Planning · Template and model
Prop firm business plan: template, model and real figures.
A section-by-section plan for an evaluation prop firm, the unit economics with every assumption labelled, the industry figures that are actually sourced, and a free fill-in template plus a spreadsheet model you can download.
- By PipValley Editorial
- Updated
- 23 sources
At a glanceChecked 12 Oct 2026
- Published pass and payout rates
- Topstep, Jan–Dec 2025: 16.8% of Trading Combines completed; 51.8% of participants reached the Funded Level; 33.3% of Funded Level participants received a payout. 1
- Tracked payouts, 2025
- Prop Firm Match tracked $324,963,316 of payouts in 2025, only from firms with tracking in place, as reported by Finance Magnates. 2
- Tracked payouts, Q1 2026
- $115.1M across the ten largest firms in on-chain data; 61,682 payouts, average $1,865 (Finance Magnates Intelligence). 3
- Largest published accounts
- FTMO 2025: revenue about $422.9M, net profit about $37.5M, down 59%; parent 2024: about $329M revenue and $62.5M net. 45
- Payout volatility
- FTMO's 2025 payouts came in 82% above its end-2024 forecast and marketing costs rose 85%, per TradeInformer. 4
- Court-filed figures
- The CFTC alleged in Sep 2023 that My Forex Funds took at least $310M in fees from 135,000+ customers since Nov 2021; the case was dismissed with prejudice in May 2025. 67
- Startup budget range
- Spotware: a self-run prop firm "typically ranges from $50,000 to $200,000". 8
- Closures
- Finance Magnates estimated 80–100 prop firms shut down in 2024. 9
Most prop firm business plans fail in one of two ways. Some copy a generic startup template and never model the payout ratio, the number that decides whether an evaluation firm survives. Others start from a competitor's headline payout total and work backwards to a revenue figure nobody can check. This page and the downloads avoid both: every industry figure has a dated source, and every number in the model is labelled as an assumption for you to replace.
Download the files first, then use this page as the guide to filling them in: Download the business plan template (plain text, Markdown headings) and the financial model (CSV). The CSV opens in Excel or Google Sheets with working formulas; inputs are at the top, the twelve-month model below.
What should a prop firm business plan include?
Sixteen sections, in this order. The template has prompts and blanks for each.
| Section | What it must answer |
|---|---|
| 1. Executive summary | Market, model, route, launch date, funding need and the three numbers that matter: price per account size, expected payout ratio, reserve. |
| 2. Founders and team | Who runs risk, payments, support and marketing; trading or operating track record; advisers (lawyer, accountant). |
| 3. Market and positioning | Which market (forex/CFD, futures, crypto, stocks), which traders, which countries you will and will not serve, and why they would choose you. |
| 4. Business model | How revenue is earned (evaluation fees, resets, add-ons) and how payouts are funded; simulated vs live; who carries payout risk. |
| 5. Products, pricing and rules | Account sizes, prices, steps, targets, drawdown, minimum days, payout split, caps and schedule. |
| 6. Technology route | Capital-backed white label, licensed turnkey, own stack or partner, with vendors, published prices and exit terms. |
| 7. Entity, jurisdiction and licensing | Where the company sits, what a lawyer says the activity requires there, and where you restrict traders. |
| 8. Payments, KYC and payouts | Processors and their reserves, crypto rails, KYC vendor and when checks run, payout rails. |
| 9. Customer acquisition | Audience, affiliates, content, community and search; cost per buyer by channel; ad restrictions. |
| 10. Website and trust | Pricing table, rules, payout policy, FAQ, legal pages, payout proof labelled as your terms define it. |
| 11. Operations and support | Support hours and tools, payout review steps, fraud and abuse checks, staffing. |
| 12. Risk and the payout reserve | Stress scenario, reserve size, caps and rules that limit exposure, what you do in a bad month. |
| 13. Financial plan | Monthly model for 12–24 months: sales, revenue, costs, payouts, cash and break-even. |
| 14. Funding and use of funds | How much, from whom, on what terms, spent on what, in what order. |
| 15. Milestones | Company, contracts, legal, site, soft launch, first payout cycle, review points. |
| 16. Key risks and exit plan | Platform loss, processor loss, payout spike, regulatory change, demand shortfall, and the wind-down plan that protects traders. |
How does the prop firm business model make money?
