---
title: Connect Accounts to the Trading Dashboard
description: Connect paper, live, or unconnected accounts; follow the Interactive Brokers checklist; match ports; and choose manual confirmation or automatic order transmission.
url: "https://portfolioboss.com/documentation/connect-accounts-to-the-trading-dashboard/"
updated: "2026-11-06"
category: "Chapter 10 - Trading Dashboard & APM"
---

# Connect Accounts to the Trading Dashboard

**TRADING DASHBOARD & APM · 2 OF 8 · ACCOUNT SETUP**

**Connect the right account, then choose how orders are sent.**

Use the checklist inside Portfolio Boss as you work. Account mode and order transmission are two separate choices.

[← Trading Dashboard guide](https://portfolioboss.com/documentation/trading-dashboard-overview-apm/) · Use the overview to choose a different task.

 **On this page**

[Account modes](#modes) · [IBKR checklist](#prerequisites) · [Connect](#connect) · [Transmission](#transmission) · [Connection checks](#troubleshoot)

## Choose an account mode

Open Trading Dashboard and click **Add account**. The **Configure Interactive Brokers integration** dialog has connection choices on the left and a setup checklist on the right.

[![Account setup dialog showing Unconnected, Paper trading, Live trading, TWS, IBGateway, and the Interactive Brokers setup checklist.](https://portfolioboss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/td-02-account-modes.png)](https://portfolioboss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/td-02-account-modes.png)
Dan demonstrates a new paper-account configuration. The warning and disabled OK show that this example has not connected yet. **Click to enlarge.**

| Mode | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Unconnected** | Portfolio Boss generates orders locally without submitting them to a broker. Use notifications or exported basket files for a manual workflow. Dan notes that one unconnected account is available per installation. |
| **Paper trading** | Connect to an Interactive Brokers paper account to practice the workflow with simulated trading. |
| **Live trading** | Connect to a real brokerage account. Orders can involve real money; transmission behavior depends on the separate setting below. |

You can configure multiple Interactive Brokers accounts that your broker login is authorized to access. Dan’s examples include a regular account and linked retirement accounts. The accounts must be correctly linked and available through the broker session; adding a Portfolio Boss tab does not create or link an account at Interactive Brokers.

## Complete the broker prerequisites

[![Close-up of the in-app IBKR checklist covering IBKR Pro, market data acknowledgement, Network A/B/C subscriptions, trading permissions, and paper trading.](https://portfolioboss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/td-03-ib-checklist.png)](https://portfolioboss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/td-03-ib-checklist.png)
The checklist is the place to start. Follow the version shown in your installation. **Click to enlarge.**

1. **Check account eligibility.** The demonstrated checklist calls for an IBKR Pro account with third-party API access.
2. **Enable the needed market data.** Complete the Market Data API Acknowledgement and the required subscriptions. The recording lists NASDAQ Network C, NYSE Network A, and Network B data. Confirm current availability, eligibility, and fees in IBKR; the price mentioned in a recording may change.
3. **Check trading permissions for the instruments.** The checklist calls out Complex or Leveraged Exchange Traded Products for relevant inverse or leveraged products. Request permissions only for the instruments your strategy requires.
4. **Set up the paper account at IBKR.** Request or activate it in Client Portal, wait for it to become available, and sign in with the correct paper-account credentials. Follow the checklist’s instruction to share real-time market data subscriptions where applicable.

An inverse ETF can appear as a **Long** position because the strategy owns shares of that ETF. This is different from selling borrowed shares short. The strategy and product determine the exposure; the order’s Long label alone does not tell you whether it benefits from a rising broad market.

