One screen, several pots

Every figure on the screen counts a different pot of money (South Africa)

A trading platform shows five or six amounts at once and none of them means the same thing. They are not five opinions about one number — they are five separate questions about where money stands: settled or provisional, free or locked, on the account or still travelling. Sort the words by that and the screen stops arguing with itself.

Three tests separate every word below. Is this amount settled, or could it still change on its own? Is it available to use, or held while something else is open? And is it on the account at all, or is it somewhere on the route between a bank and the account? Almost every misread figure is one of those three questions answered wrongly.

The account words

Word	Which pot it counts	Settled?
Balance	Money finished with — it moves when a payment lands or a trade closes	Yes
Used margin	The part of the balance held while a position is open	Yes, but locked
Free margin	The part not being held — what a new position or a withdrawal draws on	Yes
Floating result	What an open position is worth right now, gain or loss	No — it changes with the price
Equity	Balance plus every floating result: what would be settled if all positions closed now	No, by construction

Notice that only two rows are money you could ask for. Everything else describes it in some other state. Watching one figure become several

The record words

These four name things written down rather than amounts held. They are the least glamorous vocabulary on the platform and the most useful when something needs looking up.

Account number. The identifier of one trading account inside a profile that may hold many. A question that does not name it makes a support desk guess which of them you mean.

Reference. The identifier attached to one single movement of money. It is the one word that points at exactly one entry and nothing else.

Timestamp. The date and time a record was written. Memory disagrees with it constantly, and the record is the version that counts.

History. The list of everything the account has done — trades opened and closed, payments in and out. It is where a figure you cannot explain is explained.

The cost words

Two figures reduce a balance without any money leaving the account, which is why they feel mysterious the first time.

Spread — the gap between the buying and the selling price of one instrument at one moment. It is paid at entry, which is why a fresh position usually shows a small negative figure straight away.

Swap — the charge for carrying a position past the daily rollover. The ticket states it before the trade is confirmed. On a swap-free account the overnight interest is not applied to eligible instruments, while the spread and any commission still are.

Neither is a transfer. Both are written into the balance, so they belong to the account pot and not to the route. Where these costs come from

An independent guide: it holds no balance and reads no account. Every figure named here lives inside your Exness account area and platform.

The screen-label words

Six labels that name places rather than amounts. They are the vocabulary a platform uses about itself, and knowing them is what turns "somewhere in the app" into a location.

Account area. The client portal where payments, settings and documents live. It is reached by signing in, never by following a link that arrived unasked.

Profile. The layer above the trading accounts. It carries the identity file and can hold up to 100 MT4 and 100 MT5 accounts, 200 in total, under one login.

Trading account. One numbered account inside that profile, with its own currency and its own platform password.

Order ticket. The form that opens a position. It states what will be held as margin before anything is confirmed.

Position. An open trade, alive until it is closed. While it lives it holds margin and produces a floating result.

Verification. The check that attaches a person to the profile, using a government-issued photo ID and a proof of residential address, usually approved within about 24 hours.

The state words

Four adjectives that a platform attaches to things rather than counts. They are worth learning because a state, not an amount, is usually what a person is really asking about.

Pending. Submitted and not yet resolved — a payment being carried, a document being read. Pending is a state, not a problem, and it has a record attached to it.
Accepted. Resolved in your favour and now permanent. The word that matters most attached to a document, because it is what opens the way back out for money.
Held. Yours but unavailable, which describes margin exactly. Nothing has left, nothing was charged, and nothing needs doing.
Settled. Finished changing. Only settled figures can be asked for, which is why the balance and the equity line so often disagree.

Questions about which figure to trust

Balance and equity disagree. Which one is my money?

Both, at different moments. Balance is settled; equity is what would be settled if every open position closed this second.

Why can I not withdraw the whole balance?

Because part of it may be held as used margin against open positions. A withdrawal draws on free margin.

Is margin a fee?

No. It is your own money set aside while a position is open, and it returns to free margin when the position closes.

Which figure moves when a position is merely open?

The floating result, and through it equity. Balance stays where it is until something closes.

What is the account's base currency for?

It is what every figure on the account is counted in, and it is fixed when the account is created.

Why did a small amount vanish overnight?

The swap on a position carried past the daily rollover, stated on the ticket before the trade was confirmed.

Does the spread show up as a separate line?

It is built into the two prices rather than charged separately, which is why a new position often starts slightly negative.

Which single word matters most in a message to support?

The reference. An amount and a timestamp help; a reference points at one movement and nothing else.

What is the difference between a profile and an account?

The profile is the person: one identity file, one login. An account is one numbered place inside it, with its own currency and its own platform password.

Is "position" the same as "order"?

An order is the instruction; the position is what exists afterwards, until it is closed. The history keeps a record of both ends.

All of these words appear on a practice account too.

Virtual money, the same labels, the same layout — a free hour spent matching word to figure. The button goes through a partner link to the official exness.com website.

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