PnL Calculator: Trading Price Move Value

PnL means profit and loss. For a long trade, buying first, gross PnL is exit price minus entry price, multiplied by quantity. This page’s Total Value card removes the minus sign and excludes charges, so a losing move can look positive. Equal prices or small rounded amounts can show zero. The Lot Size and For5 Lots cards use a fixed preset you cannot change here. Calculate the signed result and costs separately before recording your trade.

Profit and loss needs a direction

PnL means profit and loss. For a simple long trade, gross profit or loss is exit price minus entry price, multiplied by the traded quantity. Long means buying first. For a short trade, selling first, the subtraction reverses. Gross means before costs; net means after the relevant costs.

This page has no Long/Short selector. Trade Type selects a market segment, not a reliable direction control. In particular, choosing Options Sell does not turn the visible value into the profit from a short option position. The underlying calculation still uses buy-then-sell direction, and the Total Value card removes the sign entirely.

The distinction matters even when the multiplication is correct. A positive currency amount can describe the size of a losing move. Record the trade direction alongside the prices, rather than using the displayed Total Value to decide whether the trade won.

Enter prices and total units consistently

For a cash-share trade, Quantity is the number of shares. For an exchange-traded derivative, confirm how the contract is quoted and convert the contract count into compatible total units before using a simple price-distance calculation. This form does not offer an instrument-specific contract selector.

For an option closed before expiry, use the option premiums actually paid and received, rather than the underlying stock or index levels. An underlying move and an option-premium move are different amounts. For another premium scenario, see the options profit calculator and check its own assumptions.

Use positive, valid inputs. Blank or zero prices can silently become stored prices, while a zero quantity can become a nonzero quantity. That makes this form unsuitable for a worthless-option exit or an empty position without correction. Decimal quantities are also rounded to whole units.

What the four result cards actually display

• Total Value is the absolute entry-to-exit difference multiplied by Quantity. It is rounded to whole rupees and loses the profit/loss sign.
• Per Point is the entered total quantity expressed as cash sensitivity to a whole price-unit change. It is not a percentage return.
• Lot Size shows a hidden preset, not a quantity verified for the instrument you entered.
• For5 Lots applies the move magnitude to that preset multiplied by five. It does not scale from your entered Quantity.

Changing Trade Type does not make these four cards a result after costs. No visible cards show gross profit, individual charges or net profit. Despite the tool description about including all costs, the displayed amounts do not deduct them.

Worked example: a rise and a fall look alike

In this made-up cash-share example, enter Buy/Entry Price ₹100, Sell/Exit Price ₹110, Quantity 10 shares and Equity Intraday. No actual stock or market quote is represented.

• Price move: 110 − 100 = ₹10 per share.
• Total Value: 10 × 10 = ₹100. For this long example, the gross gain also happens to be ₹100.
• Per Point: ₹10 for the entered quantity.
• Lot Size displays the code’s fixed preset of 65. This is not a claim about a current contract.
• For5 Lots: 10 × 65 × 5 = ₹3,250. That amount does not describe the entered cash-share position.

Now change only the illustrative exit to ₹90. The long trade’s signed gross result is (90 − 100) × 10 = −₹100. Yet Total Value still shows ₹100, because the formula uses the move’s absolute size. The five-lot comparison also stays ₹3,250. Neither positive display establishes a profit.

At an illustrative exit equal to the ₹100 entry, gross price-movement profit is ₹0. Charges can still create a net loss. Total Value showing no price movement therefore does not establish that the trade broke even after costs.

Keep net cash results separate from move magnitude

To calculate a completed trade’s net result, begin with the signed gross outcome and subtract the actual applicable costs. Check the broker’s contract note and, where needed, the funds or demat statement for other debits. Avoid deducting the same charge twice if your starting report is already net of it.

A broker tariff may distinguish brokerage, transaction charges, securities transaction tax, goods and services tax, stamp duty and depository charges. Zerodha’s published schedule illustrates those different categories. Its tariff is specific to that broker and is not proof of another broker’s bill. This tool has no broker selector or field for your actual invoice.

Income tax is a separate question from the displayed trade value. This form does not review your tax circumstances. Use the brokerage and charges explanation for cost categories, and verify actual debits independently.

A contract multiplier must match its price quote

CME’s futures education explains that profit and loss depends on contract size, tick size and the contract’s quoted prices. A tick is the smallest permitted price step. Its cash value is not automatically the same as the value of a whole point.

That is why this page’s hidden Lot Size card cannot identify the correct contract for you. Selecting Futures does not tell the form which exchange contract you traded. Likewise, a commodity quoted per weight unit or a foreign-exchange pair may need a different multiplier or currency conversion. Do not infer those calculations from the generic rupee labels.

For a separate cash-share calculation, see the stock profit calculator. Dedicated forex profit calculations use their own units; check the pair and account currency before interpreting an amount.

Closed trades, open estimates and partial exits

An actual completed exit gives a realised price-movement result. Using a current quote instead gives an estimate for an open position, not a cash amount already received. This page cannot establish the price at which an exit would execute.

For partial exits, match each closed quantity with its relevant entry and exit. Allocate shared costs consistently and avoid treating the full original quantity as closed after selling only part. The current form has a single entry, exit and quantity, so it does not reconstruct a full trading history.

Trading PnL questions

Sources

• CME Group: contract size and price-movement P&L, checked 16 Oct 2026.
• Zerodha: brokerage and charge categories, checked 16 Oct 2026.