# What is Simulated funded account?

> A simulated funded account is the post-evaluation account a prop firm gives a trader: trades run in a simulated environment and the firm pays performance rewards on results.

- Source: https://pipvalley.com/glossary/simulated-funded-account
- Publisher: PipValley - web design studio for prop trading firms
- Updated: 2026-10-03

In a prop firm, the funded stage is usually not a live brokerage account. The trader keeps trading in a simulated environment with the same or similar rules, and the firm pays a share of the simulated profit as a performance reward. The firm may mirror some traders' positions to live markets, but that is its own risk decision, not the trader's account.

A live funded account, where the trader's orders reach a real market with the firm's capital, exists at some firms and some futures programs, often after a period of consistent simulated results. Firms that offer it should describe exactly when it applies and on what terms.

The distinction matters legally and commercially. Describing a simulated account as real capital is one of the claims regulators and consumer bodies have scrutinized, and it is the claim most likely to come back in a dispute.

## Why it matters

This is the single most important wording choice on a prop firm website. Write simulated funded account, simulated trading environment, or performance reward wherever the account is described, unless your firm genuinely trades live and can show it. Honest labelling protects you in disputes with traders, payment providers and regulators.