How profit and loss is worked out
profit or loss = (closing price − opening price) × units, sign reversed for a sell
Units are lots times the contract size: 100,000 of the base currency per lot on a currency pair, 100 ounces on gold. A buy gains when the price rises; a sell gains when it falls.
Buy one lot of EUR/USD at 1.1236 and close at 1.1286: the price rose 50 pips, so the trade made 0.0050 × 100,000 = +US$500.00, which is +Ksh 64,950.00 in a KES account at the reference rate of 129.9KES to the US dollar (23 October 2026).
Sell the same lot at the same two prices and the result is the same amount the other way: -Ksh 64,950.00.
| Lot | Lots | Result (USD) | Result (KES) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 1 | +US$500.00 | +Ksh 64,950.00 |
| Mini | 0.1 | +US$50.00 | +Ksh 6,495.00 |
| Micro | 0.01 | +US$5.00 | +Ksh 649.50 |
From the quote currency to your account
The result is first worked out in the pair's quote currency, the second currency in its name: US dollars on EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD and gold, Japanese yen on USD/JPY. Then it is converted into your account currency.
Buy one lot of USD/JPY at 157.00 and close at 157.50, and the profit is +JP¥50,000. USD/JPY is itself the price of a dollar in yen, so the calculator converts at the closing price: JP¥50,000 ÷ 157.50 = US$317.46, then into KES at the reference rate: Ksh 41,238.10.
Where your account currency is not one of the pair's two currencies, the last step uses the reference rate as of 23 October 2026, so treat that figure as an estimate: your broker converts at its own rate.
What the result leaves out
The calculator prices the move and nothing else. A real trade also carries:
- the spread, the gap between the buying and the selling price, which a trade pays as soon as it opens;
- commission, on accounts that charge one per lot;
- swap, the overnight financing a broker charges or pays on a position held past its daily cut-off;
- slippage, when an order fills at a worse price than the one asked for;
- conversion, where the broker turns the result into your account currency at its own rate rather than a reference rate.
Those costs differ from broker to broker; compare them in our broker reviews.
Leverage magnifies losses
The calculator works on the full position, not on the money you put up for it. One lot of EUR/USD at 1.1236 is US$112,360 of currency. At 1:100 leverage a broker holds about Ksh 145,955.64 of your balance as margin against it, so the Ksh 64,950.00 swing above, from a 50-pip move, is 44% of that margin.
The same arithmetic runs the other way. Leverage magnifies losses as well as gains, and most retail accounts lose money trading these products. The position size calculator shows how size relates to a loss amount, and the margin calculator shows what a position ties up.
Where to take this next
A profit figure is only as good as the costs and the broker behind it.
- Pip calculator, for what one pip is worth at any size, in KES or your account currency.
- Position size calculator, which sizes a trade from the loss you accept.
- Margin calculator, for what a position ties up at a given leverage.
- Best forex brokers in Kenya, regulation first, cost second.
- Broker reviews, for each broker's costs and account terms.
- Kenya regulation, on who is licensed and for what.
This calculator is provided for education. Results are before the spread, commission, swap and slippage, and where they are converted into another currency they use reference rates as of 23 October 2026, not live rates, so every figure is an estimate and not a quote. Leverage magnifies losses as well as gains, most retail accounts lose money trading these products, and nothing here is investment advice.
