Prop firm consistency rules and trade copying

Many futures prop firms have a consistency rule: no single day (or single trade) can make up more than a set share of your total profit before you can pass or withdraw. The exact wording, percentage and scope differ by firm and by account type, and firms change them. This post explains the idea and how it interacts with copying. It isn't a summary of any firm's current rules, so always read your own firm's terms.

What a consistency rule measures

A typical rule compares your best day with your total. If a firm's limit were, say, a fixed share of total profit, one outsized day would mean you need more profit from other days before you qualify. Some firms apply it only to evaluations, some only to payouts, and some measure trades rather than days.

The point for copy traders is simple: the rule is applied per account. Copying doesn't change the maths on any single account, but it does mean every follower has the same good day and the same bad day at the same time.

Why copying makes it matter more

• Correlated days. A big day on the leader is a big day on every follower. If one account is near its consistency limit, all of them probably are.
• Different ratios, same shape. A ×2 follower has twice the profit and twice the best day. Ratios scale both sides of the fraction equally, so they don't help or hurt the ratio itself.
• Different starting points. Accounts started on different dates will have different totals, so the same day can be fine on one account and a problem on another.

Planning around it

1. Know each account's number. Keep a note of each account's total profit and best day. The Cockpit's Journal shows realised P&L by day.
2. Use a max daily profit guardrail. Edgeable's group guardrails include Max daily profit, which stops copying for the day once profit reaches the amount you set. Set it from your firm's rule and each account's current total.
3. Group accounts at similar stages. Put accounts with similar totals in the same copy group so one guardrail setting suits them all.
4. Re-check after payouts. Totals often reset or change after a payout, and so does your safe number.

Copying itself

Separately from consistency rules, firms set their own policies on trade copiers and on copying between accounts, including between accounts at different firms. Read the current terms of every firm you copy into. Edgeable gives you the tools; staying inside each firm's rules is your responsibility.

Related: ratios and contract sizing and managing several evaluations at once.