> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.cheer.trade/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.cheer.trade/trade/part-1-understanding-your-account-balance-and-funds.md). # 💰 Part 1: Understanding Your Account Balance & Funds #### 1. Balance vs. Equity: What's the Difference? * Balance: This is the amount of cash you have deposited into your account plus your *already closed* trades. It does not change while you have active trades running. * Equity: This is the real-time value of your account right now. It takes your Balance, adds any credit/bonuses, and subtracts or adds your live floating profits/losses. * 💡 *Think of it this way:* If you close all your open trades this very second, your Balance will instantly become equal to your Equity. #### 2. Floating P/L (Profit / Loss) * This shows the live, ticking performance of your open trades. If the market goes up and you have a Buy position, this number turns green (Profit). It directly changes your Equity, but your Balance remains locked until you click "Close Trade". #### 3. Margin & Free Margin (Your Trading Power) * Margin (Used Margin): The amount of money the platform locks as a required collateral (security deposit) to keep your trades open. The larger your trade size (Lots), the more Margin is locked. * Free Margin: The money left over in your account that is available to open new trades or to absorb market losses. If your Free Margin drops to $0, you cannot open any new positions. * Margin Level (%): This is a health bar for your account, calculated as: The higher the percentage, the safer your account is. If this percentage drops too low, it indicates your account is running out of funds to support your losses. > `Margin Level (%) = (Equity / Margin) * 100%` #### 4. Credit * This is a dynamic trading bonus or leverage cushion provided by the platform. You can use it to support your trading margin and drawdowns, but you cannot withdraw it as cash. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.cheer.trade/trade/part-1-understanding-your-account-balance-and-funds.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.