To check your available funds for trading at Interactive Brokers (IBKR), follow these steps:
- Log into your IBKR account.
- In your account overview, locate the "Available Funds" or "Current Available Funds" value or "ELV - Initial Margin."
- A positive value in this field represents your fully settled cash available for new orders after a closing trade in a Cash type account.
- A positive value in this field represents the funds you have to meet the margin requirement for a new order in a Margin type account.
Note
- Current Available Funds is the recommended metric to check, as it shows what's available to open new positions.
- This real-time check for fully settled cash in a Cash account is performed during the Credit Check when entering a new order.
- In Cash accounts under the "Cash Up Front" restriction, only fully settled funds can be used for new orders.
For a more accurate representation of your trading capacity at a specific moment, you can perform a margin preview when placing an order. This will show you the exact margin required for that particular trade, which can be more precise than the general buying power calculation. Remember that available funds can fluctuate based on market conditions and the Initial Margin requirements for your current positions.