realized.
• A new call is opened. 3 calls at 23.00 are sold for 0.80 (240). That leg is open: the 240 is collected, but still at risk.
• The net cash of the roll is 240 − 30 = 210.
• After it, premium collected is 180 + 240 = 420, realized is 150, and 240 is still at risk. The adjusted basis moves from 21.50 to 21.00, because only the settled 150 counts.

Three ways a roll gets recorded wrong

1. One netted row. Writing the roll as “+210” loses the two facts that matter: 150 was realized, and 240 is still open.
2. The new credit as income. Adding the 240 to income the day you sell it counts money that the new call can still take back.
3. Overwriting the old row. Changing the first call’s line into the buy-back erases the sale, and with it the record of what the roll replaced.

In a spreadsheet

Two rows, with the same date: the buy-to-close of the old call, and the sale of the new one. Tie them together with a note or a roll ID, so you can always see which call replaced which. Mark the old leg settled and the new one open, and count only settled legs as realized. The spreadsheet guide has these two rows in its sheet.

In yourfinance

yourfinance records a roll as one change with both legs: the old call closed and the new one opened together, or neither.

1. On the Decision Desk, press Review decision on the call you are rolling.
2. In the inputs, enter the Current closing debit per share and any Closing fees, as your broker confirmed them.
3. Open Roll and settlement inputs and enter the new call: Replacement strike, Replacement expiry, Replacement credit per share, Replacement contracts and Replacement fees.
4. Press Compare scenarios. The comparison sets the roll beside the other choices, with the formula behind each figure. Nothing is written yet.
5. Choose the roll, write a short Rationale, set the Planned review/action date, and press Record plan. The plan is kept for your records; the ledger is still unchanged.
6. Press Record executed outcome. The old call is closed and the new one opened, as one recorded roll. In the demo: 150 realized, 240 still at risk, 420 collected.

If you recorded a roll wrong, the latest roll can be undone with a written reason. Both legs reverse together, and the correction stays in the history.