Calculate profit or loss on a forex trade in account currency

What this tool calculates

The forex profit calculator converts a trade's price movement into profit or loss in your account currency. You enter where you got in, where you got out, how big the position was, and the direction. The tool returns the cash P&L, the pips captured, and optionally the return on margin if you supply the margin used. It is what you would build in a spreadsheet to track trade performance — done correctly the first time with the right formulas.

How the math works

For a long position: profit = (exit − entry) × lot_size. For a short: profit = (entry − exit) × lot_size. If the quote currency is different from your account currency, divide the result by the current exchange rate to that account currency. Pips captured is (exit − entry) × (1 / pip_size) for long, or (entry − exit) × (1 / pip_size) for short. Return on margin is profit ÷ margin used × 100%.

Why lot size changes everything

The same 50-pip move is a $500 trade on a standard lot (100,000 units) and a $5 trade on a micro lot (1,000 units). Traders who size positions by feel rather than by pip-value tend to over-trade on strong convictions and under-trade on weak ones — the exact opposite of what consistent risk management requires. The pip calculator and profit calculator together let you size before entry (what lot size fits my cash risk) and review after exit (what did the trade actually produce).

Return on margin vs return on capital

Forex uses leverage, so a small account can control a large position. A trader with $10,000 and 30:1 leverage can control $300,000 of notional value. A 50-pip winner on a standard lot ($500) is a 5% return on the full $10,000 account, but a 167% return on the $300 margin the position required. Both numbers are true; they measure different things. Return on margin flatters the trade's efficiency; return on capital tells you what the account actually did. For trade-by-trade review, return on margin is useful. For overall strategy assessment, return on capital is what matters.

What this calculator does not include

Three costs that the tool does not model: spread (paid as soon as you enter), commissions (depends on broker and volume), and overnight swaps (the interest rate differential between the two currencies in the pair, charged or credited each night a position is held). For short-term trades, spread dominates — on a 20-pip target with a 2-pip spread, 10% of the profit goes to the broker before the trade starts. For long-term carry trades, swap is the dominant cost or income. Layer these onto the gross P&L the tool reports to get net realised profit.