## Connect Portfolio Boss to TWS or IB Gateway

1. **Start and sign in to the broker application.** Choose Trader Workstation (TWS) if you want its trading interface, or IBGateway for the lighter connection application. Use the intended paper or live session.
2. **Match the selection in Portfolio Boss.** Choose the application, location, and socket port. Dan demonstrates **This computer**. Remote-host and custom-port configurations are outside this walkthrough.
3. **Configure the broker API.** In TWS, open Global Configuration → API → Settings. Follow the Portfolio Boss checklist, including Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients, clearing Read-Only API for order submission, and matching the socket port.
4. **Finish the rest of the in-app checklist.** It also covers local connections, the Master API client ID, restart behavior, order precautions, and quantity editing. Read these settings in the checklist for the chosen mode rather than copying a different account’s setup.
5. **Return to Portfolio Boss and click Refresh.** Select the intended account when it becomes available, review the transmission choice, then confirm with OK once the connection is ready.

[![TWS API Settings with Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients selected, Read-Only API cleared, and live socket port 7496 highlighted.](https://portfolioboss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/td-04-tws-api.png)](https://portfolioboss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/td-04-tws-api.png)
The separate TWS window Dan opens is a live session using 7496. His new paper configuration in Portfolio Boss uses 7497. Those are intentionally different modes. **Click to enlarge.**

| Application | Live default | Paper default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| TWS | 7496 | 7497 |
| IB Gateway | 4001 | 4002 |

These are IBKR’s default ports; a custom configuration may differ. **The actual port in the broker application must match Portfolio Boss.** IBKR documents the defaults and API switches in its [TWS API setup lesson](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/installing-configuring-tws-for-the-api/).

## Choose manual confirmation or automatic transmission

[![Order transmission controls showing Manual confirmation in TWS, Automatic, Email notifications, Basket file export, and Refresh.](https://portfolioboss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/td-05-order-transmission.png)](https://portfolioboss.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/td-05-order-transmission.png)
Scroll within the left side of the setup dialog to reach Order transmission and Additional order delivery. **Click to enlarge.**

| Choice | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| **Manual confirmation in TWS** | Portfolio Boss submits orders to TWS, and you transmit them from TWS manually. Dan describes this as a co-pilot workflow. |
| **Automatic** | Orders are submitted to TWS and transmitted onward automatically. Dan suggests practicing this in paper trading to learn the full workflow. |
| **Email notifications** | Optional additional delivery. Dan recommends it, especially at the beginning, to check that activity matches your expectations. |
| **Basket file export** | Optional file-based delivery for importing a group of orders into TWS. It can support a manual workflow; it is not required for normal APM automation. |

For notification setup, see the existing [email notification guide](https://portfolioboss.com/documentation/automation-tab-guide/#sendemailnotif). Broker sign-in and reauthentication still apply. Dan describes a weekly TWS authentication routine; use the current checklist and broker prompts for your chosen application rather than assuming every session remains connected indefinitely.

## If the connection is not ready

| What you see | What to check |
| --- | --- |
| “Is Trader Work Station running?” or a connecting message | Start the selected broker application, complete sign-in, and check that it is the same paper/live mode you selected in Portfolio Boss. |
| No account in the list or OK remains disabled | Check the API switches, local connection permission, matching socket port, and account access. Click Refresh after correcting the setup. |
| Connected, but orders wait in TWS | Check whether Manual confirmation in TWS is selected. Waiting for your transmission can be expected in that mode. |
| Data or instrument problems | Review subscriptions and trading permissions, then read the strategy’s data message on the dashboard. |

To reopen this configuration later, select the account and click the **gear beside Broker account**. Keep this separate from the sliders at the upper right of the Account panel, which open trading-order settings. Dan removes only the unused, unconnected example tab during the demonstration; removing an account tab is not evidence that broker positions have been closed.

 [← Previous: Trading Dashboard Overview & APM](https://portfolioboss.com/documentation/trading-dashboard-overview-apm/)

[Next: Monitor Account Value and Allocation →](https://portfolioboss.com/documentation/monitor-account-value-and-allocation/)

Based on Dan’s November 6, 2026 walkthrough in Portfolio Boss Unite 6.0.0.71. Screenshots show an example account and historical values, not recommended allocations or expected returns. Brokerage account identifiers have been masked. Labels and available features can vary by version and license.