Cost of a funded account: what getting funded really costs you
How much does it cost to get funded? Cost per funded account and cost per payout formulas, a full worked example, what to count, and how to bring it down.
The checkout page says an evaluation costs one price. But you didn't pass on your first try, you bought a couple of resets, and there was an activation fee when you finally did pass. So how much did that funded account really cost?
The honest answer is a simple formula: everything you paid prop firms, divided by the number of evaluations you passed. That's your cost per funded account. Its partner, cost per payout, divides the same fees by the payouts you actually received. Most traders never calculate either one, and both are usually much bigger than the sticker price.
The two formulas
- Cost per funded account = firm fees ÷ evaluations passed
- Cost per payout = firm fees ÷ payouts received
- Firm fees = evaluations + resets + activation fees + any monthly fees you paid to firms
Use every fee over the same period, including the accounts you blew. The blown accounts aren't a separate story; they're part of the price of the ones that passed.
A worked example
Here's a sample trader in our demo after 28 months of trading prop accounts:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Evaluations (32 bought) | $5,125 |
| Resets (15) | $1,457 |
| Activation fees | $437 |
| Total firm fees | $7,019 |
| Evaluations passed | 5 |
| Payouts received | 3, totaling $1,850 |
The math:
- Cost per funded account: $7,019 ÷ 5 = $1,404
- Cost per payout: $7,019 ÷ 3 = $2,340
- Average payout: $1,850 ÷ 3 = $617
- Paid out per funded account: $1,850 ÷ 5 = $370
Each evaluation cost about $160 on average ($5,125 ÷ 32). The real price of getting funded was almost nine times that. And each funded account has returned $370 so far, against $1,404 to get it. That gap, not the sticker price, is what decides whether prop trading is paying you.
The sticker price is what one attempt costs. Cost per funded account is what success costs.
The insight: price matters less than pass rate
There's a second way to write the same formula, and it changes how you think about lowering it:
- Cost per funded account = average firm fees per finished evaluation ÷ pass rate
In the example, 29 evaluations finished (passed or failed), so firm fees per finished evaluation were $7,019 ÷ 29 = $242. Five of 29 passed, a 17% pass rate. $242 ÷ 0.172 ≈ $1,404. Same answer.
Now look at what each lever does, using hypothetical round numbers:
| Scenario (hypothetical) | Fees per attempt | Pass rate | Cost per funded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting point | $150 | 10% | $1,500 |
| Find a 33% cheaper plan | $100 | 10% | $1,000 |
| Double your pass rate | $150 | 20% | $750 |
| Triple your pass rate | $150 | 30% | $500 |
Hunting for a cheaper evaluation helps a little. Passing more often helps a lot, and it's the lever you actually control. Promotions come and go; your daily loss limit and position size are yours.
Why only firm fees count here
Courses, market data, platforms and coaching are real business costs, and you should track them. But they don't belong in this number, for two reasons.
- They don't scale with attempts. A course costs the same whether you buy two evaluations or twenty. Mixing it in hides what each attempt really costs.
- They answer a different question. Cost per funded account asks 'what does it take to get funded?' Your total spend asks 'is trading paying me overall?' Keep them apart and both stay readable.
For the full picture, the same sample trader also spent $1,813 on courses, coaching and signals, $869 on platforms and $252 on market data. Those show up in the overall result, not in cost per funded. For how to track them, see how to track your trading expenses.
Cost per payout: the number that tells the truth
Passing is a milestone, but a funded account that never pays out is still a cost. That's why cost per payout matters. In the example, the trader passed five times and received three payouts, so each payout carried $2,340 of firm fees while the average payout was $617.
Two things move this number. Keeping funded accounts alive long enough to reach a payout lowers it, because the same fees are spread over more payouts. Buying more evaluations without trading better raises it. If your passes go up but cost per payout goes up too, you're getting funded more without getting paid more, and the problem has moved from passing to keeping the account. How prop firm payouts work explains the rules that usually stand between the two.
How to calculate yours today
- Gather every firm receipt for the period: evaluations, resets, activation, monthly renewals. Check your email and card statements; it's easy to miss resets.
- Add them up. That's your firm fees.
- Count evaluations passed in the same period, including funded accounts you later lost.
- Count payouts actually received, not requested.
- Divide. Write both numbers down with today's date so you can compare in three months.
If you pick 'last 12 months,' use only fees and passes from those 12 months. Mixing periods is the most common way this number goes wrong.
Where Market Matrix shows it
In My Trading Journey, Am I profitable? shows your cost per funded account in firm fees next to your account counts: accounts bought, blown, evaluations passed with your pass rate, payouts and resets. The period selector (all time, last 3 months, last 12 months, each year) changes all of them together, so they always match. Under every prop account, the By firm totals show your cost per account at each firm, from your own results, not anyone's ranking.
You log each fee in a few seconds when you pay it, and payouts are recorded on the funded account. Click any number to see the entries behind it.
See your cost per funded account →
How to bring the number down
- Raise your pass rate first. Trade smaller, and set your own daily loss limit, stricter than the firm's.
- Cut emotional resets. A reset bought the same day an account blew is often the most expensive purchase you make. See reset or new account.
- Run fewer accounts at once. Five evaluations failing together on one bad day is five times the fees for one lesson.
- Pick rules that fit you. A drawdown type that matches how you trade is worth more than a discount code.
- Pause after a blow. The account you don't buy this week lowers the number by its full price.
What a 'good' number looks like
Firms don't publish consistent data on how many traders pass or get paid, so there's no reliable benchmark to compare against. The useful comparison is with yourself: is your cost per funded account lower over the last 12 months than over your whole history? Is average paid out per funded account getting closer to it?
When paid out per funded account is higher than cost per funded account, prop trading is paying you. Until then, the gap is your tuition, and the goal is to shrink it on purpose.
Track cost per funded account the way a business tracks the cost of a new customer: over time, and against what it brings in.
Next in this series: your break-even point as a prop trader.
This article is for education only and isn't financial advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss.