Direct answer
Pip value for AUD USD versus NZD USD is calculated the same way in principle: start from a “one pip” price move in the quoted pair, translate that move into the traded contract’s base-currency amount, then convert into your account currency (if needed). The difference between AUD USD and NZD USD comes from which currency is the base and which is the quote, and from the extra conversion step when your account currency is not USD.
A practical way to remember it:
- If the account currency is USD, pip value for AUD USD and NZD USD becomes a direct function of the pair price because USD is the quote currency.
- If the account currency is not USD, you compute pip value in USD first, then convert USD pip value into the account currency.
Mechanism: definitions and stable inputs
Pip is a standardized way to describe a small change in exchange rates. For many major FX pairs quoted with five decimals, a common convention is:
- 1 pip = 0.0001 in the pair’s quoted rate (e.g., AUD USD moving from 0.65000 to 0.65010 is a 10-pip move; the smallest step is 0.00001 for a “point,” but 1 pip is 0.0001).
Contract size (also called trade size) is the amount of base currency controlled by the position. Example assumption for formulas:
- 1 lot = 100,000 units of the base currency.
Pip value is the money change in your account from a 1-pip move in the pair, assuming the position is opened with a fixed number of lots.
Canonical calculation for a USD-quoted pair (account currency = USD)
For a currency pair shaped like BASE USD (either AUD USD or NZD USD):
- Base currency = AUD or NZD
- Quote currency = USD
A 1-pip move is Δrate = pip_size. With contract size C measured in base units, the base amount is fixed, so the quote-currency value of that 1-pip move is:
- Pip value in USD = C × pip_size
Under the common “0.0001 pip size” convention and the standard assumption C = 100,000 base units per lot:
- Per 1 lot: pip value (USD) = 100,000 × 0.0001 = 10 USD per pip
This is why many traders observe that pip value for pairs like AUD USD and NZD USD is often “about 10 USD per pip” when trading 1 lot with the standard pip convention.
If your account currency is not USD
If your account currency is, for example, EUR or JPY, you cannot stop at “USD pip value.” You must convert the pip value using an additional exchange rate.
General form:
- Compute pip value in USD using the step above.
- Convert USD pip value into account currency.
If your account currency is ACC and you can quote USD/ACC (or the inverse, depending on market convention), then:
- Pip value in ACC = (Pip value in USD) × (USD to ACC conversion rate)
The direction (multiply vs divide) depends on which way the conversion rate is quoted by your platform.
Evidence/example (with explicit assumptions)
Below are two worked examples that show the difference between AUD USD and NZD USD in a way that does not depend on real-time prices.
Assumptions used
- Pip size convention: 1 pip = 0.0001
- Contract size: 1 lot = 100,000 base units
- Account currency cases shown: (A) USD account, (B) non-USD account
Example A: account currency = USD
AUD USD, 1 lot
- Pip value in USD = C × pip_size = 100,000 × 0.0001 = 10 USD per pip
NZD USD, 1 lot
- The structure is the same (base ≠ quote), quote is still USD.
- Pip value in USD = 100,000 × 0.0001 = 10 USD per pip
So under these assumptions, AUD USD and NZD USD have the same pip value in USD for the same lot size.
Example B: account currency ≠ USD
Suppose your account currency is ACC, and you know a conversion rate that turns USD into ACC. Let that conversion rate be k (ACC per USD).
Then for either AUD USD or NZD USD, 1 lot:
- Pip value in USD = 10 USD per pip
- Pip value in ACC = 10 × k ACC per pip