Wiktionary
paper profit
n. Apparent profit shown in accounts but not realized in an expendable form.
WordNet
paper profit
n. an unrealized gain on an investment calculated by subtracting the investor's cost from the current market price [ant: paper loss]
Usage examples of "paper profit".
I had made money out of it, it is true, but this had been a paper profit that I had seen nothing of.
Teasing you along, letting you pile up a little paper profit, then banal Your account closed at 20.
At the time, the interest rates were enticing, and the income allowed the school to run at such a high paper profit that the board was starting to think Achievement House would pay for itself.