About the F&O Margin Calculator
What is the F&O Margin Calculator?
F&O margin is the money you must keep with your broker to hold a derivatives position. For futures and option writing, it is SPAN margin (covering a worst-case one-day move) plus exposure margin.
Option buyers pay only the premium. Enter the SPAN and exposure percentages from your broker's margin tool for accuracy.
How to use the F&O Margin Calculator
- Position (sample: Futures (buy or sell))
- Underlying Price (₹) (sample: 25,000)
- Lot Size (sample: 75)
- Number of Lots (sample: 1)
- SPAN Margin (% of contract value) (sample: 9)
- Exposure Margin (%) (sample: 2)
- Option Premium (₹ per unit) (sample: 150)
- Press Calculate F&O Margin (results also refresh as you type). The result card shows the Total Margin Required, along with SPAN margin, Exposure margin, Contract value and Premium received (option sellers).
Formula used
Margin = Contract value × (SPAN % + Exposure %)
- Exposure margin = about 2% for index derivatives and 3.5% or more for stock derivatives
- Option buying = premium × quantity
SEBI studies found that about 9 in 10 individual F&O traders lose money. Trade only with money you can afford to lose.
Worked example
These are the sample values already filled in the calculator above, and the result it returns for them:
| Input | Sample value |
|---|---|
| Position | Futures (buy or sell) |
| Underlying Price (₹) | 25,000 |
| Lot Size | 75 |
| Number of Lots | 1 |
| SPAN Margin (% of contract value) | 9 |
| Exposure Margin (%) | 2 |
| Option Premium (₹ per unit) | 150 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Margin Required | ₹2,06,250 |
| SPAN margin | ₹1,68,750 |
| Exposure margin | ₹37,500 |
| Contract value | ₹18,75,000 |
| Premium received (option sellers) | ₹0 |
| Leverage | 9.1× |
Tips for using the F&O Margin Calculator
- Hedged positions (spreads) get large margin benefits.
- Keep extra funds above the margin to avoid square-off on volatile days.