Overview

Smart Accumulator is a TradingView indicator that automates the process of systematically accumulating any asset. It uses a proprietary model to identify statistically significant buying opportunities across short, medium, and long-term timeframes — and deploys capital from independently managed buckets when conditions are met.

Rather than buying a fixed amount on a fixed schedule, Smart Accumulator buys more when assets are statistically cheap and less when they aren't — turning market volatility into an advantage rather than something to fear.

Installation

Smart Accumulator is distributed as a protected TradingView invite-only script. After subscribing you will receive an email with access instructions. Follow the steps below.

• 1
  Accept the TradingView invitation

  You will receive a notification from TradingView confirming that access to Smart Accumulator by Tom Makin has been granted. Click the link to accept.

• 2
  Open any chart in TradingView

  Log in and open a chart for the asset you want to track. We recommend starting on a Daily timeframe.

• 3
  Open the Indicators panel

  Click Indicators at the top of the chart (or press /). In the search box type Smart Accumulator.

• 4
  Select from Invite-Only Scripts

  Under the Invite-Only Scripts tab you will see Smart Accumulator by Tom Makin. Click to add it to your chart.

• 5
  Configure your settings

  Click the ⚙️ icon on the indicator name to open settings. See Section 03 for the complete setup walkthrough.

Initial Setup

Open the indicator settings via the ⚙️ gear icon. There are two groups of settings — Portfolio and Display.

Setting	Default	What it does
Accumulation Start Date	2024-01-01	When your accumulation begins. Capital is initialised on this bar. The VWAP benchmark also anchors here.
Starting Capital ($)	$10,000	Your total capital. Automatically split across the three Smart Zone buckets.
Recurring Contribution ($)	$0	Optional amount added on a regular schedule. Set to 0 to disable.
Contribution Frequency	Monthly	How often contributions are added: Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or None.
Show Smart Zones	Off	Toggle the Smart Zone bands on the chart. Off by default for a clean view — enable when you want to see the zone levels.
Show VWAP Benchmark	On	Toggle the VWAP and Average Cost lines.
Show Buy Labels	On	Toggle the dollar amount labels on each buy signal.
Show Dashboard	On	Toggle the portfolio summary panel.

The Three Smart Zones

Smart Accumulator monitors three Smart Zones simultaneously. Each zone corresponds to a different timeframe horizon and triggers independently based on a proprietary statistical model. All three are visible on your chart as shaded bands.

Zone	Timeframe	Signal Type	Conviction
Large	Long-term	Statistical anomaly on long-term volatility model	Highest — rare, significant signal
Medium	Medium-term	Volatility-based opportunity on medium-term model	Medium — structured accumulation signal
Small	Short-term	Near-term statistical dip condition	Lower — opportunistic, more frequent

Each Smart Zone appears on the chart as a shaded band. The inner edge of the band marks the zone entry threshold. The outer edge represents a deeper, more extreme condition within the same zone. The specific thresholds are proprietary.

Capital Buckets

Your total capital is split across three independently managed buckets. Each bucket is reserved exclusively for its corresponding Smart Zone. Capital from the Large bucket only deploys on Large zone signals — the buckets never cross.

Bucket	Share of Capital	Deploy per Signal	Example ($10k)
Large	60%	Portion of bucket	$6,000 reserved for long-term signals
Medium	25%	Portion of bucket	$2,500 reserved for medium-term signals
Small	15%	Portion of bucket	$1,500 reserved for short-term signals

Each signal deploys a percentage of its bucket's remaining balance, not a fixed dollar amount. This means successive signals in the same zone automatically deploy smaller amounts as the bucket depletes — a natural safeguard against over-concentration in any single entry.

Monitoring your buckets

The dashboard panel shows current cash remaining in each bucket under "Available Cash". As signals fire, these values reduce. Contributions top them back up on your chosen schedule.

Overbuying Protection

Each Smart Zone includes a built-in protection mechanism that prevents it from firing more than once per zone visit. This is essential for protecting your capital during sustained downtrends where price might remain in a zone for extended periods.

• →
  Zone triggers

  Statistical conditions are met. Capital deploys. Protection activates for that zone.

• →
  Protection active

  While price remains within the zone, no further signals fire — even if conditions deepen. One entry per visit.

• →
  Recovery & reset

  Price recovers above the zone threshold. Protection resets. The zone is ready to fire again on the next qualifying visit.

