A winning day and a trading day are not the same unit
By Axelrod
You are four days into the challenge and the page says four days. You count the ones you traded and tell yourself the minimum is behind you. It may be. It depends on what the firm means by a day.
“Day” sounds like a unit. On a firm’s page it is a definition, and the definitions differ in what has to happen inside the day. This post uses two firms and three definitions, all read on 24 October 2026.
One firm counts that you showed up
FTMO’s Trading Objectives page defines a Trading Day as “any day” during which “at least one position is opened.” The day runs from 00:00:00 to 23:59:59 CE(S)T, which is Central European time wherever you sit. The rule then reads: “The Minimum Trading Days rule requires the trader to achieve at least 4 Trading Days.” On the FTMO page this applies to both phases of the 2-Step Challenge, and there is no such rule on 1-Step or on the funded account.
FTMO’s FAQ on trading objectives adds: “The Minimum Trading Days rule cannot be violated; it can always be passed by continuous trading activity.”
A day you opened a position and lost counts exactly as much as a day you won. The unit is attendance.
The same firm, two units
Topstep’s payout policy sets out two paths to a payout on the funded account, and they count differently.
Standard path: “5 winning days of $150+ Net P&L.” Days “don’t need to be consecutive.”
Consistency path: “3 trading days with at least 1 trade per day.”
One page, one word, two units. On the standard path a day is a result. On the consistency path a day is attendance again, and a session you lost counts toward the three.
These are not like for like. FTMO’s rule is an evaluation rule and Topstep’s is a payout rule. The comparison is about the unit, not the firm.
One dollar a day
Take five sessions that each net $149. That is $745 of profit and no winning days on Topstep’s standard path. Five sessions that each net $150 is $750, and the requirement is met.
The difference between zero of five and five of five is one dollar a session. On the consistency path the first week counts five trading days against a requirement of three.
A session where you lose $180 counts toward the three. A session where you make $149 does not count toward the five. The two sentences answer different questions.
Three weeks, counted both ways
Take fifteen sessions in a row, made up for this post. Twelve had a trade in them. Three did not. Of the twelve, five finished at $150 or more.
Run the same fifteen sessions against the three requirements above. Three trading days are met on session 3. Four trading days are met on session 5. Five winning days of $150 are met on session 15, the last of the three weeks.
Same behaviour, same three weeks. The finish line moved from session 3 to session 15 because the word changed.
One more cut belongs in the count. FTMO’s day ends at midnight Central European time. Topstep’s page says “A day locks in at 4:00 PM CT.” A session that straddles either clock can land on the other side of the line from where your own calendar puts it.
Two beliefs that cost time
“I have my four days, so I am nearly there.” That holds for a rule that counts attendance. It fails for a rule that counts results, where four sessions of $140 is four trading days and no winning days.
“I will open a position to bank a day.” The FTMO page asks for one position, not a good one. A position with no setup behind it is still a position with a stop, and the stop is a real loss in a log that has to add up to a target.
Mistakes and red flags
- Reading “days” on a page without the sentence that says what a day is.
- Counting from your own calendar when the firm cuts the day on its own clock.
- Assuming the evaluation unit and the payout unit are the same unit. They can sit on different pages.
- A page that states the number of days and never the definition.
Tonight: 15 minutes with your own log
- Open the firm’s page for your exact plan and stage. Copy the sentence that defines a day, with the URL and today’s date.
- Add three columns to your log: traded (yes or no), net for the session, and cleared the threshold (yes or no, using the firm’s number).
- Count each column over the last 30 sessions.
If the count under the firm’s definition is lower than the count you had in your head, that is the real distance to the target. The log can hold both numbers. The firm will only read one.
Firm terms as published and read on 24 October 2026. Firms revise them, and some rules apply by plan or signup date. The sessions in the figures are made up. Confirm against your own account’s terms before you rely on a count.