Evaluation phase
The challenge stage where you trade a simulated account against profit and loss rules before getting funded.
The challenge stage where you trade a simulated account against profit and loss rules before getting funded.
An evaluation is a probation: a paid account, a profit target, a maximum loss rule, sometimes a minimum trading-day count, and occasionally a time limit. Pass it and the firm moves you to a funded stage - often split into a verification round before real capital - where the same loss rules continue but profit splits begin. The evaluation fee is the price of the ticket, and several firms refund it with your first payout, which changes the effective cost of passing.
Rules interact, and that is where evaluations are actually lost. A trailing drawdown plus a consistency rule means today's big win shrinks tomorrow's room for error; a minimum-day rule forbids clearing the target in one lucky week. Map every rule onto one calendar before paying: profit target, loss limits, day count, consistency caps, and how each is measured - intraday or end-of-day.
Worked example
A $50,000 challenge asks for $3,000 of profit with a 5% trailing loss limit and a five-day minimum. One strong week can hit the target, but not before day five - and each winning day lifts the drawdown line, so the last trade must clear both the target and the tighter limit.
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