# Your first payout, step by step

> A payout request needs several things true at the same moment: the cycle goal reached, the balance above the buffer where the account type has one, the consistency ratio met where it applies, and at least $500 to withdraw. Approved requests leave the account within minutes, you receive 90%, and the wire is sent within two business days.

By StarTrading Team · Published 2026-09-15 · Updated 2026-09-15 · Source: https://startrading.io/blog/first-payout-what-to-expect

A payout request needs several conditions true at the same moment: the cycle goal reached, the balance above the buffer where your account type has one, the consistency ratio met where it applies, and at least $500 of withdrawable profit. When all of them line up, you request from your dashboard, the amount leaves the simulated account within minutes of approval, you receive 90% of it, and the wire is sent within two business days. This article walks through the day you hit the goal and everything that follows it.

Evaluation and funded accounts are simulated until the Live stage, and futures trading involves a substantial risk of loss.

## What has to be true before you can request?

Not one condition but a set, and the set depends on the account type. The mistake that delays most first payouts is checking one box and assuming the others follow.

| Account | Cycle goal | Buffer | Consistency | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cycle | $750 on a 100K | balance above $103,100 | 40% | — |
| Clear | — | none | none once funded | five days at or above $200 on a 100K |
| Stream | — | balance above $103,100 | none once funded | positive net since last payout |
| Direct | $6,000 on a 100K | none | 20% | — |

Two of those columns catch people out.

The **buffer** is not profit. On a funded Cycle or Stream account it is a balance that stays in the account for as long as the account exists: the starting balance plus the initial Max Loss Limit plus $100. On a 100K Cycle that is $103,100. A balance of $103,400 looks like $3,400 of profit on a 100K account, but only $300 of it is above the buffer, which is under the $500 minimum. The [buffer rule](https://startrading.io/rules/buffer) gives the figure for every size.

The **consistency ratio** compares your largest profitable day with the profit of the cycle: at most 40% on a funded [Cycle](https://startrading.io/accounts/cycle), 20% on [Direct](https://startrading.io/accounts/direct). It is checked at the moment you request, not at the end of the cycle, and it is the most common reason a first Direct request is declined. The arithmetic and how to plan around it are in [consistency rules explained](https://startrading.io/blog/consistency-rules-explained).

## How much arrives, and when?

Three numbers are the same on every account type and every size:

-   **$500 minimum** per request. Below that, the request cannot be submitted.
-   **90% split.** You receive 90% of the requested amount, StarTrading keeps 10%. A $2,000 request pays $1,800.
-   **Two business days** for the wire, counted from approval. The amount is debited from the simulated account within minutes, so the balance drops before the money moves.

There is no payout window and no minimum number of calendar days: you do not wait for a Friday or the end of a month. What you do wait for is your bank, which adds its own clearing time on top of the wire. Check that the bank details on your account are correct and in your own name before the first request; a mismatch is the one thing that turns a two-day wire into a two-week one.

## Why is the first payout capped?

Because the first payout is the one taken on the least evidence: a cap lets a trader who has proved a little take a little. It applies per request, not per cycle, and it never removes profit. What is left over stays in the account, available at the next request.

| Account | First payouts | Later payouts |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cycle 100K | $2,500 on the first request | uncapped |
| Direct 100K | $2,500 on payouts 1 to 3 | $3,000 on payouts 4 and 5 |
| Clear 100K | 50% of cycle profit, up to $2,500 | same, the cap does not grow |
| Stream 100K | no cap: everything above the buffer | no cap |

Read that table with the goals next to it. A 100K Cycle asks for $750 of cycle profit and caps the first request at $2,500, so the cap almost never binds on a first cycle; it exists for the trader who runs a cycle up to $6,000 before requesting. Direct is the opposite: the first cycle goal is $6,000 and the cap is $2,500, so a trader who reaches the goal exactly will leave most of it in the account and take it out over the following requests.

