Trading with a prop firm

If a prop firm gave you an evaluation or funded account, you trade it in eTrader exactly as you would a Broker account: the same terminal, the same apps, the same ticket. What differs is who sets the rules. The firm decides the account sizes, the targets, the drawdown limits, the payouts and what is allowed. eTrader is the terminal you trade in, and this guide covers the eTrader side.

Signing in to a prop firm account

Prop firms sit in the same Broker picker as Brokers. On the sign-in screen, search for the firm's name, tap it, then enter the Server, Login and password from the email or client area the firm gave you. The find your Broker guide walks through that screen and the usual sign-in mistakes.

A firm can run more than one Server. An account number exists on one Server only, so if a Login is refused, check the Server named in the firm's message before anything else.

A password you cannot find or that stopped working is a question for the firm. eTrader does not store or reset the passwords a firm issues; the firm's client area does.

Why the account says Demo

The account chip at the top of the terminal shows whether an account is Demo or Live. A prop firm account shows Demo. That is correct, not a mistake. Prop firm accounts on eTrader are simulated accounts: the balance is the firm's evaluation or funded balance, not money you deposited. The firm measures your trading on it under its own rules and handles any payout itself.

It also means there is nothing to fund inside eTrader. eTrader holds no money and has no deposit or withdrawal screen. Buying an evaluation, resetting one and requesting a payout all happen in the firm's own client area.

Keeping an eye on the numbers

The account summary in the panel under the chart shows Balance, Equity, Margin, Free Margin and Margin Level, all live. Most prop firm rules are written in terms of balance and equity, so these are the numbers to watch. The balance, equity and margin guide explains each one.

eTrader shows the account; it does not show the firm's rules or your progress against them. Your daily loss limit, your target and how many days you have traded are tracked by the firm, usually on a dashboard in its client area. When the terminal and the firm's dashboard seem to disagree, the firm's dashboard is the one that decides.

A few habits help with rule-based accounts:

• Put a stop loss on every position. It lives with the position and closes it whether the terminal is open or not. See stop loss and take profit.
• Look at Required Margin and Free Margin After on the ticket before you confirm. They show what the order will leave you.
• Keep the Stop Loss and Take Profit push notifications on, in the web terminal's Account Settings, so you hear about a hit stop straight away. See push notifications.
• Export your history as a CSV file from the History tab on the web if you want your own record to compare with the firm's.

Evaluation and funded accounts side by side

You do not need two terminals to hold an evaluation and a funded account, or accounts at two firms. Open the Accounts sheet from the account chip and press Connect Another Account. Each account shows its balance and equity, a tap switches the terminal to it, and the Demo or Live badge tells them apart from any Broker account you also hold.

Before you place an order, check the account chip. The ticket always trades the account that is active.

Investor passwords, robots and copying

Some firms ask for read-only access to check your trading. Any eTrader account can have an investor password, set from Change Password, which shows the account without allowing any trade.

eTrader lets you run your own robots, AI Bots and copytrading on an account. Whether a prop firm allows them on its accounts is the firm's rule, not eTrader's, so read the firm's rules before you switch one on. Copytrading on eTrader only runs between clients of the same firm.

When something is wrong

A question about the terminal, such as a button, a chart or an app, is something the eTrader Help Center covers. A question about the account itself, such as its balance, its rules, a breach, a reset or a payout, goes to the prop firm that issued it. They run the account; eTrader runs the screen you trade it on.