Topstep's consistency rule, explained with examples

Topstep's consistency rule stops one big day from carrying a whole evaluation. In the Trading Combine your best day has to stay at or below 55% of your profit. Going over doesn't fail the account — it raises the profit you need to pass. On a funded Express Funded Account (XFA) there is a separate 40% rule, but only if you chose the Consistency payout path.

This guide quotes Topstep's own Help Center and works through the numbers. Rules change: check the official page before you trade.

#The rule, as Topstep writes it

In the Trading Combine, Topstep measures your best day against your total profit:

Best Day Profit ÷ Total Profit = Best Day % — and the best day must stay at or below 55%. "55% is a hard line. It is not rounded, and there is no buffer."

— Consistency at Topstep, Topstep Help Center

Topstep also gives the target as a dollar amount per account size — your best day should stay below:

Account	Profit Target	Best day under
$50K	$3,000	$1,650
$100K	$6,000	$3,300
$150K	$9,000	$4,950

Both ways of saying it agree. To pass you need two things at once: total profit of at least the Profit Target, and a best day no bigger than 55% of that total. When your best day is too big, the total you need simply grows to best day ÷ 0.55. That is what Topstep means by the Profit Target "going up".

#What counts as one day

A Topstep trading day runs from 5:00 PM CT to 3:10 PM CT the next calendar day (Trading Combine Parameters). Every trade closed in that window adds up to one day's profit, and the best day locks at 3:10 PM CT. A trade placed after 5:00 PM CT counts toward the next day.

#Example 1: a clean pass

A $50K Combine (Profit Target $3,000), five days:

Day	P&L	Total
1	+$900	$900
2	+$700	$1,600
3	−$300	$1,300
4	+$1,000	$2,300
5	+$800	$3,100

Best day: $1,000. $1,000 ÷ $3,100 = 32.3% — under 55%, and the total is over $3,000. This Combine passes the profit target and the consistency target together.

#Example 2: one big day raises the target

Same account, but day 1 is a big one:

Day	P&L	Total	Best day %
1	+$1,800	$1,800	100%
2	+$700	$2,500	72.0%
3	+$600	$3,100	58.1%

After day 3 the total is over $3,000, but $1,800 ÷ $3,100 = 58.1% — over 55%. The total needed is now $1,800 ÷ 0.55 = $3,272.73 (Topstep's own example rounds it to $3,273). That is $172.73 more, earned without a day bigger than $1,800.

Day 4: +$200. Total $3,300, and $1,800 ÷ $3,300 = 54.5%. Passed.

#Example 3: a losing day doesn't reset your best day

Day	P&L	Total
1	+$1,800	$1,800
2	−$800	$1,000

The best day is still $1,800 — Topstep says losses don't reset it. The total needed is still $3,272.73, so you now need $2,272.73 more. Because no single new day may be bigger than $1,800 (it would become the new best day and raise the target again), that takes at least two more days — for example +$1,200 and +$1,100, for a total of $3,300 and a best day of 54.5%.

#Example 4: the same session is one day

Two winning trades on one day — +$1,200 closed at 9:45 AM ET and +$600 at 1:30 PM ET — are one day of +$1,800, not two days of $1,200 and $600. Splitting a big day into several trades doesn't help: Topstep adds everything closed before the 3:10 PM CT lock. To fix an oversized best day, the extra profit has to come on a separate trading day.

A trade closed at 6:30 PM ET (5:30 PM CT), after the session opens again, counts toward the next day.

#Example 5: why you can't pass in one day

One day of +$3,000 on the $50K Combine reaches the Profit Target, but that day is 100% of the profit. The total needed becomes $3,000 ÷ 0.55 = $5,454.55. This is why Topstep says you can pass "in as few as two days": with a 55% cap, no single day can be the whole profit.

#Example 6: exactly on the line

Day	P&L	Total
1	+$1,650	$1,650
2	+$1,350	$3,000

Best day: $1,650. $1,650 ÷ $3,000 = 55.0% exactly — and that passes. Topstep's line is "at or below" 55%, and it is "not rounded" either way: exactly 55% is within, but one cent more is not. Had day 1 been +$1,650.01 (and day 2 still +$1,350.00), the total would be $3,000.01 and the best day 55.00015% of it — over. The total needed would be $1,650.01 ÷ 0.55 = $3,000.018…, so $3,000.02: $0.01 more, on another day.

#The XFA Consistency path: 40%

When you activate an Express Funded Account you choose a payout path: Standard or Consistency. The Standard path has no consistency percentage. The Consistency path reaches payout eligibility faster, with a stricter rule:

Largest Single-Day Net Profit ÷ Total Net Profit = Consistency % — it must be 40% or below to be payout eligible, with at least 3 trading days of at least one trade each.

— Consistency at Topstep

Going over doesn't close the account; you just aren't payout eligible until the percentage drops to 40% or below.

Eligible: +$1,500, +$900, +$1,100, +$600 = $4,100. Largest day $1,500 ÷ $4,100 = 36.6% — eligible, with more than 3 trading days.

Not yet: +$2,000, +$500, +$700 = $3,200. $2,000 ÷ $3,200 = 62.5%. To reach 40% the total must be $2,000 ÷ 0.40 = $5,000 — $1,800 more, without a day bigger than $2,000.

After you request a payout, the calculation resets: only profit from the next trading day onward counts toward the new window.

#How to stay under it

• Know your number. On a $50K Combine, a day above $1,650 raises your target. Topstep suggests setting a Personal Daily Profit Target on TopstepX (Settings → Risk Settings) to help you stop in time.
• A big day isn't a failure. It moves the finish line: best day ÷ 0.55. Spread the rest over separate days.
• Losses don't help. They lower your total, so the gap to the raised target gets bigger.
• On the XFA, pick the path deliberately. The Consistency path pays out sooner but needs your largest day at 40% or less.

#Track it on your own account

In Ink, the Topstep Combine preset sets a 55% consistency limit, measured against total profit — the same formula Topstep uses. The account's rules card shows your best day as a share of your profit and, when you're over, roughly how much more profit brings you under. See how consistency works in Ink, the firm presets and what counts as a trading session.

Ink is not affiliated with Topstep. The rules above are quoted from Topstep's Help Center as checked on the date shown; Topstep can change them at any time — always check the linked pages.