Working Order
A working order is an order that has been submitted to the exchange and is active: either resting in the book waiting to fill, or in the process of being executed. The term is used in trading platforms to distinguish live orders from pending, filled, or cancelled orders.
A working order is any open order that is currently active with the exchange: sitting in the order book and eligible to fill if price reaches it. The term is most commonly used in platform order management panels to indicate the status of submitted orders.
Working order statuses
Most platforms show orders in one of these states:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Working | Submitted and active in the book |
| Partially filled | Some contracts have executed, rest still working |
| Filled | Fully executed |
| Cancelled | Removed without filling |
| Rejected | Not accepted by the exchange |
“Working” is synonymous with “resting”: the order is live and waiting.
Working orders on the ladder
On the DOM ladder, your working orders appear directly at the price level where they are resting: typically highlighted in a different color from other participants’ orders. This allows you to instantly see where your orders sit relative to current price and to manage them (move or cancel) with a click.
Risk of working orders
Any working limit order carries execution risk: the order can fill at any moment if price reaches it. This is especially relevant for:
- Forgotten orders: a limit order placed and left working can fill on a sudden spike, creating an unintended position
- Bracketed orders: stop-loss and take-profit orders remain working until one fills, at which point the other should be cancelled (OCO logic handles this automatically on most platforms)
- Rollover periods: during contract rollovers, working orders in the expiring contract may need to be manually migrated to the new front month
Working orders vs pending orders
Some platforms distinguish between “pending” (created but not yet submitted to the exchange) and “working” (confirmed as active in the book). The difference matters in high-speed environments where submission latency is relevant. For retail traders on standard connections, the distinction is minor.