Consistency rule — A limit on how much of an account's total profit may come from a single day or trade, applied most often as a condition of payout.
How consistency rule works in prop trading
A consistency rule caps the share of profit that any one day — sometimes any one trade — may represent. A 40% rule on $5,000 of total profit means no single day may account for more than $2,000 of it. Its purpose is to distinguish a repeatable process from one large lucky position, which matters to a firm paying out on simulated performance.
The rule is usually enforced at payout rather than during trading, which is what makes it dangerous: nothing stops you breaking it, you simply find out when the withdrawal is refused. The fix is arithmetic rather than skill — if your best day is too large a share, you keep trading until the denominator grows. A $2,000 best day needs $5,000 of total profit to satisfy a 40% rule.
Key points
- Typically expressed as a maximum percentage of total profit from the best single day — commonly 20% to 50%.
- Usually checked at the payout request, not enforced live, so you can breach it without warning.
- The remedy is to keep trading and grow total profit until the best day falls under the threshold.
- Some firms apply it per payout window; others apply it to the account's lifetime profit.
Example
With a 30% consistency rule and a best day of $1,500, the account needs $5,000 in total profit before a payout qualifies.
Also known as
- consistency requirement
- payout consistency
- consistency policy
Frequently asked questions
How does the consistency rule work?
The firm divides your largest single-day profit by your total profit. If the result exceeds the threshold, the payout is held until total profit grows enough to bring it under. It is arithmetic, not a judgement call — which means you can calculate exactly how much more profit you need.
Which prop firms have no consistency rule?
A number of futures firms advertise no consistency requirement, and some apply it only to the first payout. Because the rule is one of the most common reasons a withdrawal is refused, it is worth filtering for directly rather than discovering later.
Put this into practice
Consistency rule is described here as a plain-language educational definition. Firms, platforms, and account programs may apply different conditions or calculations. Verify the current official terms before using this definition to make an account decision.