Guides

Prop firm guides

The rules, payout mechanics and tax treatment behind funded trading — written from firm terms and trader payout evidence, not marketing pages.

Getting started

What is a prop firm? How funded trading actually works
A plain-English explanation of prop firms: how evaluations work, where the money comes from, what a funded account really is, and who they suit.
8 min4 sections
How to pass a prop firm challenge (without gambling)
A risk-first plan for passing an evaluation: position sizing maths, daily loss budgeting, the trading-day schedule and the mistakes that fail most accounts.
9 min4 sections
How do prop firms make money? The business model, decoded
Where prop firm revenue actually comes from — evaluation fees, monthly subscriptions, resets, and how firms handle funded traders' order flow — and why it decides whether you get paid.
9 min5 sections
Free prop firm challenges: which offers are real, and what each one actually costs
Free challenges, free trials, giveaways and refunded evaluations compared: what each model costs the firm, what it costs you, and how to tell a genuine free route from a lead magnet.
12 min6 sections
TradingView prop firms: margin, leverage and what the integration actually gives you
Which prop firms let you trade from TradingView, how their margin and leverage really compare, what the broker integration costs, and when TradingView is the wrong front end for a funded account.
12 min4 sections

Prop firm rules explained — every rule that can kill an account
Daily loss limits, max drawdown, consistency rules, news bans, minimum trading days and hidden clauses — every prop firm rule explained with examples.
10 min4 sections
Trailing drawdown explained (with worked examples)
Intraday trailing, end-of-day trailing and static drawdown compared, with number-by-number examples of how each one moves your stop-out level.
7 min4 sections
The prop firm consistency rule, and how to pass it
What a consistency rule is, the 30-50% variants firms use, how it blocks payouts, and a simple daily-profit plan that keeps you compliant.
6 min3 sections
How many funded accounts can you have? Limits by firm type
Per-firm account limits, aggregate allocation caps, copy-trading rules across accounts, and whether running multiple prop firms at once breaks any terms.
7 min5 sections

Prop firm payout rules: how withdrawals actually work
Payout cycles, minimum trading days, profit-split tiers, KYC, payment rails and the clauses firms use to delay or deny withdrawals.
8 min4 sections
Prop firm taxes: how funded payouts are taxed
How prop firm payouts are taxed as contractor income, what forms to expect, deductible costs, and the differences between US, UK and EU traders.
14 min7 sections
How much can you make with a funded account? Real numbers
What funded traders actually earn: profit-split maths at every account size, scaling plans, the cost of failed evaluations, and where the six-figure claims come from.
9 min6 sections
Which prop firm has the fastest payout? Real timelines, not marketing
Every prop firm claims fast payouts. Here is what the rulebooks actually require — minimum days, request windows and processing time — for the firms we track.
9 min5 sections
Prop firms with daily payouts: what the term actually means
Daily payout marketing explained — what the rules really allow, which firms come closest, and the hidden thresholds that stop a daily withdrawal from clearing.
7 min4 sections
How to file prop firm taxes: the actual filing steps, forms and deadlines
A step-by-step filing walkthrough for funded traders: which forms your payouts land on, what to do when no 1099 arrives, quarterly estimates, deductible costs and the bookkeeping that survives an audit.
15 min7 sections

Prop firm scams: how to spot one before you pay
The patterns behind every collapsed prop firm: payout delays, rule rewrites, fake payout proof and affiliate-driven launches. Plus a verification checklist.
8 min4 sections
Are prop firms legit? Regulation, risk and how to verify one
Whether prop firms are legitimate, why they are mostly unregulated, what protects your payout, and the exact checks to run before buying an evaluation.
9 min6 sections
Prop firm refused your payout? A step-by-step escalation guide
What to do when a prop firm delays or refuses a withdrawal — the evidence to collect, the exact escalation sequence, and when a delay is actually a rule breach on your side.
8 min5 sections
Prop firm passing services: how they work, what they cost, and why the payout usually never arrives
Passing services promise to clear your evaluation for a fee. Here is how the four business models actually work, which firm rules they breach, and what happens at the first payout review.
11 min7 sections