Funded Account
Also known as: prop firm funded account, funded trading account, funded challenge account, live funded account
What is it?
A funded account is the trading account a prop firm hands you after you pass its evaluation: the firm's capital, your decisions, and a rulebook that stays in force for as long as you hold it. It is not a prize you keep unconditionally. The limits that governed the evaluation - a daily loss limit, a maximum drawdown, and often a minimum-trading-days or consistency requirement - continue to apply, and breaching any one of them closes the account.
- 1Pass the evaluation Reach the profit target on a simulated $100,000 account without breaching the $5,000 daily loss limit or the $10,000 maximum drawdown.
- 2Trade the firm's capital under the same rulebook Nothing about the limits relaxes once you are funded. Every position is sized against the daily and total drawdown headroom still left, and a single breach closes the account.
- 3Withdraw your profit share each cycle On an 80/20 split, $6,000 of account profit pays the trader $4,800 and leaves the firm $1,200 for supplying the capital and carrying the downside.
What changes is the direction the money flows: instead of paying a fee to prove yourself, you request payouts of your agreed profit share. A typical $100,000 funded account allows $5,000 of loss in any single day and $10,000 of total drawdown. Produce $6,000 of profit on an 80/20 split and you receive $4,800, while the firm keeps $1,200 and continues to carry the downside.
The account is best read as a lease on size: valuable for as long as the rules are respected, and gone the moment they are not.
Why it matters: A funded account gives you institutional-size positions without depositing the capital, but the firm's rules rather than your own risk appetite decide when it ends.
Every position is sized against limits that terminate the account on a single breach, so risk control outranks entry quality.
Real-world example
A trader on a $100,000 funded account is up $7,400 for the month, then takes three losing trades in one session totalling $5,100, passing the $5,000 daily loss limit and ending the account.
How SignalBots handles it
SignalBots publishes each signal's stop distance up front, so you can convert it into a dollar risk and check it against your funded account's remaining daily headroom before entering. See /risk-warning.
Pro tip
Work out your daily loss limit in dollars at the start of every session and stop trading at 60% of it, so one slipped stop cannot reach the breach line.
Common pitfalls
Assuming the drawdown limit is measured on closed balance when the firm measures equity, so a deep floating loss breaches the account before you close it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I own the funded account?
No. The capital and the account both belong to the firm; you hold a contractual right to trade it and to receive your profit share. The firm can close it the moment a rule is breached.
Is a funded account real or simulated?
It varies by firm. Some route funded traders to live liquidity, others keep the account simulated and pay profit shares from firm revenue. Either way, the payouts you receive are real money.
How often can I withdraw from a funded account?
Most firms run a payout cycle of 14 to 30 days, and some add a minimum number of trading days or a first-payout waiting period. Check the cycle before planning around the income.
What happens if I breach a rule on a funded account?
The account is normally closed immediately. Profit already withdrawn stays yours, while unpaid profit is usually forfeited. Some firms sell a reset; most require a fresh evaluation.
Can I hold trades over the weekend on a funded account?
Many firms prohibit it, especially on higher-leverage plans, because a weekend gap can jump straight through a stop. The rulebook lists weekend and news-holding restrictions explicitly.
Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Historical and backtested results do not guarantee future performance. Read the full risk warning.
