Forex Position Size Calculator

Convert an account risk budget and stop-loss distance into forex lots and units. Check JPY pips and account-currency conversion before entering a volume in MT4 or MT5.

Account currency

Balance / equity

Risk budget (%)

Currency pair

Entry-to-stop distance (pips)

One pip = 0.0001 USD per EUR. Enter pips, not fractional points.

Broker lot step

Broker minimum lot

Both fields use standard lots. Defaults of 0.01 are assumptions; check your broker specification.

Standard lots after rounding down

0.5

Unrounded size: 0.5 lots

Mini-lot equivalent: 5
Micro-lot equivalent: 50
Base units (EUR): 50,000
Pip value per standard lot: USD 10
Risk budget: USD 100
Modeled stop loss after rounding: USD 100

The mini and micro numbers describe the same position. For a conventional MT4 forex contract, the volume field takes the standard-lot amount.

Estimate before costs

Assumes 100,000 base units per standard lot and a constant conversion rate. Spread, commission, financing, gaps, and slippage can change the realized loss. Check available margin and maximum volume separately. This tool does not place orders.

The forex position size formula

Start with the amount you are willing to lose on the modeled price move. The conversion rate must turn the pair's quote currency into the currency of that budget.

Risk budget = account amount × risk % / 100

Pip value per standard lot = 100,000 × pip size / quote units per account unit

Standard lots = risk budget / (stop pips × pip value)

Allowed lots = floor(standard lots / lot step) × lot step

If the quote currency matches your account, the conversion rate is 1. If it differs, supply the indicated rate. When the rounded result is below the broker minimum, the calculator returns zero. It never increases volume to meet that minimum.

Standard, mini, and micro lots

A standard forex lot contains 100,000 base units, a mini lot 10,000, and a micro lot 1,000. For EUR/USD in a USD account, those sizes have pip values of USD 10, USD 1, and USD 0.10. These values do not apply unchanged to every currency pair or account currency.

For a JPY quote pair, one pip is 0.01. A standard lot therefore moves by JPY 1,000 per pip before account conversion. A broker's fractional point may be one tenth of a pip. See OANDA's lot-size explanation and pip and pipette definitions.

Worked examples you can reproduce

All prices and conversion rates below are illustrative assumptions, not live quotes. Each account has 10,000 units of its account currency, a 1% risk budget, and a 20-pip stop. Lot step and minimum are both 0.01.

Pair / account	Conversion input	Pip value / standard lot	Standard lots
EUR/USD / USD	1 (same currency)	USD 10	0.50
USD/JPY / USD	150 JPY per USD	USD 6.6667	0.75
EUR/JPY / USD	150 JPY per USD	USD 6.6667	0.75
EUR/USD / EUR	1.10 USD per EUR	EUR 9.0909	0.55
EUR/GBP / USD	0.80 GBP per USD	USD 12.50	0.40

For USD/JPY, the check is 100 / (20 × (1,000 / 150)) = 0.75 standard lots, or 75,000 USD base units. EUR/JPY uses the same JPY-to-USD conversion for pip value, but its base units are EUR. Using the EUR/JPY price as the conversion rate would give the wrong USD result.

For a rounding example, a USD 100 budget and a 27-pip EUR/USD stop give 100 / (27 × 10) = 0.370370... lots. A 0.01 step reduces this to 0.37 lots with USD 99.90 modeled loss. If the budget were USD 1, a 20-pip stop permits only 0.005 lots, below the assumed 0.01 minimum; the result is zero.

Recalculate a TradingView chart stop

Read the entry and stop prices from the chart or Long/Short Position drawing. Use the same symbol and price scale as the intended broker order.
Calculate absolute entry minus stop, then divide by pip size. EUR/USD at 1.08500 with a stop at 1.08300 is 0.00200 / 0.0001 = 20 pips. USD/JPY at 150.250 with a stop at 150.050 is 0.200 / 0.01 = 20 pips.
Enter that pip distance and the account risk budget above. Check the displayed units against the chart's quantity convention before copying anything to an order ticket.

TradingView documents its drawing-tool quantity calculation using stop distance, point value, lot size, and leverage settings. A chart quantity, Pine strategy quantity, and MT4 standard-lot volume are not interchangeable without checking the contract. If a Pine exit parameter expects ticks, convert the price distance with the symbol's tick size rather than inserting pips unchanged.

When the estimate needs another check

Broker symbols can have different contract sizes, volume steps, minimums, or maximums. This calculator assumes conventional forex lots and does not cover gold, indices, or other CFD contracts.
Leverage affects required margin and whether the order is affordable. It does not reduce the price loss of a fixed position. Margin rules and open-position exposure still apply.
The conversion rate can change between sizing and exit. An exact base-currency account loss can require the rate at the stop rather than the current rate; this tool holds your input constant.
A stop does not guarantee a fill at the stop price. Include spread through realistic execution prices, allow for other costs, and review correlated exposure across open trades.

The MQL4 symbol-property reference distinguishes contract size, tick value in deposit currency, tick size, and volume limits. Check those properties in your broker environment instead of assuming a chart's last decimal is a pip.

Check the funding requirement separately with the forex margin calculator. Review position sizing assumptions in the TradingView backtesting guides.

Frequently asked questions

How many units are in standard, mini, and micro lots?

For the conventional forex contract used here, one standard lot is 100,000 base-currency units, one mini lot is 10,000, and one micro lot is 1,000. A position of 0.50 standard lots equals 5 mini lots or 50 micro lots. These are equivalent descriptions of one position, not three separate orders.

Is a pip the same as an MT4 point or TradingView tick?

Not always. This calculator uses 0.0001 per pip for the listed non-JPY quote pairs and 0.01 for JPY quote pairs. On a five-decimal non-JPY quote or three-decimal JPY quote, ten minimum price increments usually make one pip. Check the symbol specification before converting a chart distance.

Which exchange rate do I enter for a cross pair?

Enter quote-currency units per one unit of account currency. For EUR/JPY in a USD account, enter JPY per USD, such as an assumed 150. For EUR/GBP in a USD account, enter GBP per USD; if GBP/USD is 1.25, the reciprocal is 0.80. The traded pair price alone does not supply every conversion.

Does this calculator install an MT4 plugin or place trades?

No. It is a browser calculator. Copy the standard-lot amount only after checking your broker contract size, permitted volume, available margin, and order details. It does not connect to MT4, MT5, or a brokerage account.

Can the actual loss exceed the displayed risk?

Yes. The calculation models only the entry-to-stop price distance at the supplied conversion rate. Commission, financing, currency conversion changes, gaps, and slippage can increase losses. Use execution-side prices to account for spread and reserve a separate allowance for costs. A stop order does not guarantee its fill price.

Educational estimates only, not investment advice. Rates are user supplied; reference documentation checked October 17, 2026.

Check the sizing rule in your strategy

Use Pine Script AI Coding Agent to turn your stated sizing and exit rules into code for review. Compare the strategy's quantity units with this calculation, then record the planned risk and actual result in Trading Journal.

Review the Pine Script workflow Explore Trading Journal

Review generated code and broker requirements before use. This workflow does not install an MT4 plugin or submit orders.