The balance, net worth, and available prepayments all look like 'how much money is left in the account', but in reality, their purposes are different.

The simplest way to record it is: the balance mainly depends on the account funds that have already been pocketed, and the net value will fluctuate with the profit and loss changes of open orders. The available advance payment tells you how much funds can continue to bear new positions.

After holding positions, I suggest looking more at net worth and available prepayments. Focusing solely on the balance can easily underestimate the current pressure on the account.

Why doesn't the balance keep jumping with the market trend

The balance records the confirmed fund results of the account.

The profits and losses of deposits, withdrawals, and closed trades will be reflected in the balance.

When an order has not been closed yet, the floating profit and loss on the screen usually do not directly overwrite the balance.

For example, if the account balance is $1000 and the current gold order has a floating loss of $80.

Just looking at the balance, it may still show $1000.

But the actual available status of the account has changed, and at this point, we need to look at the net asset value.

How to evaluate net worth

When there are no additional credit items or other factors, a simplified formula can be used to understand:

Net worth ≈ balance+current floating profit and loss

Still the example from earlier.

The balance is $1000, with a floating loss of $80 on open orders and a net value of approximately $920.

If the order gains $120, the net worth will rise to approximately $1120.

So during the holding period, the net asset value is usually closer to the current actual state of the account than the balance.

The definition of account fields in Metatrader follows a similar logic and incorporates factors such as floating profit and loss, commission, credit limit, etc. into net asset value calculations.

What is available prepayment

After establishing a margin position, a portion of the funds will be occupied.

The remaining portion that can continue to be used for opening positions or withstanding price fluctuations is the available advance payment, also commonly known as Free Margin.

The common calculation relationship is:

Available advance payment=Net value - Used advance payment

Assuming a net worth of $920, the current position occupies a prepayment of $200:

920-200=720 USD

This $720 is the remaining available advance payment in the account at that time.

The official calculation of Free Margin in Metatrader is also written as Equity minus Margin.

Why is there a lot of balance but very little available advance payment

Usually related to the position.

The account may still have a balance of $1000, but a large position has been established, which requires a lot of margin, and the orders are still floating losses.

At this point, the balance doesn't seem to have changed much, and the net value has already decreased. The available prepayments will decrease even more significantly.

So some people may encounter such situations:

Why can't I place a new order when there's still money in my account

Often, it is necessary to come back and check net worth, used prepayments, and available prepayments.

The balance cannot solve this problem.

How to connect the prepayment ratio with these numbers

The common calculation method for advance payment ratio is:

Prepayment ratio=Net value ÷ Used prepayments × 100%

Assuming a net worth of $920 and a prepaid amount of $200:

920 ÷ 200 × 100% = 460%

As position losses increase and net worth decreases, the prepayment ratio will also decrease.

Wmax · 威马证券

The current trading rules stipulate that under normal circumstances, a prepayment ratio of less than or equal to 30% will trigger mandatory liquidation conditions; Weekend positions require a higher prepayment ratio, which is currently listed as less than or equal to 200%. If there are any adjustments to the trading parameters, the rules at that time shall prevail.

Which one to look at first when really looking at an account

When there is no holding position, checking the balance is more intuitive.

After holding a position, I will first check the net asset value, and then look at the available prepayments and prepayment ratio.

Because when the market truly moves, these figures will directly tell you how much capital your positions currently occupy and how much buffer remains.

Balance remains important, but it is more like a ledger of what has already been booked.

Only equity incorporates the floating profit and loss that is currently occurring.

Once beginners clearly distinguish these concepts, many questions such as “Why can't I open a position even though I still have a balance?” and “Why is my risk rising while my balance remains unchanged?” will naturally make sense.

Risk warning: Margin trading amplifies your account's sensitivity to price fluctuations. Please continuously monitor equity, free margin and margin level, and avoid excessive position concentration.

MetaTrader官方对Free Margin的基础计算同样写作Equity减Margin。

为什么余额很多，可用预付款却很少

通常和仓位有关。

账户可能还有1000美元余额，但已经建立了较大的持仓，保证金占用很多，同时订单还在浮亏。

这时候余额看起来没怎么变，净值已经下降，可用预付款会降得更明显。

所以有人会遇到这样的情况：

“账户里明明还有钱，为什么新订单下不了？”

往往就要回来检查净值、已用预付款和可用预付款。

余额解决不了这个问题。

预付款比例和这几个数字怎么连起来

预付款比例常见计算方式为：

预付款比例 = 净值 ÷ 已用预付款 × 100%

假设净值920美元，已用预付款200美元：

920 ÷ 200 × 100% = 460%

随着持仓亏损增加，净值下降，预付款比例也会往下走。

Wmax · 威马证券当前交易细则规定，正常情况下预付款比例低于或等于30%会触发强制平仓条件；周末持仓采用更高的预付款比例要求，当前规则列示为低于或等于200%。交易参数如有调整，以当时规则为准。

真正看账户时先看哪个

没有持仓时，看余额比较直观。

有持仓以后，我会先看净值，再看可用预付款和预付款比例。

因为市场真正变化时，这几个数字会直接告诉你仓位现在占了多少资金，还剩多少缓冲。

余额依然重要，但它更像一本已经记账的账本。

净值才会把正在发生的浮动盈亏带进来。

新手把这几个概念分清楚以后，很多“为什么还有余额却开不了仓”“为什么余额没变但风险越来越高”的问题，自然就解释得通了。

风险提示：保证金交易会放大账户对价格波动的敏感度。请持续留意净值、可用预付款及预付款比例，避免仓位过度集中。