Prop Firm Management

Changing Users Between Demo and Live

By default, a trader is non-professional while evaluating on a demo account (also known as a sim or simulation account) and becomes professional when they move to a live account. This guide walks you through moving a user in either direction: from demo to live when they pass their evaluation, and from live back to demo when their live trading ends. Each move updates the user’s classification, along with their trading permissions, market data, and entitlements.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have the following:

  • The user ID of the trader graduating to live
  • The trader’s required documents:
    • Power of Attorney (POA) form
    • Government-issued ID
    • Proof of address
  • The marketDataSubscriptionPlanIds for the professional market data subscriptions you’ll assign
  • The entitlementId for the Live+ entitlement (85 in Production)
  • Your organization’s _DATA billing account ID
  • A plan for how payment will be handled for the user’s professional market data subscriptions

Changing a User from Demo to Live

To move a user from demo to live and classify them as professional, follow these steps using the Live domain:

Step 1. Submit a subaccount request for the user.

  1. From the Admin Dashboard (Live domain), click Eval Functions on the left pane.
  2. Click Add Subaccount.
  3. Fill out the required fields, upload the required documents (POA form, Government-issued ID, and Proof of address), and select an auto-liquidation profile for the new account. You can create up to five subaccounts per user.

The subaccount request is reviewed by the New Accounts team. Preapproved requests receive an account number immediately and the subaccount is tradable right away. Outstanding document requirements must be met within 14 days, or the account is locked automatically. InReview requests are prioritized for manual processing. Allow up to two business days for review.

Step 2. Once the subaccount request is approved, grant trading permissions to the user.

  1. From the user’s Account entity card, click Actions.
  2. Click Grant Trading Permission.
  3. In Account Controller Name, enter the first and last name of the trader (POA/account controller) who will be trading the account (max 64 characters).
  4. In Account Controller Email, enter the email address of the trader.
  5. Click Send.

After the trading permission request is approved (typically the same day), the user is automatically converted to professional status and their existing non-professional market data is archived.

Step 3. Add at least one professional market data subscription (CME, CBOT, COMEX, or NYMEX).

  1. From the user’s User entity card, click Actions > Manage User.
  2. In the Manage User window, click the Market Data field and select the market data plan you want to assign to the user, then click + (the plus sign) to add it.
  3. Click the Renewal Account field and select your _DATA account.
  4. Click Save.
It’s your responsibility to coordinate payment with the user for professional market data subscriptions.

Step 4. Switch the user’s entitlement from Sim+ to Live+.

  1. From the user’s User entity card, click Actions > Manage User.
  2. In the Manage User window under Add-ons, click the X next to Sim+ to remove the Sim+ entitlement.
  3. Click the Add-ons field, select Live+, then click + (the plus sign) to add the Live+ entitlement.
  4. Click the Renewal Account field and select your _DATA account.
  5. Click Save.
It’s your responsibility to coordinate payment with the user for entitlements.

Step 5. (Optional) Configure the user’s risk settings using your organization’s master account.

You must use your organization’s master account to perform this step.
  1. From the user’s Account entity card, expand the User Account Auto Liq entity card.
  2. In the results pane, click Show Entity Card (the eyeball icon) on the user’s existing User Account Auto Liq.
  3. Fill out the required fields.
  4. Click Save.

Changing a User from Live to Demo

To move a user from live back to demo and classify them as non-professional, follow these steps using the Live domain:

Changing a user from professional to non-professional happens immediately, but changing a user from non-professional to professional requires approval.

Step 1. Change the user’s classification to non-professional.

Only the master account owner can change a user’s classification. Organization administrators cannot, whether through the API or the Admin Dashboard.
  1. From the user’s User entity card, click Actions > Change User Status.
  2. Clear the Professional Status checkbox and click Submit.

The change is recorded in the audit trail. It doesn’t move the user’s market data or entitlements for you, so expire their professional market data and reassign Sim+ yourself (Steps 2 and 3). The downgrade only works once the user no longer holds an active live subaccount (an approved, non-archived trading permission); if you aren’t the master account owner, or the user still holds one, the request is rejected and the classification is unchanged. Attempts to set a user to professional through this flow are also refused.

Step 2. Expire the user’s professional market data subscriptions.

Call the expireMarketDataSubscription endpoint to expire the user’s professional market data. Expiring market data from the Admin Dashboard is limited to organization administrators who have a _DATA account assigned, so the API is the standard path for this step.

Step 3. Switch the user’s entitlement from Live+ to Sim+.

  1. From the user’s User entity card, click Actions > Manage User.
  2. In the Manage User window under Add-ons, click the X next to Live+ to remove the Live+ entitlement.
  3. Click the Add-ons field, select Sim+, then click + (the plus sign) to add the Sim+ entitlement.
  4. Click the Renewal Account field and select your _DATA account.
  5. Click Save.

Re-adding Sim+ restores the user’s non-professional market data (CMEGROUP_TOP) by default.