What the consistency rule is
Topstep's consistency rule requires that your best single day stays within 50% of total profit. One outsized day makes the rest of your profit ineligible until you balance it out with more trading days.
How it's measured
The check is a ratio: your largest single day's profit divided by your total profit. It recalculates as your total grows, which means you fix a violation by adding profitable days, not by shrinking the big one.
Worked example: you are up $2,400 in total and $1,500 of it came from one session. That day is 63% of the total, so the gate is shut. Bank another $600 across the following days and the same $1,500 day is exactly 50% of a $3,000 total, back inside the rule.
Payout, not pass
Crucially, the consistency rule gates your withdrawal, not the evaluation. It blocks the payout, it does not fail the account, so it bites at the funded stage rather than during the challenge.
How to stay consistent
Spread profit across days. If one green day is running large, scale down rather than pressing, so no single session dominates your total.
- →Your best day must stay within 50% of total profit.
- →It blocks payouts, not the pass.
- →Bank steady days instead of one outsized session.
Figures reflect a common Topstep account at the time of writing. Firms revise rules often, so verify against the Topstep site before relying on them.
Merlin's gauges derive from closed trades. Your firm watches live equity including open positions.
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