Total return

The formula

Net P&L ÷ starting capital, in %.

How to read it

Your performance as a percentage, independent of account size.

Never read it alone. A 30% return with a 25% drawdown is not the same job as 12% with 4%. The first trader took almost as much risk as they made, and a single bad run brings them back to zero. Return says what you made, drawdown says what holding it cost you.

The classic mistake

Computing it on capital that moved. If you topped the account up along the way, the denominator is no longer your starting capital and the percentage stops meaning anything. A deposit is not a performance.