Profit Split

Profit split is the percentage of trading profits that a funded trader keeps after generating returns on their prop firm account. The remaining percentage goes to the firm as their compensation for providing the trading capital and infrastructure.

In the prop trading industry, profit splits typically range from 50% to 90%, with most competitive firms offering 75-80% as a starting split. Some firms use a static profit split model (you keep the same percentage regardless of performance), while others use a progressive or scaling model where your split increases as you demonstrate consistent profitability.

Here is how the math works: if you generate $10,000 in profit on a funded account with an 80/20 split, you receive $8,000 and the firm keeps $2,000. On a 90/10 split, you'd receive $9,000 — a $1,000 difference that compounds significantly over time.

The industry standard has shifted upward in recent years due to competition. In 2020, most firms offered 70% starting splits. By 2024-2025, firms like FTMO offer up to 90% after scaling, Alpha Capital Group starts at 80%, and some newer firms advertise up to 95% to attract traders — though the highest splits often come with stricter rules or other trade-offs.

A critical detail many traders overlook is how profit splits interact with the payout cycle. Most firms pay on bi-weekly or monthly cycles, meaning you need to maintain your profitability until the payout date. Profits earned between payouts that are then lost before the payout date are not paid — only the account profit at the time of payout request matters.

The profit split directly determines your income as a funded trader — but it should never be the sole factor in choosing a firm. A firm offering 90% profit split with a 3% daily drawdown limit may produce less income than a firm offering 75% split with a 5% daily drawdown limit, simply because the stricter rules cause more frequent account failures.

Consider this real scenario: FTMO offers up to 90% profit split after reaching their scaling plan requirements, but uses equity-based drawdown and has a consistency rule. Alpha Capital Group offers 80% from day one with balance-based drawdown and no consistency rule. For many trading styles, the Alpha Capital setup generates more actual income despite the lower split percentage.

The key calculation is: (Profit Split %) × (Average Monthly Profit) × (Account Survival Rate). If you earn $5,000/month on a 90% split but your account survives only 3 months on average, your annual income is $13,500. If you earn $4,000/month on an 80% split but survive 8 months on average, your annual income is $25,600.