InsomniCapitalExplore free tools
Menu

The trading toolkit

Forex & Gold Margin Calculator

Estimate a flat-rate margin requirement, free margin and margin level from explicit contract units.

Saved resources

Estimate collateral under stated assumptions.

Enter actual contract units, a manual price and the margin rule you want to model. No live quotes or broker account data are fetched.

Optional: save supported currency-pair, currency or time-zone selections. Amounts, prices and conversion rates are not saved.

Margin assumptions
For forex, base-currency units; for gold, troy ounces. Multiply lots by the actual contract size first.
A manual scenario price, not a current quote.
Your provider’s stated flat rate, if applicable. Five percent is an example, not a universal rule.
Account-currency units per one quote-currency unit. Same currency is fixed at one; otherwise enter the correct manual conversion.
Equity, including open profit/loss, in the stated account currency.
Margin already used by other exposure. No hedge offset or tier adjustment is assumed.

Trace the units through the calculation.

Quote-currency notional = underlying quantity × quoted price. Account-currency notional = quote notional × account-currency units per quote unit. Estimated required margin = account notional × margin percentage ÷ 100. Total modelled used margin adds the existing margin you entered. Free margin is equity minus that total; margin level is equity ÷ total used margin × 100.

10,000 EUR × 1.10 USD/EUR = USD 11,000 notional. At a hypothetical flat 5% requirement and a USD account, new margin is USD 550. With USD 10,000 equity and no existing margin, modelled free margin is USD 9,450.

For a GBP account, an input of 0.80 GBP per USD converts that USD 11,000 exposure into GBP 8,800. Five percent is GBP 440. Reversing the conversion would give the wrong result.

Margin is separate from stop risk.

A different margin percentage changes collateral for a fixed position. It does not change that position’s cash movement per pip or guarantee its eventual exit loss. This tool does not assess eligibility, broker-specific closeout rules, tiered exposure, hedging offsets, portfolio margin or changes in exchange rates.

Read margin versus leverage and margin calls and stop-outs, then use the position-size calculator to model a separate cash-risk budget.

Sources: OANDA’s margin calculations and IG’s margin and leverage explanation. Actual account terms take precedence over this simplified estimate.

Prepared by InsomniCapital. Checked 2 October 2026. Educational calculations and record keeping, not personalised investment advice or evidence of future returns. Risk disclosure.