On this page (9 questions)
- ↑ Calculator
- 1What does a forex profit calculator do?
- 2How do you calculate profit on a forex trade?
- 3How do you calculate profit on JPY and cross pairs?
- 4How do you calculate profit on gold (XAUUSD)?
- 5How do you calculate profit on US30 and NAS100?
- 6How do you calculate profit on futures?
- 7Does the profit include commission, swap and spread?
- 8How do you see the result in R?
- 9Why might the result differ from my platform by a cent?
What does a forex profit calculator do?
It works out the profit or loss of a trade from its side, entry price, exit price and size, in your account currency. Use it before a trade to see what a target or stop is worth, or after one to check the P&L your platform shows.
It works the same way for every market. Only the unit changes: pips on a forex pair, dollars per ounce on gold, points on an index CFD and ticks on a futures contract.
How do you calculate profit on a forex trade?
Profit = price move × units, where the price move is exit − entry for a buy and entry − exit for a sell. Buying 0.50 lots of EUR/USD at 1.08500 and selling at 1.08800 makes 0.00300 × 50,000 = $150.00.
Worked example
- Units0.50 lots × 100,000= 50,000 EUR
- Price move1.08800 − 1.08500= 0.00300
- Pips0.00300 ÷ 0.0001= 30 pips
- P&L in USD0.00300 × 50,000= $150.00
A move against you gives a negative result in the same way. Buy 1.00 lot at 1.08500 and close at 1.08350, and the move is −0.00150, which is −15 pips and −$150.00.
How do you calculate profit on JPY and cross pairs?
The profit comes out in the pair’s quote currency, so it has to be converted to your account currency. When your account currency is the pair’s base, as with USD/JPY in a USD account, divide by the exit price; otherwise convert at the exchange rate when the trade closed.
Example: sell 1.00 lot of USD/JPY at 150.20 and buy it back at 149.90, in a USD account.
Worked example
- Price move150.20 − 149.90= 0.30
- Pips0.30 ÷ 0.01= 30 pips
- P&L in JPY0.30 × 100,000= ¥30,000
- Converted to USD¥30,000 ÷ 149.90 is about 200.1334 rounded to $200.13
For a cross pair such as EUR/GBP in a USD account, the profit comes out in pounds and the calculator asks for the GBP/USD rate when the trade closed. It never fetches a rate, so enter the one from your platform.
How do you calculate profit on gold (XAUUSD)?
Profit = price move in dollars × lots × ounces per lot. At a broker that uses 100 ounces per lot, buying 0.20 lots at 2,380.00 and selling at 2,385.00 makes $5.00 × 0.20 × 100 = $100.00.
Worked example
- Ounces0.20 lots × 100= 20 oz
- Price move2,385.00 − 2,380.00= $5.00
- P&L in USD20 oz × $5.00= $100.00
100 ounces per lot is common but not universal, so check the contract size in your platform’s symbol specification. If your account isn’t in US dollars, the calculator converts the result at the rate you enter.
How do you calculate profit on US30 and NAS100?
Profit = points moved × lots × value per point per lot, and the value per point depends on your broker’s contract. At $1 per point per lot, 60 points on 1.00 lot of US30 is $60.00; at $10 per point it’s $600.00.
That factor of ten between brokers is why the calculator asks for the value per point instead of assuming one. You’ll find it in your broker’s contract specification for the symbol.
How do you calculate profit on futures?
Futures profit = ticks moved × tick value × contracts, where ticks = price move ÷ tick size. On MNQ, with a 0.25-point tick worth $0.50, a 12.50-point gain on 2 contracts is 50 ticks × $0.50 × 2 = $50.00.
Worked example
- Ticks moved12.50 points ÷ 0.25= 50 ticks
- P&L per contract50 ticks × $0.50= $25.00
- P&L in USD$25.00 × 2 contracts= $50.00
The MNQ figures come from the exchange’s contract specification, as cited on the position size calculator. For any other contract, choose Custom and enter its tick size and tick value.
Does the profit include commission, swap and spread?
Commission and swap are included only if you enter them under Costs, and then you see both gross and net P&L. The spread is already in the result when you use the prices you actually got.
Enter costs as one positive amount in your account currency. A swap you were paid is a credit, so enter it as a negative number: with −1.20 in Costs, the EUR/USD example above nets $151.20.
Leverage doesn’t change the profit or loss. It changes how much margin the trade ties up, which this calculator doesn’t work out.
How do you see the result in R?
Add your stop, and the calculator divides the net P&L by what the trade would have lost at that stop. A trade that risked $100.00 and made $146.00 after costs is +1.46R, the same way the journal measures it.
Example: buy 0.50 lots of EUR/USD at 1.08500, stop 1.08300, exit 1.08800, costs $4.00.
Worked example
- Gross P&L0.00300 × 50,000= $150.00
- Net P&L$150.00 − $4.00= $146.00
- 1R, the loss at the stop before costs0.00200 × 50,000= $100.00
- In R$146.00 ÷ $100.00= +1.46R
A trade stopped out exactly at its stop, with the same $4.00 of costs, nets −$104.00, which is −1.04R: a little worse than −1R, because costs count. How R-multiples are measured explains the rest.
Why might the result differ from my platform by a cent?
Platforms round each trade to the cent, and they may convert currencies at a slightly different rate from the one you typed. This calculator rounds once, to the smallest unit of your account currency, the same way the Tradijourney journal rounds a trade.
Halves round away from zero, so a loss of exactly half a cent shows as −$0.01. The result includes the costs you enter and nothing else. This calculator does the arithmetic. It isn’t trading advice.