An evaluation prop firm earns most of its revenue from challenge fees. Traders pay to take a simulated test; most do not pass; of those who pass, some later receive payouts funded by the firm. FTMO, for example, states that its accounts are "demo accounts with fictitious funds and any trading is in a simulated environment only." Resets, add-ons and, at futures firms, monthly or activation fees add to revenue.
Money goes out on payouts, affiliate commission, payment processing and chargebacks, technology fees, KYC, support, marketing and salaries. The firm stays healthy while payouts stay predictably below fee revenue. That ratio, payouts divided by fee revenue in the same period, is the payout ratio, and it is the line your plan must model by account size. The full explanation is in how prop firms make money; published profit figures are in are prop firms profitable.
If you launch on a capital-backed white label, the provider funds payouts and your plan models a revenue share instead: PropSuite publishes a founder share of 50% of net (60% at $100k+ monthly revenue, 70% at $300k+) after "$5 per account + 5% of revenue"; PropAccount publishes 30% of gross sales (White Label I) or 50% of net revenue (White Label II). The CSV has a revenue-share input for this.
What do the unit economics look like?
The table uses the default inputs from the downloadable CSV. Every number is an illustrative assumption, not data from any firm and not a forecast. Replace each with your own prices, rules and quotes, then stress-test in the prop firm profit calculator.
| Line | Illustrative assumption | Per challenge sold |
|---|---|---|
| Average list price | Three sizes at $89, $179 and $349, sold 50% / 35% / 15% | $159.50 |
| Average price paid | 20% average discount from codes | $127.60 |
| Affiliate commission | 15% of price paid on half of sales | −$9.57 |
| Processing, refunds and chargebacks | 7% of price paid | −$8.93 |
| Technology per account | $2.50 per challenge | −$2.50 |
| Expected payouts | 10% pass; 35% of passers paid; average payouts $600 / $1,200 / $2,500 by size | −$38.33 |
| KYC at payout | $1.35 per paid trader | −$0.05 |
| Contribution before fixed costs | Price paid minus the lines above | About $68.23 |
| Expected payout ratio | Payouts divided by price paid | About 30% |
| Break-even volume | $10,650 of monthly fixed costs divided by contribution | About 156 challenges a month |
Which industry figures can a business plan cite?
Very few. Almost no prop firm publishes audited accounts, and Finance Magnates has reported that there is no standard way to verify firms' payout claims. These are the figures we found with a primary or trade-press source, as of 12 October 2026. Cite them with their dates and caveats, never as a forecast for your firm.
- A widely repeated claim that only about 7% of traders are profitable at prop firms has no primary source we could find; leave it out of your plan.
- The CFTC figures are allegations from a case the court dismissed with prejudice in May 2025, after a Special Master found the agency acted in bad faith on several occasions. They show the scale a firm reached, not wrongdoing.
| Figure | Value | Source and caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Topstep Combine completion, 2025 | 16.8% of Combines | Topstep; share of Combines, not traders |
| Topstep funded traders paid, 2025 | 33.3% of Funded Level participants | Topstep; simulated and live environments |
| Topstep live call-ups, 2025 | 0.71% of Express Funded participants | Topstep |
| Payouts tracked by Prop Firm Match, 2025 | $324,963,316 | Finance Magnates, 6 Jan 2026; only firms with tracking; FTMO not included |
| Top firm in that tracker | FundedNext $107,794,710 | Same report |
| Tracked crypto payouts, Q1 2026 | $115.1M across ten firms; average payout $1,865 | Finance Magnates Intelligence, on-chain data, 20 Apr 2026 |
| FTMO revenue and net profit, 2025 | About $422.9M and $37.5M (down 59%) | TradeInformer citing CzechCrunch, 8 Sep 2026 |
| FTMO parent, 2024 | About $329M revenue, $62.5M net profit | Finance Magnates, 14 Nov 2025 |
| My Forex Funds, per CFTC complaint | At least $310M in fees from 135,000+ customers since Nov 2021 | CFTC release, 1 Sep 2023; allegations only; dismissed with prejudice in May 2025 |
| Closures in 2024 | 80–100 firms | Finance Magnates estimate |
How do you build the financial model?
The CSV is laid out in three blocks. Inputs: month-one sales and growth, three account sizes with price and mix, discount and affiliate rates, pass rate, payout rate and average payout by size, processing, technology, KYC and fixed costs, launch costs, a revenue-share percentage and a stress multiplier. Derived: average price paid, expected payout per challenge, payout ratio, contribution and break-even volume. Monthly model: twelve months of sales, revenue, costs, payouts (lagged one month after the sale), net, cumulative cash and the reserve the stress case would require.
