Topstep Payout Rules and Payout Policy: Conditions, Caps and Timing

At which stage can you request a Topstep payout?

Topstep payouts start in the simulated funded account you receive after passing the evaluation: the Express Funded Account (XFA). The Trading Combine is only the evaluation, so no amount of profit there can be withdrawn. Profit at the time you pass does not carry over, and the XFA starts at a $0 balance.

Once you meet the conditions in the XFA, you can request a payout from the Topstep dashboard. If the risk team invites you, you move to the real-capital Live Funded Account (LFA), which has its own payout rules. This article focuses on the XFA and covers LFA payouts at the end.

Topstep splits profit 90% to the trader and 10% to Topstep. Only traders who joined the new dashboard before 2026-01-12 receive 100% of the first $10,000 in lifetime profit, then 90%. If you are starting now, plan on 90%.

What are the Topstep XFA payout conditions?

Topstep offers 2 XFA types with different payout conditions: XFA Standard and XFA Consistency. Both pay a 90% profit split and have no profit target. Both have a Maximum Loss Limit (MLL), and the Daily Loss Limit (DLL) is optional.

XFA Standard: 5 winning days of $150 or more

In XFA Standard, a day with $150 or more in profit counts as a winning day, and after 5 of them you can request a payout. Winning days do not need to be consecutive, and losing days in between do not reduce the count. From the second payout on, net profit since the previous payout must also be positive.

XFA Consistency: 3 trading days and the 40% rule

In XFA Consistency, you can request a payout after 3 days with at least 1 trade, as long as your most profitable day is 40% or less of total net profit. There is no rounding. For example, with $1,000 in total net profit, your best day must be $400 or less.

The 40% calculation resets with each payout. Trades on the day you request a payout are not included in the next cycle. This is separate from the 55% consistency rule in the Trading Combine, so do not mix them up.

See the Topstep 55% consistency rule and how the MLL works

When does a winning day become final?

A Topstep winning day becomes final at 4:00 PM Central Time (CT). Trades placed during a session count toward the day that closes at that time.

How to compare the two options

Topstep does not say which option you should pick. Here are the differences to weigh.

• If you build small profits every day, the Standard condition of counting $150 winning days is easy to follow
• If you have a few large winning days, you are more likely to hit the 40% limit, so Consistency tends to be harder
• The per-payout cap is $1,000 higher on Consistency (at 50K, 100K and 150K)
• The minimum is 3 trading days on Consistency and 5 winning days on Standard

According to the official help center, the XFA size and type cannot be changed later. Check the selection screen steps in the Topstep help center (the screen steps are Under review in our primary sources).

How much can you withdraw from Topstep at once?

Each Topstep XFA payout is capped at the lower of 50% of the balance or the amount set for the account size. Because the XFA starts at a $0 balance, the balance here is the total profit earned since entering the XFA.

Caps by account size, with examples

On a 50K XFA Standard with a $3,000 balance, 50% is $1,500, which is lower than the $2,000 size cap, so the cap is $1,500. With a $5,000 balance, 50% is $2,500, so the $2,000 size cap applies instead.

Limited time: double caps when you add a DLL at Combine purchase

Since 2026-06-02 at 3:30 PM CT, Topstep has doubled the caps for a limited time. It applies only to accounts that added a Daily Loss Limit (DLL) when buying the Trading Combine, and no end date has been announced. Adding a DLL at XFA activation or at Back2Funded does not qualify.

A DLL added at purchase cannot be changed later and carries over to the XFA. Hitting the DLL is not a rule violation: it only stops trading for that day, and you can resume at the next session (5:00 PM CT). In exchange for the doubled cap, your daily losses are capped.

The minimum payout is $125

The Topstep minimum payout is $125. Even if you meet the conditions, you cannot withdraw if the requested amount is below $125.

What happens to the Topstep MLL after a payout?

In the Topstep XFA, the Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) is fixed at $0 once you take your first payout. The timing of your payout changes how much room you have before losing the account, so it is worth knowing before you request one.

The XFA MLL starts at -$2,000 on 50K, -$3,000 on 100K and -$4,500 on 150K. It rises as your end-of-day balance rises and stops at $0 when the balance reaches the same amount ($2,000 on 50K). Intraday unrealized losses count, and it is tracked in real time.

Example: an early payout on 50K

Say your end-of-day balance on a 50K XFA peaks at $1,000. The MLL is then -$1,000, a $2,000 gap from the balance. If you withdraw 50%, or $500, the balance becomes $500 and the MLL is fixed at $0. Your loss buffer shrinks from $2,000 to $500.

Topstep itself recommends building the balance until the MLL rises to $0 before requesting a payout. An early payout puts money in your hands, but makes it more likely that a few losses afterward will cost you the account.

If you lose an XFA to a rule violation before your first payout, Back2Funded lets you reactivate it up to 2 times with the same size and payout conditions. It costs $599 for 50K, $699 for 100K and $829 for 150K, is non-refundable, and must be requested within 30 calendar days of closure.

See Back2Funded and the full list of Topstep costs

What are the Topstep payout methods and fees?

Topstep offers 5 payout methods, but 4 of them are limited to the US or other specific regions. For most traders outside those regions, the available method is international Wire/SWIFT.

