How to Track Performance for FTMO Challenges

Introduction

An FTMO challenge is not only about hitting a profit target. You also have to respect a maximum daily loss, a maximum overall loss, and a minimum number of trading days. Most blown accounts come from breaking one of those limits on a single bad session—not from missing the target by a small amount.

The fix is simple: track performance against FTMO rules from day one, not at the end of the week when it is too late to recover.

Prerequisites

• An active FTMO challenge account (Phase 1 or Phase 2).
• Your account rules from the FTMO dashboard: account size, profit target, max daily loss, and max loss.
• A place to log trades—a spreadsheet or a trading journal works fine.

Step 1: Write Down Your Challenge Rules

Before you take a trade, put your exact limits in one place. A typical $100,000 challenge might look like this:

Account size:     $100,000
Profit target:    $10,000 (10%)
Max daily loss:   $5,000 (5%)
Max total loss:   $10,000 (10%)
Min trading days: 4

Rules vary by account type and phase. Copy yours from FTMO—do not rely on memory or an old screenshot.

Step 2: Track Daily P&L and Drawdown

At the end of each trading day (or after each trade if you are close to the limit), update three numbers:

1. Today's P&L — sum of all closed trades for the calendar day.
2. Daily loss remaining — how much more you can lose today before breaching the daily limit.
3. Total drawdown — how far account equity has fallen from the starting balance (or from the high-water mark, depending on FTMO's calculation for your account).

Example after a -$1,200 day:

Starting balance:     $100,000
Current equity:       $98,800
Today's P&L:          -$1,200
Daily loss remaining: $3,800  ($5,000 limit - $1,200)
Total loss used:      $1,200  ($10,000 limit - $1,200 left)

If daily loss remaining drops below your average loss per trade, stop trading for the day. That buffer is what keeps you in the challenge.

Step 3: Log Every Trade With the Same Fields

Consistent logging makes it easy to spot what is hurting your challenge. Record at minimum:

• Date and time (session matters for daily loss resets)
• Symbol and direction
• Entry, exit, and position size
• P&L in dollars and as R-multiple
• Setup name and whether you followed your plan

After 20–30 trades you can see patterns: oversized positions, revenge trades after a loss, or setups that work on demo but not under prop-firm pressure.

Step 4: Monitor Progress to the Profit Target

Update your progress weekly so you know if you are on pace or forcing trades:

Profit target:        $10,000
Realized profit:      $3,400
Remaining to target:    $6,600
Trading days completed: 6 (min 4 required)
Win rate:               52%
Average R:              +0.4R

If you are up 8% with two reckless days left in the week, tighten risk. Passing the challenge matters more than squeezing the last 2%.

Step 5: Review Before Each Session

Spend five minutes before the market opens:

1. Check daily and total loss remaining.
2. Set a max loss for today (well below the FTMO daily limit).
3. Define which setups you will trade—and which you will skip.
4. Note your emotional state from yesterday.

This pre-session check is the cheapest insurance you have. Most rule breaches happen when traders do not know their numbers until after the damage is done.

Simple Daily Tracking Template

Copy this into a spreadsheet or journal and fill it in each day:

Date: ___________
Trades taken: ___
Daily P&L: $___________
Daily loss remaining: $___________
Total drawdown: $___________
Profit toward target: $___________ / $___________
Followed plan? Yes / No
Notes: ___________

Limitations and Considerations

• FTMO rules differ by account size, phase, and product. Always confirm current terms in your dashboard.
• Daily loss resets at midnight in the server timezone FTMO uses for your account—verify that in their docs.
• Funded accounts may add consistency rules (e.g. best day cannot exceed a set share of total profit). Track those separately if they apply to you.
• This guide is for performance tracking, not trading or financial advice.

Conclusion

Passing an FTMO challenge is mostly risk management with a profit target attached. Track daily loss, total drawdown, and progress to target every session. Log trades consistently, review before you trade, and stop when your personal daily limit is hit—not when FTMO's limit is.

A structured journal makes this routine fast. TradeLogger helps you log trades, see P&L trends, and review patterns without rebuilding spreadsheets every week.