Consistency Rule Calculator
One outsized winning day can block a payout for weeks. This calculator checks your best day against any consistency percentage, tells you the minimum total profit that makes it compliant, and the largest single day you can still afford from here.
By Joey van Diest, founder and editorUpdated
Firm-agnostic: rules range from roughly 20% to 50% and definitions differ (net vs gross total, evaluation vs payout). Always verify the exact wording with your firm.
- Status
- …
- Best day share
- …
- Min total needed
- …
- Still to earn
- …
The formulas
compliant when: best day ≤ rule × total profit
minimum total = best day ÷ rule
still to earn = max(0, best day ÷ rule − total)
The subtle part is the direction of the constraint. The rule does not limit what you may earn in a day going forward in any direct way; it limits what you may withdraw until your total profit is large enough that no single day dominates it. Every new profitable day helps twice, it raises the total and (unless it becomes the new best day) leaves the numerator alone.
A worked example
A funded trader under a 30% rule has $5,000 of total profit, $2,000 of it from one strong day. That day is 40% of the total, over the limit, so no payout yet. Minimum compliant total is 2,000 ÷ 0.30 = $6,666.67: the trader needs $1,666.67 of further profit, earned without any single new day exceeding the (growing) allowance. The calculator also shows the biggest single day you can currently afford: rule × total ÷ (1 − rule), computed against yourfuture total, because a new best day raises both the numerator and the denominator at once.
That last formula deserves a sentence, because most traders get it wrong by checking a candidate day against today's total. If your total is T and tomorrow you make a day of size D, the check is D ≤ rule × (T + D), which solves to D ≤ rule × T ÷ (1 − rule). Under a 30% rule with $5,000 banked, the biggest safe new day is 0.3 × 5,000 ÷ 0.7 ≈ $2,142.86, noticeably more than the naive 30% × 5,000 = $1,500. A day of exactly that size becomes the new best day at exactly 30% of the new $7,142.86 total, and pulls every earlier day further inside the limit.
Why firms impose it, and what it does to strategy
From the firm's side the rule screens out accounts whose entire profit is one lucky, oversized position, the profile most likely to blow up after funding. From the trader's side it quietly rewards exactly what thedrawdown arithmeticrewards: many small, evenly sized days rather than a few heroic ones. If your strategy's returns are naturally lumpy, a few big days among many flat ones, a strict consistency rule is a real structural tax on you specifically, and it belongs in your firm comparison alongside the split and the drawdown type. Model the payout side with theprofit split calculatorand your pass odds with theprofit target simulator.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a consistency rule, exactly?
- A cap on how much of your total profit may come from a single trading day, commonly between 20% and 50% depending on the firm and program. If your best day is $2,000 under a 30% rule, your total profit must reach at least $6,666.67 before that day stops blocking a payout. The stated aim is filtering out one-lucky-trade accounts; the practical effect is that one great day creates a profit obligation you must grind off before you can withdraw.
- Does a losing day reduce my total for the rule?
- At most firms the denominator is net total profit, so losing days shrink it and can push a previously compliant best day back over the limit, a nasty surprise before a payout. A few programs use gross positive days only. The difference decides whether a drawdown can retroactively break your consistency, so this is the first definition to verify with your firm.
- Is the rule checked on profit target, payout, or both?
- It varies. Some firms apply consistency only during the evaluation, some only at payout on a funded account, some at both, and some express it as "no single day above X% of the profit target" rather than of realized total. The calculator works for either denominator, enter your target as the total if your firm measures against the target, but only your agreement says which applies.
- How do I trade around an outsized winning day?
- You cannot undo the day; you can only grow the denominator. The calculator shows exactly how much additional profit makes your best day compliant. The discipline it implies: after an unusually large day, smaller consistent days are worth more than another home run, because a second big day resets the problem at a higher level. Some traders cap their daily profit near the implied limit and flatten for the day when they reach it.
Method and limitations
Pure arithmetic on the numbers you enter; nothing is fetched and nothing leaves your browser. The model assumes the common formulation: no single day above a fixed percentage of net total profit. Firms differ on the denominator (net vs gross, realized total vs profit target) and on when the rule is checked; your agreement is the only authoritative source. Economicium is not affiliated with any proprietary trading firm.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to us or stored.
For general information and education only. This is not financial advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Trading and investing carry risk, including the risk of losing more than your initial outlay. Always verify figures against your broker or the original source before acting on them.
Spotted an error? Email[email protected]and it will be corrected. Maintained byJoey van Diest.