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Forex Profit / Loss Calculator — Entry to Exit P&L
How trade profit and loss is calculated
Long trade: P/L = ((Exit − Entry) ÷ Pip Size) × Pip Value per Lot × Lot Size
Short trade: P/L = ((Entry − Exit) ÷ Pip Size) × Pip Value per Lot × Lot Size
Where:
Pip Size = 0.0001 (FX majors), 0.01 (JPY, gold), 0.001 (silver)
Pip Value per Lot = Pip Size × Contract Size × FX-to-account rate
(= $10 for FX majors, $1 for gold)
Lot Size = 1.0 standard, 0.1 mini, 0.01 micro
Result is gross P/L; subtract commissions and swap to get net.The price move from entry to exit, divided by the pip size, gives the move in pips. Multiplied by the per-lot pip value (which already accounts for the symbol's contract size and any FX conversion) and the lot size, you get the trade's P/L in account currency. For shorts, the sign convention flips — the short profits when price falls, so we compute (entry − exit) rather than (exit − entry). Commissions and overnight swap costs are not included in this gross figure; subtract them manually for net P/L. On an ECN account, commission is typically $3-7 per round-turn lot, so deduct ~$0.30-0.70 per round-turn for a 0.10 lot trade.
Worked example
Inputs
- Direction: Buy (long)
- Currency pair: EUR/USD
- Entry price: 1.0850
- Exit price: 1.0900
- Lot size: 0.10
Calculation
- Compute price move: 1.0900 − 1.0850 = 0.0050.
- Convert to pips: 0.0050 ÷ 0.0001 = 50 pips.
- Identify pip value per 1.0 lot of EURUSD on USD account: $10/pip.
- Scale to actual lot size: $10 × 0.10 = $1.00 per pip.
- Compute gross P/L: 50 pips × $1.00 = $50.00 profit.
- Subtract commission (optional): $50.00 − $0.70 = $49.30 net profit.
Result: $50.00 gross profit · $49.30 net after typical ECN commission
Edge cases & special pairs
- JPY pair tradesUSDJPY pip = 0.01. A buy at 150.00 closed at 151.00 = 100 pips. Pip value in USD ≈ $6.67/lot at JPY 150. For 0.10 lot: 100 × $0.667 = $66.70 profit. Note the higher absolute pip count vs USD pairs — JPY moves of 100+ pips are common single-session moves.
- XAUUSD (Gold) tradesPip = 0.01 ($0.01 in price terms). Contract = 100 oz. Pip value = $1/lot. A buy at 2,400.00 closed at 2,420.00 = 2,000 pips ($20 price move). For 0.10 lot: 2,000 × $0.10 = $200 profit. Gold's $20 price moves are common in a day — translates to thousands of 'pips'.
- Stop hit on a long positionBuy entry 1.0850, stop loss 1.0820 = 30 pips below entry. If stop fills exactly: 30 × $1.00 × 0.10 lot = $3.00 loss. Slippage past the stop (common during news) widens this — backtest assumes perfect fills, live execution rarely delivers them.
- Take profit hit on a short positionSell entry 1.0850, take profit 1.0800 = 50 pips below entry. P/L = (1.0850 − 1.0800) ÷ 0.0001 × $1.00 × 0.10 = $5.00 profit. The (entry − exit) sign convention for shorts gives the right answer.
- Crypto trade (BTCUSD)Broker-dependent. With $1 pip on 1.0 lot at IC Markets: buy BTC at $65,000, sell at $66,000 = 1,000 pips × $1 = $1,000 profit per lot. Note the very large per-trade P/L magnitude vs FX — crypto position sizes should be much smaller in lots to maintain comparable account risk.
- Partial close P/LIf you close 0.05 of a 0.10 lot position at one price and the remaining 0.05 at another, compute each leg separately and sum. MT5 reports them as two separate deal records in the trade history; the position-level summary aggregates correctly.
- Currency conversion at exitFor trades whose quote currency differs from account currency, the P/L conversion uses the FX rate at trade EXIT time, not entry time. The 'live conversion' is what MT5 reports. For multi-day holds on JPY pairs, FX rate drift can cause 2-5% divergence between expected and realised P/L in account currency.
When to use this calculator
Use this calculator pre-trade to confirm the expected P/L matches your risk/reward target, and post-trade to verify the broker's quoted P/L matches your independent calculation. Verification is important — brokers occasionally make rounding errors at the trade-history level (different to what they showed in real-time during the position). For systematic strategies, the calculator also validates EA-computed P/L: if your EA's trade log shows different numbers than this calculator for the same entry/exit/lot, the EA may have a bug in its accounting code. Most discrepancies trace to: (1) the EA forgetting to subtract commission, (2) the EA using stale pip-value calculation, (3) the EA confusing pip and point conventions on 5-decimal pricing.
Related guide: How to read trading statistics →
Frequently asked questions
Does this calculator include commission?
For systematic analysis, separate gross and net P/L. Gross P/L tells you about the strategy's signal quality (how well it picks direction and timing). Net P/L tells you about the strategy's actual profitability after broker costs. A strategy with PF 1.5 gross might drop to PF 1.1 net on a high-commission broker — still profitable but with much less margin for error. Use both numbers.
What's the P/L when stop loss vs take profit hits?
Backtest reports show the average Win/Loss size ratio — this is essentially the realised R:R across all trades. Combined with win rate, it determines profitability: 30% win rate × 3:1 R:R = roughly breakeven (0.3 × 3 = 0.9 vs 0.7 × 1 = 0.7 → marginal positive). 50% win rate × 1:1 R:R = exactly breakeven (assuming zero costs). Plan trades with the R:R math in mind.
Why does my actual P/L differ from this calculator's prediction?
Slippage affects entry and exit independently. For market orders, expect 0.1-0.5 pips slippage on each side under normal conditions — so a 50-pip 'winner' might actually fill 49 pips. For stop-loss orders, slippage is asymmetric (always against you) and can be 1-5 pips on majors during news. For limit orders, slippage is usually zero but you risk no-fill if price doesn't reach your limit. Account for ~1 pip total slippage per round-turn in your modelling.
Is overnight swap included in this P/L?
Swap is the overnight financing cost (or credit) for holding a position past 5pm New York time. For carry-trade positive-swap pairs (e.g. long AUDJPY pre-2024), you earn swap. For typical retail directional pairs in 2026 (USDJPY, EURUSD long), swap is usually negative. Multi-day swing trades can accumulate $5-50 per lot per night in swap costs — meaningfully changes net P/L.
My EA reports different P/L than this calculator. Which is right?
The broker's trade history (MT5 → Account History tab) is the legally authoritative P/L. The calculator and the EA's internal accounting are both models that should match the broker. When they diverge, investigate the EA's code (or contact the vendor with a specific trade ticket showing the discrepancy). Don't trust EA self-reported P/L for production accounting — always reconcile against broker statements monthly.