The profit target is the gain you must reach to pass, usually a single-digit percentage of the account; the minimum trading days rule requires you to trade on a minimum number of separate days, preventing a one-lucky-trade pass.
Target audience: Evaluation traders deciding how aggressively to pursue the target.
The profit target is the gain you must reach to pass, usually a single-digit percentage of the account; the minimum trading days rule requires you to trade on a minimum number of separate days, preventing a one-lucky-trade pass.
Together these rules set the pace of the evaluation. Treat the target as a finish line to sprint at and you will oversize; treat it as the sum of many small, repeatable days and you pass with discipline intact. The minimum-days rule exists precisely to force that second behaviour, so working with it rather than against it is the efficient path.
A target of, say, 3,000 on a 50,000 account is not one big trade; it is many small green days. If the rule requires ten minimum trading days, you only need an average of 300 a day, which a modest, repeatable edge produces without ever risking the account. Dividing the target by a comfortable number of days turns an intimidating number into a calm daily goal. The pace, not a single session, is what passes the challenge.
Firms require a minimum number of distinct trading days so that a pass reflects a repeatable process, not a single lucky trade. The rule quietly protects you too: it removes the incentive to swing for the target in one session and forces the steady accumulation that also keeps you far from the drawdown floor. Trade lightly but genuinely on the required days; parking a one-tick trade to tick the box often violates the spirit (and sometimes the letter) of the rule.
The most dangerous moment is when you are close to the target. The temptation is to size up to finish today. This is exactly when accounts break, because a large position near the line can both miss the target and breach the drawdown in one move. The disciplined approach is to keep the same small size through the final push: being one good day from passing is not a reason to abandon the risk control that got you there. Let the target come to you.
A 6 percent target on a 100,000 account is 6,000, with a 10-day minimum. At a calm 0.5 percent risk per trade and a positive expectancy, averaging 600 a day clears it in about ten to fifteen sessions with the daily loss limit never seriously threatened. Compare a trader chasing 6,000 in three days at 2 percent risk: one bad sequence and the account is gone. Same target, but the paced plan reaches it with the buffer and the rules intact.
Treating the target as a one-trade or one-day sprint.
Sizing up for the final push when close to passing.
Placing token trades to satisfy minimum days, risking a rule violation.
Ignoring how the target pace interacts with the daily loss limit.
Rushing an untimed evaluation as if a clock were running.
Myth
That a faster pass is a better pass.
Reality
No paired reality note provided.
Myth
That being close to the target justifies larger risk.
Reality
No paired reality note provided.
Myth
That minimum trading days are just a formality to game.
Reality
No paired reality note provided.
Turn your target and minimum-days rule into a calm per-day goal that respects the other rules.
This lesson is educational content only and is not financial advice. Prop firm rules vary by firm and change over time; always read your firm's current rulebook. Trading involves substantial risk, and passing an evaluation does not guarantee profitable funded trading. Trade only with risk you can afford to lose.