Payout methods

According to the Topstep help center, Wise covers only 3 regions: China, Canada and the UK (resumed 2026-08, checked 2026-11-04). If you live elsewhere outside the US, plan on Wire/SWIFT.

help.topstep.com/en/articles/8284233-topstep-payout-policy

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Net payout examples

Your net payout is the requested amount minus the 10% profit split and the transfer fee. In the official example, a $500 ACH request minus the $50 split and the $30 fee leaves $420. Wire/SWIFT carries the same $30 fee.

By the same math, a $2,000 Wire/SWIFT request minus the $200 split and the $30 fee sends $1,770. The smaller the request, the more the flat $30 fee weighs.

Fees charged by your receiving bank or intermediary banks, and the currency conversion rate, are not in Topstep's official information (Under review). Check your bank's terms before you request a payout.

Submitting W-8BEN

Topstep requires non-US persons to submit the W-8BEN tax form (US persons submit W-9). How payouts are taxed in your country is not covered by Topstep's primary information, so check with a local tax authority or adviser.

Payouts go only to an account in your own name

Topstep sends payouts only to an account in your own name; accounts of family members or other third parties cannot be used. Make sure your registered name matches the name on your bank account.

Source: Official help: Payouts

How long does a Topstep payout take?

How long a Topstep payout takes depends on 3 things: when you can submit the request, internal approval and the transfer. The officially stated times for each are below.

With Wire/SWIFT, simply adding internal approval and the transfer gives 6 to 13 business days. Weekends and US holidays stretch the calendar time further. The actual arrival date also depends on bank processing, so treat the official times as estimates.

1. Meet the XFA payout conditions (winning days become final at 4:00 PM CT)
2. Submit the request from the Topstep dashboard during CME trading hours
3. Wait for internal approval (1 to 3 business days)
4. Receive the Wire/SWIFT transfer in your bank account (5 to 10 business days)

help.topstep.com/en/articles/8284233-topstep-payout-policy

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Source: Official help: Payouts

Why are Topstep payouts delayed or denied?

A Topstep payout request is not guaranteed to go through. Internal approval checks not only whether you met the payout conditions, but also whether any trades fall under prohibited conduct, the terms, Professional Behavior standards or prohibited strategies.

Prohibited strategies and conduct checked in review

• Hedging between your own accounts (opposite positions in the same or correlated products, for example MES and ES, MNQ and NQ)
• Account stacking, coordinated trading with others, trading on behalf of others
• Exploiting simulated fills (hundreds of rapid trades, targeting abnormal fills on gaps, extremely tight brackets and similar)
• Entering major economic releases at maximum position size
• Exploiting price display or data delays, using a VPN, proxy or TOR

See the full list of Topstep prohibited activities

What happens if a violation is found

If Topstep finds a violation, the possible actions are a warning, removal of trading days, a reset, permanent account closure, or a delayed or denied payout. The Trust Team conducts the review, and you can dispute only if they contact you.

Repeated violations place you in the Focused Trader Program: all accounts are closed and pending payouts are denied. For the following 6 months you are limited to a single $50K account. In a ban, balances are forfeited, and you can appeal only once through help@topstep.com.

Cases where payouts stop or accounts close without a violation

• While a payout is processing, copy trading connections are disconnected automatically (reconnect manually)
• An XFA with no trading for more than 30 days may be closed
• Payouts to an account in a third party's name cannot be received
• Identity verification (IDV) may be requested again at any time

If you hold several XFAs, payouts are handled separately for each account. Meeting the conditions on one account does not let you request a payout for the others.

How do payouts work in the Topstep Live Funded Account?

You cannot apply to move into the Topstep Live Funded Account (LFA) yourself. The risk team invites traders after reviewing consistency, risk management, position size, products, stop usage, payout history and more. You cannot decline the invitation and keep trading the XFA: you either move to Live or close the XFA.

Moving to Live closes all your XFAs, and you can hold only 1 LFA at a time. Setting up the account takes 7 to 10 business days.

Starting balance and reserve

The LFA starting balance is 20% of the amount transferred from the XFA (minimum $10,000; minimum $5,000 for a $25K LFA). The remaining 80% is held as a reserve and released 25% at a time each time you reach the LFA profit target. Reviews happen every Monday, and funds arrive within 1 to 2 business days.

LFA payout rules

In the LFA, every 5 winning days of $150 or more lets you request up to 50% of your balance. Unlike the XFA, there is no dollar cap. Once you reach 30 winning days in the LFA (need not be consecutive), you can request any amount from your released balance once per day (minimum $125). Requesting 100% closes the account.

If the balance falls below $1,000, positions are closed immediately and the account is closed at the end of the day. The remaining amount becomes the final payout, and any reserve not yet released is forfeited.

Costs you pay in the LFA

In the LFA, CME professional data costs $133 per exchange per month, and Topstep covers 1 exchange. For all 4 exchanges, you pay $399 per month yourself. Round-turn commissions (for example ES $3.80, NQ $3.80) and platform licenses are also at your own cost.

How have the Topstep payout rules changed?

Topstep's payout rules have changed several times even within the past year. When reading older articles, compare them with the dates below.

The figures in this article were checked in the Topstep help center on 2026-11-04. Before you request a payout, confirm the latest conditions in the official Payout Policy.

See how to start with Topstep and the identity verification steps

Topstep FAQ