Topstep pays a 90/10 split (you keep 90%) across every account type, with a $125 minimum payout. The Express Funded Account (XFA) is capped per request; the Live Funded Account (LFA) is not — no ceiling, no clock, once you get there.

How Payouts Affect Your Max Loss Limit

After your first payout on an XFA, your Maximum Loss Limit is set permanently to $0, regardless of where it was trailing before. Your remaining balance becomes your effective loss floor from that point on — if your balance ever hits $0, the account closes.

Express Funded Account — Standard Path

The simpler of the two payout paths — no consistency math, just winning days and a positive cycle.

What you need to qualify: 5 winning days of $150+ Net P&L (non-consecutive is fine), plus positive net profit since your last payout (first payout exempt). A day locks in at 4:00 PM CT. The trading day you request a payout on doesn't count toward your next 5. After each payout, your MLL resets to $0 permanently and your 5-day count restarts. Max payout is 50% of your account balance, up to the cap for your size — doubling if you voluntarily added a Daily Loss Limit when you purchased your Trading Combine (not at XFA activation — it only unlocks the higher cap if added at Combine purchase).

Express Funded Account — Consistency Path

Faster payout eligibility (3 days vs. 5), in exchange for a 40% consistency requirement.

What you need to qualify: 3 trading days with at least 1 trade each, plus your largest single day at or below 40% of total net profit (not rounded — 40.1% doesn't qualify). Days lock in at 4:00 PM CT. After each payout, MLL resets to $0, consistency resets to $0, and your 3-day count restarts. Same 50%-of-balance-up-to-cap structure and DLL-doubling rule as Standard.

Live Funded Account (LFA)

The actual goal of the program — no payout cap, no ceiling.

What you need to qualify: 5 winning days of $150+ Net P&L per cycle (non-consecutive), request up to 50% of your account balance with no dollar cap. After a payout, your winning-day count restarts — 5 new winning days needed before the next request. Once you've logged 30 non-consecutive $150+ days in the LFA, daily payouts unlock: request any amount of your unlocked balance once per day (minimum $125). Winning days from your XFA don't carry over toward that 30. Requesting a full 100% payout closes the LFA, since the balance would hit the Maximum Loss Limit.

Payout Methods

Example on a $500 ACH payout: $500 minus $50 (10% split) minus $30 (processing fee) = $420 received. Wise is the best option for most international traders — fastest, cheapest, and settles in local currency — but is currently limited to China, Canada, and the UK after being restored in August 2026; it remains unavailable elsewhere.

Rules That Apply Across Every Payout

• Payout window: Sunday 5 PM CT through Friday 5 PM CT (excluding holidays).
• Minimum payout: $125, every account type.
• Reward share: 90/10 across the board (traders who joined before January 12, 2026 get 100% of their first $10,000 in lifetime profits before the split kicks in).
• Tax forms: W-9 for US persons, W-8BEN for non-US persons, submitted with the payout request.
• Payouts go to a bank account in your own name only — no third-party accounts.
• Scaling Plan impact: if a payout drops your balance into a lower tier, your max contract size decreases to match.
• Hitting the Daily Loss Limit puts the account in a Temporary Violation until the next session — once it clears, you can request a payout as normal if you meet the policy requirements.
• Copy trading auto-disables during payout processing and must be manually re-enabled once your balance updates.
• Each XFA follows its own payout policy independently — requests on one account don't affect any other account you hold.

Quick Comparison: Standard vs. Consistency

Standard suits a trader who doesn't want to think about a consistency ratio — just stack 5 winning days and stay profitable since your last payout. Consistency gets you to your first payout faster (3 days instead of 5) and carries a slightly higher payout cap at every size, but only if you can keep your best single day under 40% of total profit. Neither path is objectively better — Standard rewards patience, Consistency rewards evenly-spread performance.