VWAP Benchmark

Smart Accumulator plots an Anchored VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price) from your chosen start date. This represents what the average market participant paid for the asset since that date, weighted by trading volume.

Your Average Cost line shows the price-per-share of your accumulated position. When your Average Cost sits below the VWAP, you are accumulating at better prices than the market average — this difference is your alpha.

Indicator	Colour	Meaning
VWAP	Gold line	Market average price since your start date
Avg Cost	Green line	Your average accumulation cost per share
Alpha ✓	Green in dashboard	Your avg cost is below VWAP — beating the market average
Alpha ✗	Red in dashboard	Your avg cost is above VWAP — below market average performance

Reading the Dashboard

The dashboard appears in the top-right of your chart and updates on every bar.

Row	What it shows
Deployed	Total capital you have deployed into the asset so far. Does not include uninvested cash.
Total Equity	Current market value of your shares plus all remaining uninvested cash across all buckets.
Unrealised P/L	Gain or loss on your deployed position in dollars and as a percentage of total contributions.
Available Cash	Total uninvested cash remaining across all three buckets.
Large / Medium / Small Zone	Individual cash remaining in each bucket, ready to deploy on the next qualifying signal.
Avg Cost	Your average price per share across all accumulated positions.
Alpha	How much better (or worse) your average cost is versus the anchored VWAP. Positive means you are beating the market average.

Reading Signals on the Chart

Every buy event is marked on the chart with two visual elements.

Triangle markers

A filled triangle appears below the bar when a Smart Zone fires. Larger and darker triangles indicate larger zone signals, smaller and lighter triangles indicate smaller zone signals. Triangles are unlimited and display across your full chart history.

Buy labels

A label appears below the bar showing the zone name and dollar amount deployed — for example Large · $3,000 or Large + Medium · $4,200 when multiple zones fire simultaneously.

Setting Up Alerts

Smart Accumulator includes four alert conditions. See the separate Alert Setup Guide for the complete step-by-step walkthrough.

• L
  🟢 Large Smart Zone Signal

  Fires when the long-term Smart Zone triggers. Highest conviction. Rarest signal.

• M
  🟡 Medium Smart Zone Signal

  Fires when the medium-term Smart Zone triggers. Core accumulation signal.

• S
  ⚪ Small Smart Zone Signal

  Fires when the short-term Smart Zone triggers. More frequent, smaller deployment.

• *
  📊 Any Smart Zone Signal

  Fires when any zone triggers. Use this if you want a single alert for all activity.

All Input Settings

Input	Type	Default	Notes
Accumulation Start Date	Date	2024-01-01	All calculations begin from this bar.
Starting Capital	Float	$10,000	Minimum $100. Split across buckets automatically.
Recurring Contribution	Float	$0	Set to 0 to disable. Splits across buckets automatically.
Contribution Frequency	Select	Monthly	Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or None.
Show Smart Zones	Toggle	Off	Off by default. Enable to reveal the Smart Zone bands on the chart.
Show VWAP Benchmark	Toggle	On	Hides/shows VWAP and Average Cost lines.
Show Buy Labels	Toggle	On	Hides/shows dollar labels on buy signals.
Show Dashboard	Toggle	On	Hides/shows the portfolio panel.

FAQ

Can you explain how the Smart Zones work?

Smart Zones use a proprietary statistical model to identify when price is behaving anomalously relative to its own historical volatility profile across multiple timeframes. The specific methodology is protected, but the core concept is straightforward: when price is statistically cheap — relative to where it "should" be — a Smart Zone fires. The larger the timeframe, the more significant and rare the signal.

Why isn't the Large zone firing even though the market is down?

The Large zone is based on long-term conditions and is intentionally rare — it only fires during genuinely significant statistical dislocations. A moderate pullback will typically not reach it. Look at the chart to confirm whether price has touched the Large zone band. If the shaded band is still well below price, the signal threshold has not been met.

Why is my Total Equity different from my Deployed amount?

Deployed shows only capital that has been used to purchase shares. Total Equity includes the current market value of those shares plus all remaining uninvested cash across your three buckets. Total Equity is the complete picture of your portfolio's value.

Can I use this on crypto?

Yes. The Smart Zone model is fully asset-agnostic and works on any ticker available in TradingView — stocks, ETFs, crypto, forex, commodities, and indices.

The dashboard shows $0. What happened?

This usually means the Accumulation Start Date is set in the future, or beyond the available chart data. Check your start date and ensure it falls within the historical data range shown on your chart.