The Hidden Costs of Prop Trading: 7 Fees Most Traders Forget to Track

Ask any prop trader how much they've invested in their trading business, and most will give you a rough number based on evaluation fees. Ask them for the exact figure including every reset, activation, data subscription, and platform fee - and you'll get silence.

That silence is costing them money. Not because the fees are a secret, but because without tracking every dollar going out, it's impossible to know if your prop trading business is actually profitable.

The 7 Fees Most Prop Traders Forget

1. Reset Fees (The Silent ROI Killer)

You buy a $50K eval for $150. You fail. You reset for $75. Fail again. Reset again. By the time you pass, you've spent $300 on what started as a $150 evaluation. Most traders remember the $150 but forget the resets when calculating their ROI.

2. Activation Fees

You passed your evaluation - congratulations! Now pay the activation fee to get your funded account. This fee ranges from $50 to $250+ depending on the firm and account size. It's easy to overlook because you're excited about passing, but it's a real cost that reduces your ROI.

3. Monthly Data Fees

Many prop firms charge monthly data fees ($10-50/month per account). If you're running 5-10 accounts, that's $50-500/month before you even place a trade. Over a year, a $25/month data fee costs $300 per account. Multiply that across all your accounts.

4. Platform and Software Fees

Trading platform subscriptions, charting tools, market data feeds - these are business expenses that directly impact your bottom line. NinjaTrader licenses, TradingView subscriptions, and specialized indicators all add up. Most traders treat these as personal expenses rather than business costs.

5. Trade Copier Subscriptions

If you're running multiple funded accounts with the same strategy, you're likely paying for a trade copier. These range from $20-100/month. It's a legitimate business tool, but it needs to be factored into your per-account profitability calculation.

6. Education and Courses

That $500 trading course, the $50/month mentorship group, the strategy guides you've purchased - these are all investments in your trading business. While they may not be per-account costs, they should factor into your overall business profitability assessment.

7. Failed Evaluation Costs

Here's the biggest one that most traders mentally "forget" about: the evaluations that went nowhere. The ones you blew on day 3. The ones you abandoned halfway through. These are sunk costs that absolutely count toward your total investment in prop trading.

How to Actually Track All of This

The reason most traders don't track these costs isn't laziness - it's that spreadsheets make it painful. You need a column for every fee type, formulas to calculate per-account costs, and manual updates every time something changes. It becomes a second job.

This is exactly why PropTruth exists. Every fee type is categorized automatically. Resets are linked to their original evaluations through account lineage tracking. Monthly subscriptions are tracked with renewal reminders. And your true ROI is calculated in real-time, accounting for every single dollar.

The Bottom Line

Prop trading can be profitable. But you'll never know for sure unless you're tracking every cost. The traders who succeed long-term are the ones who treat this as a real business - and real businesses track every expense.

Start by going through your bank and credit card statements for the past 3 months. Add up every prop-trading-related charge. The number might surprise you. Then ask yourself: does your payout total actually exceed that number?