Forex Profit/Loss Calculator
Calculate profit or loss on a forex trade including spread and commission.
Please note: Forex trading carries a high risk of loss, amplified by leverage. Exchange rates must be entered manually — no live market data is used.
What the Forex Profit/Loss Calculator does
Forex profit is the pip movement in your favour multiplied by pip value, less the spread you paid on entry and any commission. The spread means every trade begins slightly negative.
Formula
Pips = (Exit − Entry) ÷ Pip size, reversed for a shortPip value = Pip size × Units × Conversion rateNet P&L = Pips × Pip value − Spread cost − Commission
Inputs explained
| Input | Unit | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direction | one of 2 options | Yes | — |
| Entry price | number | Yes | Accepts more than 0. |
| Exit price | number | Yes | Accepts more than 0. |
| Trade size (lots) | number | Yes | Accepts more than 0. |
| Lot type | one of 4 options | Yes | — |
| Pip size | one of 3 options | Yes | — |
| Spread | pips | Optional | Accepts 0 or more. |
| Commission (round turn) | selected currency | Optional | Accepts 0 or more. |
| Quote → account currency rate | number | Yes | Accepts more than 0. |
| Currency | one of 10 options | Optional | — |
How to use it
- Choose Direction and Lot type.
- Enter Entry price, Exit price, Trade size (lots) and Quote → account currency rate.
- Optionally add Spread and Commission (round turn).
- Select Calculate.
Worked example
Buy 0.5 lots of GBP/USD at 1.2650, exit at 1.2718, 1.2-pip spread, $7 commission.
- Direction
- Buy
- Entry
- 1.2650
- Exit
- 1.2718
- Lots
- 0.5
- Spread
- 1.2
- Commission
- 7
68 pips × $5 = $340 gross, less $6 spread and $7 commission = $327 net.
Reading the result
- "Break-even move" shows how many pips must go your way before costs are covered — useful for judging whether a target is realistic relative to spread and commission, especially on tight, short-term setups.
- The gap between "Pips" and "Gross P&L" is exactly the pip value — comparing pip counts across different lot sizes without converting to dollars can make a smaller, correctly-sized trade look worse in pip terms while being fine in dollar terms.
Assumptions and limitations
- Spread is entered as a single static pip figure for the whole trade — real spreads vary through the session and widen around news or rollover, so the actual cost paid can differ from what is entered.
- Commission is a flat round-turn dollar figure that does not scale automatically with lot size — it needs updating manually for a different position size.
Common mistakes
- Comparing "gross P&L" between trades instead of "net" — spread and commission can be a meaningful share of a short-term trade's result, so ranking by gross overstates trades with more churn.
- Entering the wrong direction (buy/sell) for how pips are counted — the sign convention flips between long and short, and getting it backwards can show a profitable trade as a loss or the reverse.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my broker show a different result?
Usually swap charges, a variable spread at the moment of execution, or slippage on the fill. Enter your actual fill prices for an exact match.