What is a profit split on a funded futures account, and how is it applied to each payout?

A profit split is the share of each payout that goes to the trader, with the firm keeping the rest. It is applied to the amount you withdraw, at the moment a payout is paid, and never to the balance or to the fee you paid to get in. At Phoenix Trader Funding the split is fixed at 90 percent on Classic and Spark accounts and 80 percent on Daily accounts, and Merit uses an adaptive split that starts lower and rises once the investment has been recouped.

What the split actually divides

A profit split is the agreed division of withdrawn profit between a trader and a prop firm, written as the trader's share. On an account with a 90 percent split, nine tenths of every payout goes to the trader and one tenth stays with the firm.

The split divides profit, and only profit. A funded account at this stage is a simulated account, and the trader never puts trading capital of their own into it: Phoenix Trader Funding never asks a trader to invest personal capital. There is no deposit for the split to act on.

The fee paid for the evaluation sits outside the split as well. It is the price of entry, it is not profit, and the split never takes a share of it.

The split also does nothing while profit is building. It is not applied to the balance as the balance grows, and it does not shrink the number on the screen. It is applied once, to each payout, when that payout is made.

How the split is applied to a single payout

A payout request is made for a gross amount, which is the profit being withdrawn before the split. The split then sets the net amount, which is the part actually sent to the trader.

That order matters most at the top of a payout. A per-payout cap is the most a single payout may withdraw, and it is set on the gross amount, before the split is applied. Two accounts with the same cap and different splits therefore send different net amounts on a payout that reaches the cap. It also means that when a split is raised and the cap is left alone, the gross ceiling stays exactly where it was and only the net ceiling moves.

Once the net amount is set, the payout runs like any other. Requests at Phoenix Trader Funding clear through an automated system, usually in milliseconds, and the money is sent within 24 hours by Payoneer, PayPal or Wise. When it lands after that depends on the method and on the trader's own provider, which no prop firm controls.

Fixed and adaptive splits

A fixed split is a split that stays the same on every payout for the life of the account. An adaptive split is one that changes during the life of the account, moving from one share to another when a condition is met.

Classic and Spark accounts carry a fixed 90 percent split. Daily accounts carry a fixed 80 percent split, and that lower share is the tradeoff for what the family is built around: a Daily account pays at the end of every day you trade, once its first profitable day has matured over the next three trading days, rather than weekly or bi-weekly.

Merit is the adaptive one. Its split starts lower and rises once the investment has been recouped. Merit also pays only on its Live account, which is the stage where trading moves off the simulated venue to an outside broker, so a Merit split never applies to a simulated payout at all. How a Merit account is assessed before it gets there is set out on the Merit accounts page.

A split belongs to the account, not to the trader. Someone holding a Classic and a Daily account side by side is paid at each account's own split on each account's own payouts, and nothing averages the two.

Why the split is the wrong number to compare accounts on

The split is the most visible figure in any set of payout terms, and on its own it decides less than it appears to. What actually reaches a trader over a stretch of trading depends on how often the account pays, how much one payout can move, and what has to be built before a request is allowed at all.

• Payout frequency. A funded Classic pays weekly, a funded Spark pays bi-weekly, and a Daily account pays on every trading day once its first green day has matured.
• The per-payout cap. It scales with the account size, and on a payout that reaches it, the cap fixes the gross amount before the split is even applied.
• Counted days. A counted day is a trading day that closes in profit by at least the minimum the account size asks for. Classic and Spark need five of them before a payout can be requested, and Daily needs none between payouts.
• The locked buffer. A locked buffer is an amount of the balance that has to stay in the account, with only profit above it available to withdraw. Classic and Daily carry one, and Spark and Merit do not.

Read together, those four say more than the split does. A higher split on an account that pays less often can send less to a trader over the same weeks than a lower split on an account that pays every day, and the reverse is just as possible. Which one suits a trader depends on how that trader actually trades, not on which percentage is larger.

The full payout cycle, from counted days to the transfer, is walked through in our answer on how payouts work on a funded account. The reasons a balance can show profit that a request cannot yet reach are covered in our answer on why some profit is not withdrawable yet.

What the split does not change

The split decides how a payout is divided. It does not decide whether a payout is allowed, and it has no effect on the rules that keep an account open.

Drawdown, contract limits and strategy rules are set by the account type and size. A split does not loosen any of them or tighten any of them, and two accounts with the same split can trade under very different rules.

A funded account carries no monthly fee, so a trader is not paying a running charge on the account while waiting to share in its profit.

A payout that is turned down is not a split question either. A refused request is explained by email with the reason given, and the split only ever applies to a payout that is actually paid. The rule tables for each account type sit in the Phoenix support FAQ.

Common follow-up questions

Does the profit split apply to the money I paid for the evaluation?

No. The split divides profit withdrawn from a funded account. The evaluation fee is a separate payment for entry, it is not profit, and the split never takes a share of it or counts it toward a payout.

Is a higher profit split always the better deal?

No. What reaches a trader also depends on how often the account pays, the cap on a single payout, the days needed before a request and any locked buffer. A lower split on an account that pays every trading day can suit some traders better.

Why does a Daily account carry a lower split than Classic or Spark?

The lower split is the tradeoff for being paid every trading day. A Daily account pays at the end of each day you trade, once its first profitable day has matured over the next three trading days, rather than weekly or bi-weekly.

Does the profit split affect my drawdown or how many contracts I can trade?

No. The split is applied only when a payout is paid. Drawdown, contract limits and strategy rules are set by the account type and size, so the split neither loosens nor tightens any of them.

Do I need to deposit trading capital to receive a profit split?

No. Phoenix Trader Funding never asks a trader to invest personal capital. The split divides profit made on the funded account, so there is no money of the trader's own in the account for it to act on.

How is a payout sent once the split has been applied?

Requests clear through an automated system, usually in milliseconds, and the money is sent within 24 hours by Payoneer, PayPal or Wise. When it lands after that depends on the method and the trader's own provider.