Tools

Futures PnL and ROE Calculator

Gross and net profit on a futures position with fees on both sides, the return on posted margin, and the exit price at which the trade breaks even.

Position notional
30,000.00 USD
Margin required
3,000.00 USD
Price move
3.33%
Gross PnL
1,000.00 USD
Fees (both sides)
−30.50 USD
Net PnL
969.50 USD
Return on margin
32.32%
Break-even exit price
60,060.03

Leverage does not change PnL in currency — it changes the margin you posted, and therefore the percentage return. Funding payments on a perpetual position held across settlement are not included here.

The arithmetic

gross PnL = (exit − entry) × quantity        (long)
          = (entry − exit) × quantity        (short)

margin    = entry × quantity ÷ leverage
fees      = (entry + exit) × quantity × fee rate
net PnL   = gross − fees
ROE       = net ÷ margin

Leverage is not in the profit line

This is the most consistently misunderstood thing about leveraged trading, and the calculator makes it visible: change the leverage field and watch net PnL stay exactly where it was.

Profit is a function of the price move and the quantity. Leverage determines how much margin you had to post to hold that quantity — so it changes the denominator of your return, not the numerator. Higher leverage does not make you more money on a trade. It makes you post less margin for the same money, and moves liquidation closer.

Which is why ROE looks impressive at high leverage while the dollar figure is unchanged, and why comparing strategies by ROE alone rewards taking liquidation risk.

Fees are charged on notional, not on profit

Both fees are computed on the full position value, not on what you made. A position that moves 0.1% in your favour still pays fees on 100% of its notional twice.

The break-even exit price is where those two fees have been covered and nothing more. On small intended moves it can be a meaningful fraction of the target — the trading fee calculator shows what share of a given win the round trip consumes.

What this leaves out

A use worth making of it

Run the numbers before the trade rather than after. Seeing the net figure, the fees and the break-even exit while the position is still hypothetical is a different experience from seeing them on a fill — and it is the same information an approval step should be putting in front of you, which is the argument in designing an approval workflow.

FAQ

Does leverage change my profit?

Not in currency terms. Profit is the price move multiplied by the quantity, and leverage does not appear in that. What leverage changes is the margin you posted to hold the position, which changes the percentage return on that margin — and how close liquidation sits. The same trade at 5× and 50× makes the same number of dollars.

What is ROE and why is it different from the price move?

Return on equity here is net profit divided by the margin posted, so it magnifies the price move by roughly the leverage. A 2% price move at 10× is about 20% on margin. It is the number exchanges display prominently, and it is worth remembering it measures return on a fraction of your account rather than on the account.

Why is the break-even exit price not the entry price?

Because fees are charged on both sides. You pay to open and pay to close, so the position has to move slightly in your favour before it is worth nothing rather than something less than nothing. The gap is small per trade and compounds across many — which is what the trading fee calculator is for.

Does this include funding?

No. Funding on a perpetual position is paid or received at each settlement interval and depends on how long you hold and what the rate does, neither of which is known from entry and exit alone. For a position held across settlements it can exceed the fees. The funding rate calculator covers it separately.

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