Put it into practice on a Cycle account

$272One-time fee, no subscription, no time limit.

Profit target

$6,000

Max Loss Limit

$3,000

[Start the 100K Cycle evaluation](https://startrading.io/pricing?f=cycle&s=100k&p=rithmic)[About Cycle accounts](https://startrading.io/accounts/cycle)

## A worked example on a 100K Cycle

-   Buffer $103,100, cycle goal $750, first-payout cap $2,500.
-   Balance reaches $104,900 across nine trading days. Best day: $1,100.
-   Profit above the buffer: $1,800. Cycle profit: $1,800. Ratio: 1,100 ÷ 1,800 = 61%, above 40%. Declined.
-   You keep trading at normal size. Three sessions later the balance is $106,000: $2,900 above the buffer, best day still $1,100, ratio 38%.
-   You request $2,500, the cap. You receive $2,250. The balance drops to $103,500, still $400 above the buffer, and the next cycle starts.

Note what the third line did not do. The account was not failed, nothing was deducted and the cycle did not reset. A consistency ratio that is too high only delays.

## Why was my request declined, and what then?

Four reasons cover nearly all of them:

1.  **Ratio above the threshold.** Keep trading at your normal size until the cycle profit is large enough for the best day to fit. A second oversized day usually makes the ratio worse, not better.
2.  **Balance below the buffer.** Nothing to do but trade back above it. Remember that the [Max Loss Limit](https://startrading.io/rules/max-loss-limit) has already trailed up to your high-water mark and does not move down.
3.  **Amount under $500.** Wait for more profit, or request less often.
4.  **A review for a prohibited practice.** Copy trading across accounts, micro-scalping, or trading through a restricted news window on a funded Stream account. These are reviewed by a person and the [prohibited practices page](https://startrading.io/rules/prohibited-practices) lists them.

In every case the decline message says what was missing, and there is no penalty for requesting and being declined.

## When do the caps go away?

They fall away in stages, and the direction is always toward fewer limits.

On Cycle, the cap applies to the first request only. From the second payout on, the whole cycle profit above the buffer is withdrawable, still subject to the goal of $750 on a 100K and the 40% ratio. On Direct, the cap rises at the fourth payout, from $2,500 to $3,000 on a 100K. Clear keeps the same cap throughout, because its safeguard is the five-day rule instead. Stream never had one.

After five payouts on a simulated account, the account enters the [Live review pool](https://startrading.io/rules/live-program). Funded accounts with at least one payout on record move to a Live account: payouts become daily, there is no consistency rule, no Daily Loss Limit and no cap from the simulated rules. That is the point of the sequence. The caps are a ramp, not a ceiling, and the fastest way through them is five ordinary cycles rather than one spectacular one. The [payout policy](https://startrading.io/rules/payout-policy) has the full set of goals and caps by size, and the [pricing page](https://startrading.io/pricing) shows which account type fits the payout model you want before you buy.

## Sources

-   Commodity Futures Trading Commission, [customer advisory on futures trading risk](https://www.cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/AdvisoriesAndArticles/index.htm).
-   National Futures Association, [investor resources on futures accounts](https://www.nfa.futures.org/investors/investor-resources/index.html).
-   CME Group, [equity index contract specifications](https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/equities.html).

## Questions on this topic

### How long does the first payout take to arrive?

The amount leaves the simulated account within minutes of approval and the wire is sent within two business days. Your bank then applies its own clearing time, which is outside our control. There is no payout window to wait for: you request whenever the conditions of your account type are met.

### Do I have to withdraw everything I am allowed to?

No. You choose the amount, from the $500 minimum up to whatever the cap and the rules of your account allow. Leaving profit in the account keeps a cushion above the buffer, which matters because the Max Loss Limit does not move down.

### Does a declined payout fail my account?

No. A declined request explains what was missing, nothing is deducted and the cycle continues. The usual reasons are a consistency ratio above the threshold, a balance below the buffer or an amount under $500.