The consistency rule, decoded

You can be profitable, inside your drawdown, and still have a payout locked — because of the consistency rule. It's the most misunderstood rule in funded trading.

What it actually checks

Most firms cap how much of your total profit can come from a single day. If your best day is more than the cap — 50% at Apex and Topstep, 40% at Tradeify eval, 35% at Tradeify funded — your payout is held until you spread the profit across more days. One huge day is the classic trap: it feels great and quietly disqualifies the withdrawal.

The math, with an example

Say you're up $1,300 total and your best day was $800. That day is 62% of your profit — over a 50% cap. To pass, your best day must be ≤ 50% of the total, so you need total profit of at least $800 ÷ 0.50 = $1,600. That means banking ~$300 more on other days (not adding to the big one). Now $800 of $1,600 is exactly 50%.

How to plan around it

Aim for several similar-sized green days rather than one monster. If you do have a big day, keep trading modestly to dilute it before withdrawing. FundedStreak's consistency planner does the arithmetic for you — it shows your current concentration and exactly how much more to make, and on which days, before a payout will clear.

Risk-tracking tool, not financial advice, not affiliated with any prop firm. Verify rules against your firm's current terms.