- Use your own vendor quotes. Published examples: Match-Trader turnkey $4,000 a month; FXPropTech from $1,000 a month plus $1,500 setup; Sumsub $1.35 per check with a $149 minimum; Revolut card acceptance from 1% + €0.20 in the EEA.
- Model payouts by account size. A trader who passes a large evaluation can withdraw many times the fee paid; an average across sizes hides that.
- Lag payouts. Fees arrive at purchase, payouts weeks later, so cash looks better than the business in the first months.
- Set the revenue-share input to your provider's terms on a capital-backed white label, and set payouts to zero if the provider funds them under your contract.
- Run the stress multiplier at 2 and read the reserve row. Our payout reserve guide explains the method.
What do investors and partners look for in a prop firm plan?
They look for demand, a sized reserve and honest rules. Demand: where your first 100 buyers come from and what each costs. Ascetic Capital launched with financial backing on 28 November 2024 and closed on 3 December after four sales, according to its statement reported by Finance Magnates. A reserve: the stress scenario and the cash that covers it. Rules: published before purchase and applied as written, because trust is part of the product.
They also look for platform and processor resilience. MetaQuotes withdrew prop access in 2024, ProjectX ended third-party service in February 2026, and Stripe lists "funded prop trading" as prohibited. Name your fallback for each. For budgets by tier, see how much money to start a prop firm; for the route decision, white label vs your own platform.
Launch steps, in order
- Download both filesGet the Markdown template and the CSV model; open the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets and keep the inputs block visible.
- Write the model and rules firstFill sections 4 and 5: who pays traders, account sizes, prices, rules, caps and payout schedule. Everything else depends on them.
- Replace every input with quotesUse vendors' published prices and written quotes for platform, CRM, KYC, payments and payouts, with the date you checked each.
- Run the stress caseSet the stress multiplier to 2 and size the reserve from the reserve row; adjust caps, sizes or prices until the stress month is survivable.
- Write the acquisition planList channels, cost per buyer and the first 100 buyers by name or community; check ad and promotion rules for your markets.
- Get advice on entity and licensingHave a lawyer confirm what your activity requires in your jurisdiction and the countries you serve, and an accountant review the model.
- Set review pointsCompare actual pass and payout rates with the plan after each payout cycle and update the reserve before scaling.
Providers worth a look
From our dataset of prop-firm technology vendors, each fact checked on the vendor’s own site. Listed for fit, not ranked; PropSuite is our disclosed technology partner.
| Provider | What it is | Published pricing | Why it is on this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| PropSuiteOur technology partner | Capital-backed white label · Turnkey prop platformForex/CFD, Futures | Standard setup: $2,749 one time source | Model a capital-backed route: $2,749 setup, $0 monthly, founder share 50–70% of net; our technology partner. |
| PropAccount | Capital-backed white label · Turnkey prop platformForex/CFD, Futures, Crypto, Stocks | One-time setup: starts at $3,000 source | Model the gross-share alternative: founder earns 30% of gross sales on White Label I. |
| Match-Trader | Trading platform · Prop CRM / back officeForex/CFD, Crypto | White Label: Basic: $2,500 / month source | Fixed-fee input for a self-funded plan: platform plus CRM $4,000 a month. |
| FXPropTech | Prop CRM / back office · Turnkey prop platformForex/CFD | Startup: $1,000/mo + $1,500 one-time setup; up to 500 accounts, $2.50/account after limit source | Per-account input: $2.50 per account above the plan limit, with published setup fees. |
| Sumsub | KYC / identity | Basic (per verification): $1.35 per verification, $149 min. monthly commitment source | KYC input: $1.35 per verification with a $149 monthly minimum. |
| Revolut Business / Revolut Pay | Card payments · Payouts | Online card acceptance (EEA): From 1% + €0.20 per transaction source | Processing input: online card acceptance from 1% + €0.20 per transaction in the EEA. |
Prices as published on each vendor’s own site, checked 12 Oct 2026; most vendors quote privately. Full profiles: prop firm technology providers compared.
Your website, whatever platform you choose
Every route on this page still needs a marketing website: the pricing table, rules, payouts, FAQ, legal pages and the checkout hand-off to your platform. Platforms and white labels run the dashboard; they don’t build that site. PipValley does, for any platform, from $1,490 (pricing, launch service, what the site includes).
One route: launch on PropSuite
No platform to build, no trader capital to raise.
