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A Pip Value Converter That Keeps Itself Current

Goal: a table that gives the dollar value of one pip on a standard lot for the pairs you trade, from live exchange rates you type in.

Inputs. Put USD/JPY, USD/CHF, USD/CAD, and GBP/USD in a block of cells, say B2 to B5, updated each morning or linked to a data feed.

Formulas by quote currency. For pairs quoted in dollars, the pip value is 10 dollars. For yen pairs, divide 1,000 yen by USD/JPY. For pairs quoted in francs, divide 10 francs by USD/CHF. For Canadian-dollar-quoted pairs, divide 10 by USD/CAD. For pound-quoted pairs, multiply 10 by GBP/USD.

Cells, in column C:

EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD: =10

USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY: =1000/B2

USD/CHF, EUR/CHF: =10/B3

USD/CAD: =10/B4

EUR/GBP: =10*B5

Test with numbers. USD/JPY 150 gives 6.67. USD/CHF 0.90 gives 11.11. USD/CAD 1.35 gives 7.41. GBP/USD 1.25 gives 12.50 for EUR/GBP.

Link column C to the position size sheet from the first spreadsheet drill, using a lookup so that choosing a pair fills the pip value automatically:

=VLOOKUP(pair,table,3,FALSE)

Add a timestamp cell showing when the rates were last updated, and a warning when it is more than a day old.

For a euro account, convert dollars to euros by dividing by EUR/USD, and adapt the formulas.

Exercise: build the table for your watchlist, and check two values against your platform's own calculator.

Handy sheet. One correction people often need for the yen line: 1,000 yen divided by USDJPY gives the dollar value per pip for a standard lot, which is right, but for JPY crosses like EURJPY the pip is also 0.01, so the same formula applies. For gold and indices the "pip" definition differs by broker, so better keep them in a separate block with the tick value from the symbol specification.

If the account currency is not USD, add one more conversion row at the end. Many traders in Asia have SGD or HKD accounts and forget that step.

The formulas are correct and cover the main cases. The general rule is that the pip value equals the pip size times the lot size, expressed in the quote currency, then converted to the account currency. For yen pairs, that's 1,000 yen per standard lot, divided by USD/JPY. For franc pairs, 10 francs divided by USD/CHF. For pound pairs, 10 pounds multiplied by GBP/USD, since GBP/USD gives dollars per pound. Whether to multiply or divide depends on whether the dollar is the base or the quote in the conversion pair, which is the source of most errors.

I built almost the same table a while back and the biggest improvement came from a check column rather than the formulas. Next to each pip value I put the figure my platform shows for one lot in its symbol window, and a cell that turns red if the two differ by more than 3 percent. It caught a stale yen rate on the second morning, when I forgot to update it after a weekend gap.

I also keep my account currency in one cell and apply the final conversion at the end, because I trade a euro account and the dollar figures are not the ones that hit my balance. That one change made my lot size outputs about 8 percent different on the days EURUSD moved more.

If you link it to sizing, I would add a rounding line that truncates the lot to the broker step instead of rounding it. Otherwise the sheet will quietly suggest slightly larger risks than your plan allows.

The timestamp and staleness warning is a thoughtful addition. A pip value table updated once and then forgotten can drift significantly, especially for yen pairs during periods of strong yen movement. A cell showing the last update date, with conditional formatting that turns red if it's more than a day old, is a simple safeguard. Some spreadsheet tools can pull live exchange rates through built in functions, which removes the manual update entirely, though the data may be delayed. Even a delayed feed is usually accurate enough for sizing, since pip values change slowly.

Adding a few more pairs is straightforward with the same logic. AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY use the yen formula. GBP/CHF and AUD/CHF use the franc formula. EUR/CAD and GBP/CAD use the Canadian dollar formula. For AUD or NZD quoted pairs, like EUR/AUD, the pip is 10 Australian dollars, converted by multiplying by AUD/USD. Each new pair just needs its quote currency identified and the matching formula applied. A table covering twenty pairs needs only five or six input rates, since many pairs share the same quote currency. That keeps the morning update to a minute or two.

Checking two values against the platform's calculator, as the exercise suggests, is a good validation. If they match, the table is working. If they don't, the difference usually points to a wrong rate or a multiply versus divide error. Linking the table to the position size sheet through a lookup makes the whole sizing process faster and less error prone. Has anyone here built a pip value table like this? I'd be interested in whether you found a reliable free data source for live rates, and which spreadsheet tool handled it best.