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Forex Profit & Loss Calculator

Convert a Forex Trade to a Cash Figure. Input the Entry Price, Exit Price, Lot Size and Direction (Long/Short) and it will give you back the Profit/Loss in the Quote Currency of the Pair as well as Your Account Currency, Pips Moved by the Trade, Return on the Margin that was Put Up for The Trade. It Handles Gold Indices and Crypto in the Same Way.

By , founder and editor Updated

Result (account)
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Result (quote)
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Move
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Return on margin
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How a forex trade turns into cash

A Forex profit is simply the Price Change x How Much You Controlled. For example, buying a Standard Lot (100,000 Units of Base Currency) and moving 50 pips will be approximately +$500 if you moved in your favor or -$500 if you moved against. Lot Size has an effect as well. It is linear. A Mini Lot (.1) is 1/10th, a Micro Lot (0.01) is 1/100th, and so forth for Cent Accounts. The one thing to note is that the Profit Land in Currency will always be Quote Currency, so if you are trading EUR/USD it is going to pay out in Dollars and USD/JPY will be paying out in Yen; the Calculator then takes this and converts into whatever currency you funded the Account with.

The formula

long: (exit − entry) × contract size × lots
short: (entry − exit) × contract size × lots
result (account) = result (quote) × rate(quote → account)

Raw Profit is equal to Price Change x Size Traded. If we buy one Lot of EUR/USD (100,000 Euros) @ 1.0900 and Sell at 1.0950 for that we have made ((1.0950 – 1.0900)) * 100,000 = $500 Dollars as Quote Currency. That .0050 move is fifty pips or fifty pips * $10 per Pip. Those two views are in agreement due to PIP Value being Contract Size scaled by one pip. Then we convert our Account Currency using Daily ECB Rates.

The result-on-margin figure puts the outcome in perspective. That same $500 on a position that needed roughly $3,633 of margin at 1:30 is a +13.8% return on the capital committed, from a price move of under half a percent. Leverage is what turns a small move into a large percentage swing on your money, in both directions, which is exactly why sizing and stops matter more than being right.

The same maths on gold, indices and crypto

An asset doesn't matter to the engine. For example, gold (XAU/USD) will be traded as a dollar amount per ounce. A $1.00 movement of XAU/USD on a 100oz contract will result in a $100 profit/loss. Indices such as S&P 500 (US500) and Nasdaq (NAS100) have a settlement value based upon index points. Crypto currencies (such as Bitcoin) payout by multiplying the amount that was contracted by the dollar value of the price move. The instrument selected along with the contract size determines what is already populated for the "pip" definition. Therefore, a 500 point run of an index or a $2000.00 movement of Bitcoin is presented directly into your account currency and you do not need to perform unit conversions mentally. Adjust the contract size if it differs from your brokerage firm's.

You do not need Excel or a broker's calculator

You can build this into an Excel sheet, and most brokers and sites (Myfxbook, BabyPips, the broker's own panel) offer a version, all of which work. What varies is whether they convert cleanly into your account currency and whether they put the return on margin next to the cash, which is the figure that tells you how big the bet really was. This runs in your browser, keeps a shareable link to a given trade, and shows the pip move, the quote-currency result, the account-currency result and the return on margin together, so you are not stitching four numbers out of three tabs.

Where it fits

Use this information after the fact (to close out) a closed position; or use prior to trading to determine the dollar value of a potential target and stop. Use along with an pip value calculator to compare the per pip figure; use along with an margin calculator to compare the dollars tied up in a position; and use along with an risk/reward calculator to compare your target vs. your stop before you enter a position. To keep track of multiple closed positions and how well they performed (profit/loss ratio) over time, log them using the trading journal.

Frequently asked questions

Does this include spread, commission or swap?
No, it is only the gross price movement. Your true net would be a tad worse than that with the cost to cross in and out of the trade, any brokerage fees and/or if you kept the position open overnight, the financing cost/swap. Although these costs can be very low when trading a major currency pair for one day; they are not negligible for less liquid instruments or positions that remain open over multiple days. Treat this as your pure profit from the price movement and deduct your other costs.
How do I model a short?
Set direction to Sell. For a short, profit comes when the exit price is below the entry, so the calculator flips the sign: result = (entry - exit) × contract size × lots. Everything else, pip move, account-currency conversion, works the same.
Why is my result in a different currency?
The raw profit falls in the pair's quote currency (yen for USD/JPY, dollars for EUR/USD). We convert it to your account currency using daily ECB reference rates so it reads in the units you fund the account in. When quote and account currency match, the two figures are identical.
What is return on margin?
The percentage of the margin that represents the trade's profit in terms of percent increase or decrease, is shown when you input your leverage. That is why leverages are so dramatic; a one percent (1%) price movement can create a thirty percent (30%) swing on a 1:30 margin for example. It works for either direction of the trade, and this is a genuine way to determine what size of wager was placed against the amount of capital utilized.
How do I calculate forex profit by hand?
Profit = (exit − entry) × contract size × lots for a long, or (entry − exit) × contract size × lots for a short, in the pair's quote currency; then convert to your account currency at the current rate. One lot of EUR/USD from 1.0900 to 1.0950 is 0.0050 × 100,000 = $500, or equally 50 pips × $10 a pip. Enter the trade above and the calculator handles the sign, the pip count and the conversion for you.
Is this a profit factor calculator?
No. The data shown are for each trade separately as to profits/losses. A profit factor is an account level (strategy) metric. It calculates the gross profit relative to gross losses on all of a trader's trades. If you want to see how your record performs this way, go to your trading journal and enter each of your trades. Your trading journal will report both a profit factor and an expectancy with the Win Rate.
Does it work with my broker and account size?
Yes. The maths is broker-agnostic; only the contract size and your account currency change, both of which you set here. Whether you run a standard, mini, micro or cent account, scale the lot size and the result scales with it. If your broker uses a non-standard contract size, edit the pre-filled value to match.

Method and limitations

Gross price-move result only, computed in your browser; account-currency conversion uses daily ECB reference rates baked into the site. It excludes spread, commission and swap, subtract your own costs for the net. Contract sizes are editable defaults; your broker's specification is the authority. Nothing is fetched during your visit and nothing you type leaves your browser. This is an information tool, not trading advice.

Data sources

This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to us or stored.

For general information and education only. This is not financial advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. This tool is provided as is, with no warranty of accuracy: like any software it can contain errors, so always verify figures against your broker or the original source before acting on them. Trading and investing carry risk, including the risk of losing more than your initial outlay.

Spotted an error? Email contact@economicium.com and it will be corrected. Maintained by Joey van Diest.