Topstep raised the consistency target of its Trading Combine on September 11, 2026. Your best winning day can now account for up to 55% of the profit target, up from 50%. The firm also removed a buffer that used to be added silently on top of the old threshold. The change is published on the official help center, in the article "Consistency at Topstep", updated September 11, 2026 for that change, then again on September 15, 2026.
What changed, exactly
The principle is unchanged: in the Trading Combine, your largest winning day cannot exceed a set percentage of the profit target. What changed is the percentage, and how it is computed.
- The threshold moves from 50% to 55% of the profit target.
- The buffer is gone. Topstep is blunt about it in the help center: there is no buffer, 55% is a hard limit, with no rounding. The old setup added a silent margin on top of the published 50%.
- The formula is the same: best day divided by total profit.
In other words, the number you read is now the number that counts. That is the real substance of the change: before, the published threshold and the effective threshold were not the same figure, and nobody outside the firm knew the gap.
The new best-day numbers, account by account
Topstep publishes a best-day recommendation for each account size. Staying below it avoids an increase of your profit target.
| Account | Profit target | Best day, old 50% threshold | Best day, current 55% threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50K | 3,000 USD | under 1,500 USD | under 1,650 USD |
| 100K | 6,000 USD | under 3,000 USD | under 3,300 USD |
| 150K | 9,000 USD | under 4,500 USD | under 4,950 USD |
That is 150 USD more of room on a 50K, 300 USD on a 100K, 450 USD on a 150K. In relative terms, ten percent more on the maximum allowed day. It is not a redesign of the model, it is a measurable loosening.
Breaking the target still does not fail the account
This is the part most reviews get wrong, and the new threshold does not change it. A day that is too big does not blow your account. It raises your profit target.
How the new target is computed, however, is not written consistently by Topstep, and that is worth knowing before you count on it. The official page announces a 55% threshold in its heading, then gives the catch-up formula with a 0.50 divisor: best day divided by 0.50 equals the total profit needed. Its two worked examples point the same way: an 1,800 USD best day gives a 3,600 USD target, and a following day at 2,200 USD pushes the target to 4,400 USD. Read on the page on September 16, 2026, one day after an official update.
So two numbers sit on the same page: the published threshold, 55%, and the divisor used in the examples, 0.50. We are not calling which one the system applies, because neither value is presented as correcting the other. What does not depend on that call: in both readings the bar rises with your biggest day and never comes back down, and the 0.50 reading is the harsher of the two. The only way not to depend on the math is to stay under the published best-day recommendation for your account size.
Second mechanic worth knowing: losses do not reset your best day. If your best day is 1,650 USD and a losing session brings total profit down to 1,000 USD, your best day is still 1,650 USD. You have to recover the losses and reach the new target, without any single day going above that ceiling.
The 3:10 pm CT lock-in trap
Your best day updates live through the session. At 3:10 pm CT, that day's value locks into your trading history and cannot be changed.
The consequence is counterintuitive, and expensive for traders who discover it in real time: you cannot fix a violation by trading more on the same day. Every dollar earned before the close adds to that same record day, which raises the target again. The missing profit has to be earned on a separate day, after the close of the session where the record was set.
What did not change
The rest of the program is unchanged as of this date.
- The Consistency path of the Express Funded Account still uses a 40% objective, with a minimum of 3 traded days carrying at least one trade each.
- The Maximum Loss Limit, the way it trails on the closing balance and the real-time monitoring are untouched.
- Profit targets remain 3,000, 6,000 and 9,000 USD by size.
- No subscription price changes with this announcement.
The full breakdown of the program, account sizes, MLL, daily loss limit and payouts, is in our complete guide to Topstep rules, already updated with the new threshold. For the general framework of evaluations, our deep dive on prop firm rules sets the vocabulary.
What it changes inside a session
A consistency target, whatever its level, says one thing: the evaluation does not reward the big day. It rewards repetition. Moving from 50% to 55% widens the window by ten percent, it does not turn an exceptional session into an advantage.
So the practical constraint is the same one. On a 50K, if you are up 1,400 USD during the session, your room before you raise your own target is 250 USD. Keeping going because the market looks good is exactly what the rule penalises, and the penalty is not visible right away: it shows up later, as a profit target that sits further out.
That is a decision to make before the session, not in front of the screen. A daily profit ceiling written in advance, with what you do when it is hit, turns a rule you suffer into a parameter you know. Topstep ships the matching tool on its own platform: a Personal Daily Profit Target is set in the risk settings, with the action attached to it. The logic of an execution framework decided cold is the one documented in the Ephore Prop System.
Frequently asked questions
What is the new Trading Combine consistency threshold?
55% of the profit target since September 11, 2026, up from 50%. The threshold is described as a hard limit, with no rounding and no buffer.
What happens if my best day goes above 55%?
The account does not fail, the profit target increases. The exact amount depends on a formula the official page writes with a 0.50 divisor while announcing a 55% threshold: both numbers sit on the same page, read on September 16, 2026. In both readings, the target rises and never comes back down.
Does the funded account consistency change too?
No. The Consistency path of the Express Funded Account stays at 40% of total net profit, with a minimum of 3 traded days.
Can I fix a violation on the same day?
No. Any extra profit earned on the record day adds to that record and raises the target again. The missing profit has to come from another day.
Figures re-read on the official Topstep help center on September 16, 2026, article "Consistency at Topstep" updated September 15, 2026. These rules change often: always check the official source before you trade.
Futures trading involves substantial risk of capital loss. This article is educational and does not constitute investment advice.