Payouts & Funding
Payout
A withdrawal of profits from a funded account. Governed by rules on timing, minimums, buffers, and consistency, which differ more between firms than any other feature.
In plain English
The payout is the product. Everything else in prop trading is a step toward requesting one. Each firm defines when you may request (days or cycle), how much (minimums, maximums, percentage caps), and what must be true first (buffer amounts, qualifying days, consistency checks).
Payout friction is where firms differ most, and where reputations are made or lost. Fast, boring, reliable payouts are the strongest signal a firm is healthy.
- A trader with $2,600 profit requests a payout.
- The firm requires a $500 minimum, 5 qualifying days, and holds a $100 buffer, so $2,000 arrives and $600 stays as balance above the buffer.