Checklist · Prop Evaluation Rules
Daily Loss Limits: Reset Time, Costs and Open Trades
Test a daily loss rule across its reset time using balance, floating results and costs, with explicit timezone and equality assumptions in a worksheet.
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Published by FxTrusts, a supplier of brokerage and prop firm technology. Prepared with AI-assisted research and drafting; reviewed against the cited public sources. Examples are illustrative. Product links describe our services.
Quick answer
A daily loss limit needs a defined business day, baseline, loss allowance and measured account value. Resetting the baseline can change the permitted floor while positions remain open. Use the actual program’s timezone and formula; daily drawdown does not have one universal calculation.
Separate initial capital from the daily baseline
A rule can calculate its allowance from initial simulated capital while calculating the day’s floor from a midnight balance. Those are different inputs. Other programs use different baselines or formulas. FTMO Academy documents one specific 2-Step example involving a reset and included costs; it should not be generalized to all prop programs or treated as a current FxTrusts rule. Write the complete formula before implementing it.
Use a named business timezone
A fixed UTC offset can become wrong when a business timezone observes daylight saving. Record the named timezone, event timestamps in UTC, the applicable offset and the interval convention at the reset. A boundary event must belong to one defined day. Python’s zoneinfo documentation illustrates how named zones and ambiguous local times are represented, but choosing the business day remains a policy decision rather than a programming-library default.
Carry open positions through the boundary
Floating loss, financing and commission can affect equity around reset. A new baseline can move the floor even if the price and positions are unchanged. Evaluate snapshots just before and after the boundary, with clear treatment of charges posted at that time. Do not clear an economic loss merely because a daily counter resets. Equally, avoid double-counting a charge already included in the account’s supplied equity field.
Retain the sequence needed for an appeal
Store the previous baseline, new baseline, allowance, calculated floors and relevant account values. A late-arriving event may require a documented correction process rather than rewriting the historical decision without explanation. Test delayed data, duplicate events and a daylight-saving transition. The calculation should expose uncertainty when inputs are missing; it should not claim an exact breach time from a sparse chart or a later account balance.
A reset can change the result without a new trade
In this fictional model, the allowance is 5,000 units and each day’s floor is the reset balance minus that allowance. Before midnight the day’s baseline is 100,000, so the floor is 95,000. At reset the balance is 104,000 and floating loss is 6,000, leaving equity 98,000. The new floor is 99,000, so unchanged equity is now below it. Assume breach means strictly below.
| Moment | Baseline | Floor | Equity | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before reset | 100,000 | 95,000 | 98,000 | Above floor |
| Immediately after reset | 104,000 | 99,000 | 98,000 | Below new floor |
Implementation checklist
- State baseline, allowance denominator and included account components.
- Use the actual named timezone and precise boundary convention.
- Test open positions and charges across the reset with unchanged prices.
- Preserve both day states and document late-event corrections.
Sources
These documents support the reference. Check the original publication for current requirements and the limits of its scope.
- FTMO Academy maximum daily lossacademy.ftmo.com
- Python time-zone informationdocs.python.org
- MQL5 account propertieswww.mql5.com
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