Sierra Chart Trade Copier for Prop Firms — Complete Guide

Running multiple prop firm accounts on Sierra Chart? You need a trade copier. This guide covers why, how, and what to look for — plus a walkthrough of the SCS Trade Copier built specifically for this use case.

Why prop firm traders need a copier

If you're funded with Apex, Topstep, or any other prop firm, you likely have multiple accounts:

• Multiple funded accounts at the same firm (scaling strategy)
• Accounts at different firms (diversification)
• Sim + live (testing before going live)
• Standard + micro contracts (different account sizes)

Trading the same setup across 3-5 accounts manually is a recipe for:

• Missed entries — by the time you place the 3rd order, the move already happened
• Inconsistent sizing — different account balances need different quantities
• Orphaned positions — you flatten one account but forget another
• Fat fingers — rushing through multiple order entries increases error rate

A trade copier eliminates all of these problems.

What to look for in a Sierra Chart trade copier

Not all copiers are equal. Here's what matters:

Latency

In futures, milliseconds matter. File-based copiers (writing/reading CSV files) introduce 50-500ms delays. Network-based copiers add TCP overhead. For prop firm evaluations where every tick counts, you want the lowest latency possible.

Independent position sizing

Your main account might be a $150K funded account trading 3 ES contracts. Your secondary might be a $50K account that should only trade 1 contract. A good copier calculates quantity independently per follower, not just mirrors the source.

Safety features

What happens when the copier loses connection to the source? Does the follower keep its positions open indefinitely? A good copier should auto-flatten when it detects something wrong.

Micro/mini contract handling

If your source trades ES and a follower account is sized for MES, the copier needs to handle the 10x quantity difference automatically.

SCS Trade Copier — how it works

The SCS Trade Copier is an ACSIL study (native C++) that runs directly inside Sierra Chart. No external process, no middleware, no network overhead.

Architecture: Source → Shared Memory → Follower

The copier uses Windows shared memory for communication between instances:

1. Source study monitors your trading on Instance A
2. Writes trade events to a shared memory segment
3. Follower study on Instance B reads events and replicates with independent sizing

Latency: sub-millisecond. No file I/O, no TCP, no serialization overhead.

What gets copied

Event	Copied?	Notes
Market entry/exit	Yes	With independently calculated quantity
Limit orders	Yes	Placed, modified, and cancelled
Stop orders	Yes	Placed, modified, and cancelled
Partial closes	Yes	Proportional to follower sizing
Scale-ins	Yes	With independent quantity calculation
Reversals	Yes	Two-phase: flatten → confirm → enter new direction
Stop loss updates	Yes	Synced in real time
Take profit updates	Yes	Synced in real time
Full flatten	Yes	Follower flattens when source flattens

Three sizing modes

1. Multiplier Mode Follower quantity = Source quantity × multiplier. Simple and predictable.

• Source trades 2 ES → Follower trades 2 ES (multiplier = 1.0)
• Source trades 2 ES → Follower trades 4 MES (multiplier = 2.0 with auto micro detection)

2. Risk % Mode Follower calculates quantity from its own account balance, risk percentage, and stop distance. Completely independent of source quantity.

• Source has $150K, trades 3 ES with 10-point stop
• Follower has $50K, same risk % → automatically trades 1 ES

3. Fixed $ Mode Follower risks a fixed dollar amount per trade, regardless of account size.

• Set $500 risk → copier calculates quantity based on stop distance and tick value

Automatic micro/mini detection

The copier automatically detects contract pairs:

• ES ↔ MES (10x adjustment)
• NQ ↔ MNQ (10x adjustment)
• CL ↔ MCL (10x adjustment)
• GC ↔ MGC (10x adjustment)

If your source trades ES and follower is set up for MES, the copier applies a 10x multiplier automatically.

Safety features

Feature	What it does
Source timeout	Auto-flattens follower if source heartbeat lost > 10 seconds
Circuit breaker	Flattens + pauses if > 10 orders fire in 1 minute
Max position cap	Hard limit on follower contracts (never exceed N contracts)
Two-phase reversals	Prevents double positions on reversals
Auto-flatten on source flat	No orphaned positions
Min order interval	Configurable cooldown between orders
Kill switch	ACS button on the chart to disable follower instantly

Setup

1. Add the Source study to your main trading chart (Instance A)
2. Add the Follower study to the same symbol on Instance B
3. Configure sizing mode and parameters
4. Enable the kill switch ACS button
5. Start trading on the source — the follower replicates automatically

Both instances must be on the same machine (shared memory requirement). Works with both live and simulation accounts.

Alternatives

Sierra Chart Built-in Copy Trading

Sierra Chart has basic copy trading in the Trade Activity Log, but it only works within the same instance and doesn't support independent sizing or safety features.

Manual entry

Always an option for low-frequency traders (1-3 trades per day). But if you're scalping or taking 5+ trades per day across multiple accounts, manual entry becomes unsustainable.

Conclusion

If you're a prop firm trader on Sierra Chart managing multiple accounts, a trade copier isn't optional — it's essential. The SCS Trade Copier gives you sub-millisecond latency via shared memory, independent position sizing per account, and safety features that protect you when things go wrong.

$11.99/month. Built by a Sierra Chart trader, for Sierra Chart traders.