PropSuite is a capital-backed white-label prop firm: it runs the dashboard, challenges, checkout, KYC and payouts under your brand and says it carries the capital and pays traders. Published 12 Oct 2026: $2,749 one-time setup, no monthly platform fee, and a share of net revenue. Disclosure: PropSuite is PipValley’s technology partner and we may benefit if you launch on it. It is one option, not the only one.
Questions
How do I forecast prop firm revenue?
Multiply challenges sold by the average price actually paid (after discount codes), by account size, then add resets and add-ons. Grow sales month by month from a named acquisition plan, not a market-share guess. Model payouts separately by size, lagged after the sale, because they drive profit more than revenue does.
What pass rate should a prop firm business plan assume?
Use your own rules and test data where you have them, and treat published rates as reference points only: Topstep says 16.8% of its 2025 Combines were completed and 33.3% of funded participants received a payout. Then double your assumption in a stress case and check the firm survives it.
Is the prop firm business model profitable?
It can be when fee revenue stays predictably above payouts and costs, but profit swings. FTMO reported record 2025 revenue of about $422.9 million while net profit fell 59%, per TradeInformer, and Finance Magnates estimated 80 to 100 firms closed in 2024. A plan should show the bad month, not only the average one.
Do investors fund prop firm business plans?
Some do, but they expect evidence of demand, a sized payout reserve and legal advice on the model, not a projected payout total. Many founders start on a capital-backed white label instead, which needs a setup fee rather than outside capital, and raise later with sales data.
Is the business plan template free to use?
Yes. The Markdown template and the CSV financial model are free to download, edit and share inside your team. Every number in the CSV is an illustrative input to replace with your own quotes and rules; neither file is legal, tax or financial advice.
How do you make money with a prop firm on a white label?
On a capital-backed white label you earn a share of revenue rather than the full margin: PropSuite publishes 50% of net, rising to 70% at $300k+ monthly revenue, and PropAccount 30% of gross or 50% of net. The provider funds payouts, so your plan models sales, marketing and your share, not a reserve.
Sources
- Topstep: 2025 trader performance statistics checked 12 Oct 2026
- Finance Magnates: Prop Firm Match tracked about $325 million in payouts in 2025 (6 Jan 2026) checked 12 Oct 2026
- Finance Magnates Intelligence: Tracked prop firm crypto payouts doubled to $115M in Q1 2026 (20 Apr 2026) checked 12 Oct 2026
- TradeInformer: FTMO sees 59% decline in profit (8 Sep 2026) checked 12 Oct 2026
- Finance Magnates: FTMO's parent netted over $62 million on $329M revenue in 2024 (14 Nov 2025) checked 12 Oct 2026
- CFTC release 8771-23, reprinted by Mondo Visione: CFTC charges My Forex Funds (1 Sep 2023) checked 12 Oct 2026
- Willkie Compliance Concourse: New Jersey federal judge dismisses forex case with prejudice (26 May 2025) checked 12 Oct 2026
- Spotware: How to start a proprietary trading firm (2026) checked 12 Oct 2026
- Finance Magnates: 80–100 prop firms wiped out in 2024 checked 12 Oct 2026
- Finance Magnates: Prop firm shuts down after one week, "we only made four sales" checked 12 Oct 2026
- Finance Magnates: Can you trust prop firms' total payouts claims? checked 12 Oct 2026
- FTMO: homepage and simulated-account disclosure checked 12 Oct 2026
- PropSuite: homepage, setup fee and revenue share checked 12 Oct 2026
- PropAccount: White Label I checked 12 Oct 2026
- PropAccount: White Label II checked 12 Oct 2026
- Match-Trader: Prop trading platform pricing checked 12 Oct 2026
- FXPropTech: Pricing checked 12 Oct 2026
- Sumsub: Pricing checked 12 Oct 2026
- Revolut Business: Accept payments (EEA rates) checked 12 Oct 2026
- Stripe: Restricted and prohibited businesses checked 12 Oct 2026
- Finance Magnates: ProjectX to end its third-party service offering (17 Nov 2025) checked 12 Oct 2026
- Finance Magnates: Prop firms cutting US clients and integrating new platforms (Feb 2024) checked 12 Oct 2026
- PipValley guide: Prop firm payout reserve (worked example) checked 12 Oct 2026
PipValley is a web design studio; we don’t sell challenges, run trading accounts or provide trading platforms. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it with the date.
Keep planning
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