Consistency rule
Also called best day rule, profit consistency rule, consistency score, payout consistency rule
A consistency rule is a prop firm condition that limits how much of your total profit may come from a single trading day, usually stated as a percentage such as 20% or 25%. It checks that your result comes from steady trading, not one big win.
The percentage is measured against profit (what you made, or at some firms the profit target), not your account size, and that is where most traders misread the rule. Break it and the firm can hold back a payout or refuse to pass your evaluation, even if you hit the profit target and never touched the drawdown limit.
What a 15%, 20%, 25% or 50% consistency rule means
The number is the cap on your best day share: your largest single-day profit divided by your total profit for the period. Under a 20% rule, your best day may be at most 20% of everything you made. A lower number is stricter.
The percentage also tells you the fewest winning days you need. Divide 1 by the limit and round up: a 25% rule cannot be met in fewer than 4 profitable days, and a 15% rule needs at least 7. That holds when the limit means "at or under" the percentage. A strictly "under 25%" wording needs 5 days.
Firms write the rule in two ways, and they give different answers:
- Against actual profit. Best day ÷ total profit you really made.
- Against the profit target. Best day ÷ the target set for the account, whatever you actually made.
Some firms apply it during the evaluation, some only when you request a payout from a funded account, and some in both phases.
Checking your best day share with a worked example
The figures here are an illustrative example. The account's profit target is $6,000. You trade five days and close them at $500, $1,500, $800, $1,200 and $1,000. Total profit is $5,000, and the rule is 25% of actual profit.
The chart below shows the five days. One bar stands well above the rest, and the rule compares that one bar with the sum of all five.
As the calculation below shows, you fail a 25% rule. You do not fix this by giving profit back. You fix it by growing the total until the same best day is a small enough slice.
That extra $1,000 must come without any new day beating $1,500, or the bar moves again.
The wording of the rule changes the verdict on the same five days. Against the $6,000 target, $1,500 ÷ $6,000 is exactly 25%. That passes an "at or under" rule but fails a strictly "under 25%" one. Against the $5,000 actually made, it is 30% and fails.
The same $1,500 best day under different limits:
| Rule | Total profit needed |
|---|---|
| 15% | $10,000 |
| 20% | $7,500 |
| 25% | $6,000 |
| 50% | $3,000 |
Turning the rule into a daily profit cap
You can remove the problem before it starts. Multiply the profit target by the limit and treat the answer as your daily ceiling.
In the same example, the $6,000 target × 25% = $1,500. If no day closes above $1,500, your best day share will be at or under 25% once total profit reaches the $6,000 target. Before then it can sit above 25%, as the $5,000 example shows. If your firm's wording is strictly "under", set the cap a little lower, for example $1,450.
A funded account may have no profit target. There, set the cap as the limit × the profit you plan to withdraw. Even with the cap, a losing day shrinks the total, so a cap-sized day can end up over the limit again. Keep trading until the total recovers.
Three decision rules follow:
- Once the day's closed profit reaches about 80% of the cap ($1,200 in this illustrative example), stop trading or cut your size for the rest of the day.
- If you have already gone over, do not chase a bigger total with bigger trades. Keep your normal size and trade more days until total profit reaches best day ÷ limit.
- After a losing day, the total you need stays at best day ÷ limit ($6,000), but the gap grows. If day 6 loses $500, your total is $4,500, your share is $1,500 ÷ $4,500 = 33.3%, and you now need $1,500 more, not $1,000.
Where you see the consistency rule on your account
The rule lives in the firm's account dashboard, not in your trading platform. Look for a consistency percentage or a best-day figure next to the drawdown and target numbers.
You can check it yourself from the account history on your trading platform. Group closed trades by day, find the largest daily total, and divide by the sum.
Compare your result with the dashboard figure. If the two differ, ask the firm whether it counts net or gross profit and which day cut-off it uses.
Watch the day boundary. Firms cut the day at their server time, which may not match your local midnight. Ask the firm which day a trade held across the cut-off is booked on.
Checks before you start a challenge with a consistency rule
- Confirm the wording and the day cut-off, noted above.
- Ask whether commission and swap are included in daily profit. Net and gross figures give different shares.
- Work out your daily cap before the first trade and write it down.
- If your strategy makes most of its money on a few news days, a low limit will fight it. Look for an account with a higher limit, such as 50%, or one with no consistency rule.
FAQ
Do I lose my account if I break the consistency rule?
Not always. At some firms it is a soft rule: the account stays open, but you cannot pass or withdraw until your numbers fit. Other firms treat it as a hard breach. The firm's terms say which, so read that line before paying a fee.
Does a consistency rule limit my [lot size](/glossary/lot-size) too?
Some firms run a separate version based on trade size or risk per trade. It flags trades far larger than your average. It is a different test from the best-day rule, and an account can carry both.
Does the consistency calculation reset after a payout?
It depends on the firm. Some restart the count for each payout cycle, so an old big day no longer counts. Others measure the whole life of the account.