Every NEPSE investor eventually buys the same stock at two or three different prices — and then has to work out, by hand, what they actually paid on average. This free calculator does that instantly: enter each purchase, and it works out your simple average price, your effective cost after brokerage and SEBON fees, your break-even selling price, and exactly how many extra shares you would need at a given price to hit a target average. It runs entirely inside your browser, so your holdings, prices and quantities never leave your device.

The calculator's live position dashboard — average price, effective cost and break-even, updated as you type.

Try the Calculator

Add your buy transactions below — date, quantity and price per share — and the calculator will work out your simple average price, effective average cost after brokerage and regulatory charges, break-even selling price, and profit or loss at any price you choose. Everything runs locally in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.

Why "Average Price" Isn't As Simple As It Sounds

Most investors think of their average purchase price as a simple mental-math exercise: add up what you paid, divide by the number of shares. That works well enough for a single purchase. The moment you buy the same stock a second or third time — at a different price, on a different day, through a different order — the arithmetic stops being simple, and two separate numbers start to matter.

The first is your simple average price: total money spent on shares, divided by total shares, ignoring brokerage. The second, more important number is your effective average cost, which folds in brokerage commission and the SEBON regulatory fee charged on every transaction. Because every buy order carries a cost beyond the share price itself, your effective average cost is always a little higher than your simple average — and it is the number that actually determines whether you are in profit or loss.

Three purchases at three different prices become one weighted average — and one effective average cost once charges are added.

The Formula Behind the Number

For any number of purchases, the calculator applies the same two formulas every time:

• Simple average price = total (quantity × price) across all purchases, divided by total quantity.
• Effective average cost = (total purchase value + total brokerage + total regulatory charges), divided by total quantity.

Because brokerage on NEPSE trades is typically charged as a tiered percentage of transaction value with a minimum floor, larger single transactions often carry a slightly lower percentage cost than several small ones — one reason batching purchases can matter over time. You can test this directly in the Brokerage Sensitivity tab of the calculator above.

Break-Even Price: Why It Sits Above Your Average Cost

A common assumption is that selling at your average purchase price gets you back to zero. In practice, it does not — because selling shares also incurs brokerage and regulatory charges, exactly like buying does. Your true break-even selling price has to cover both the cost of getting into the position and the cost of getting out of it.

Reading the price ladder from the bottom up: simple average, effective average cost, break-even price, and a sample profit target.

This is precisely why the calculator's Break-Even engine does not simply echo back your average cost — it solves for the selling price at which your net proceeds, after estimated selling-side charges, exactly equal your total cost basis. If capital gains tax estimation is switched on in Settings, that gets factored in too, since Nepal generally applies different tax rates depending on how long a listed share has been held before it is sold.

Averaging Down and Averaging Up, Explained Properly

Averaging down means buying more shares of a stock you already hold, at a price below your current average, which pulls your overall average cost lower. Averaging up is the mirror image — buying more at a higher price, which raises your average. Both are common, both are legitimate strategies in the right circumstances, and both are frequently misunderstood.

The same mechanics, opposite direction: buying more shares always pulls your average toward the price you just paid.

The single most important thing to understand about averaging down is that it changes your cost basis — nothing else. It does not change the company's fundamentals, the sector outlook, or whatever caused the price to fall in the first place. A lower average cost means a smaller loss if the price stabilizes, but it also means more capital at risk if the price keeps falling. That is exactly why the Target Average calculator above explicitly checks feasibility: if your planned purchase price is not low enough relative to your target, it tells you so rather than quietly showing a misleading number.

Averaging up carries the opposite risk profile: it should reflect genuine conviction that the stock still has room to run, not a reflexive reaction to a rising price. Because it raises your break-even point, it is worth running through the Additional Buy Planner before placing the order — not after.

Planning an Additional Purchase: Three Different Questions

In practice, investors usually approach an additional purchase with one of three questions in mind, and this calculator handles each of them as a distinct tool rather than forcing one formula to do everything:

• "How many more shares do I need?" — enter your target average and the price you expect to pay, and the Target Average calculator solves for the required quantity.
• "What's the most I can pay?" — if the number of additional shares is fixed (say, by available capital), the Maximum Purchase Price calculator solves for the ceiling price that still hits your target average.
• "How much capital do I actually need?" — the Additional Investment and Capital Requirement calculators translate either of the above into a rupee figure, including estimated brokerage.

Brokerage, SEBON Fee, DP Charge and Capital Gains Tax in Nepal

NEPSE transactions typically involve more than one type of charge, and each behaves a little differently:

Every one of these figures is editable in the calculator's Settings tab, and none of them is permanently hardcoded into the calculation engine — because these rates genuinely do change, sometimes more than once in a given fiscal year.

Common Mistakes When Averaging NEPSE Stocks

• Averaging down repeatedly without reassessing why the price fell. A lower average cost is not the same as a better investment thesis.
• Ignoring transaction costs when eyeballing break-even. The real number is almost always a little higher than the round figure in your head.
• Treating an unrealized loss as "recovered" once the average cost is lowered. The position is only actually better off if the price itself moves back up.
• Mixing up realized and unrealized profit/loss when only part of a position has been sold — the calculator's Sell Scenarios tab keeps these strictly separate for exactly this reason.
• Assuming any target average is achievable. Mathematically, buying more shares at a fixed price can only pull your average toward that price, never past it — no matter how many shares you buy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between average price and effective average cost?

Average price reflects only what you paid for the shares themselves. Effective average cost adds brokerage and regulatory charges on top, which is why it is always a little higher and is the more accurate figure for break-even planning.

Does this calculator use live NEPSE prices?

No. Every price field is clearly labeled "User Entered." This tool does not connect to a live market-data feed, so always check the current price on your own trading platform before making a decision.

Is my portfolio data uploaded anywhere?

No. All calculations run locally in your browser. Your entries are optionally saved to your own browser's local storage so they persist between visits, but nothing is transmitted to any server.

Does averaging down guarantee I'll recover my losses?

No. It only lowers your average cost — it does not guarantee the share price will recover, and it requires additional capital that increases your total exposure to that stock.

Can I edit the brokerage and tax assumptions?

Yes. The Settings tab inside the calculator lets you edit commission slabs, the minimum brokerage, the SEBON fee percentage, the DP fee, and the capital gains tax assumptions. Every other tab recalculates immediately using your updated figures.

What happens if I ask for an impossible target average?

The calculator checks feasibility explicitly. For example, buying more shares at a fixed price can never pull your average below that price, no matter the quantity — and the calculator will explain this rather than showing a misleading result.

Is this a substitute for professional financial or tax advice?

No. It is an educational, calculation-based tool. For decisions specific to your situation — particularly anything involving tax — please consult a licensed professional such as an ICAN-registered Chartered Accountant.