Free tool
Profit and loss calculator
Free forex profit and loss calculator: enter the pair, direction, size and prices to see the pips and money made or lost in your account currency.
Quick answer: profit or loss = price change × units, in the quote currency, converted into your account currency at the close. Selling 0.30 lots of USD/JPY at 150.00 and closing at 149.25 gains 75 pips: 0.75 × 30,000 = ¥22,500, which is $150.75 at 149.25.
Profit or loss
- Pips
- In the quote currency
- Pip value at this size
Illustrative prices. Type your platform's live price. Spread, commission and swap are not included.
How it's calculated
The money you make or lose comes out in the quote currency first. A buy gains when the price rises; a sell gains when it falls. The calculator then counts the move in pips and converts the money into your account currency.
P/L = (close − open) × lots × contract size, × −1 for a sell, converted at the close price
Worked example
You buy 0.5 lots of EUR/USD at 1.0850 and close at 1.0820. The price fell 0.0030, or 30 pips. The result is −0.0030 × 50,000 = −$150. EUR/USD is quoted in dollars, so on a dollar account there is nothing to convert.
Now you sell 0.30 lots of USD/JPY at 150.00 and close at 149.25. The price fell 0.75, which is 75 pips in your favour. In yen that is 0.75 × 30,000 = ¥22,500. Converted at the close price, ¥22,500 ÷ 149.25 = $150.75.
Common mistakes
- Getting the sign wrong on a sell. A short trade gains when the price falls. Check the direction before you read the result.
- Forgetting costs. The spread, any commission and the overnight swap come off the result. On short trades they can be a large part of it.
- Counting points as pips. A move from 1.08500 to 1.08200 is 300 points on most platforms, but 30 pips.
Planning a trade rather than reviewing one? Check the reward against the risk with the risk-reward calculator and size it with the position size calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out profit on a sell trade?
A sell (short) trade gains when the price falls. Take the open price minus the close price, multiply by the units, and convert. Selling 0.5 lots of EUR/USD at 1.0850 and closing at 1.0800 is (1.0850 − 1.0800) × 50,000 = $250, a 50-pip gain.
Why is the conversion done at the close price?
The profit or loss is made in the quote currency and only turned into your account currency when the trade closes, at the rate at that moment. On USD/JPY with a dollar account, that rate is the close price itself, so the calculator divides the yen result by it.
Does the result include the spread, commission and swap?
No. It shows the result between the two prices you type. If you use the prices your platform shows for the open and the close, the spread is already in them. Commission and overnight swap are charged separately, so take them off the result.
How many pips is a $1 move in gold?
This calculator treats $0.01 as one pip on XAU/USD, so a $1 move is 100 pips. With one lot of 100 ounces, that $1 move is worth $100. Platforms label gold moves differently, so check your contract specification.