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Scaling plans: why your contract limit today may be lower than you think

Many funded accounts don’t let you trade the full contract limit from day one. A scaling plan starts you small and raises the limit as the account grows. Your real limit today is the lower of the firm’s number and your own.

How scaling plans usually work

• The limit follows your balance. Grow the account and it rises. Lose ground, or take a payout, and it can fall again.
• Changes start next session. At many firms a higher limit never starts in the middle of a day, even once you’ve earned it.
• Micros and minis are counted together. Often 10 micros count as 1 mini, so the limit may be written in minis even if you trade micros.
• It may cover one stage only, such as the first funded account. Check which.

All four are true at one firm we checked. (one firm, 16 Jul 2026)

Links in brackets go to one firm’s own page as an example, checked 26 September 2026. Your firm’s wording may differ.

One example, worked through

Example scaling plan (made up for this example; yours will differ):

You’re $1,600 up, so the firm allows 3 minis. Your own sizing (Lesson 3: your risk per trade ÷ the cost of one contract at your stop) says 4.

Then you take a $500 payout. You’re $1,100 up, back under $1,500, so from the next session the firm allows 2. If you trade 3 tomorrow out of habit, you’re over the limit.

Where scaling plans catch people

• After a payout. The balance drops, and the limit can drop with it.
• Copied accounts. If a copier sends the same size to every account, check each account’s own limit. They may be at different tiers.
• Adding in the middle of a trade. Adding contracts can take you over the limit even when your first entry was inside it.

What to do with this

1. Write down the tier table from your firm’s own page, with the date.
2. Before each session, check where your balance sits in it. Especially after a payout or a losing day.
3. Use the lower number. The position size calculator gives you your own number. Your cap is whichever is lower.

Educational material only. Not investment advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss and most people who try it lose money. Check your account rules with your firm; they change.