How prop firm payouts actually work
A futures prop firm sells you an evaluation. Pass it and you trade a funded (usually simulated) account under their rules and keep a share of the profit, commonly 80% to 90%, sometimes 100% of the first few thousand dollars. What the headline split does not show is everything you paid to get there: the evaluation fee, any resets after a failed attempt, an activation fee on the funded account, monthly data or platform fees, and sometimes a fee per withdrawal.
This calculator puts all of that on one screen. The "net after all fees" line is the number that matters. It is common for a trader's first payout to be below zero in real terms because the fees exceeded the share.
Worked example
$5,000 profit, 90% split, $150 evaluation, $100 activation, one month of $50 data. You receive $4,500. Net of fees: $4,500 − $300 = $4,200, an effective 84% of gross. Change it to $2,000 profit with two failed evaluations ($450 total) and the effective split drops to about 60%.
The rules that change the number
- Consistency rule: no single day may exceed a set percentage of total profit (30% to 50% is typical). A big day can delay a payout until smaller days dilute it.
- Trailing drawdown: the loss limit follows your equity high. One large open profit that reverses can move the limit against you.
- Minimum trading days before the first and subsequent payouts.
- Payout caps in the first months, with the cap rising over time.
- Buffer requirements: some firms require a cushion above the drawdown before any withdrawal.
Size the funded account like your own money
Funded accounts have tight daily loss limits. Use the position size calculator with the daily loss limit as the account size and a low risk percentage, and the tick value calculator to keep stops in dollars straight across micros and minis.