Help Center / Organization Setup

Setting a Custom FX Rate per Entity

What is this page about: How to set a custom FX rate for one specific entity when your organization has more than one entity, how entity rates and company-wide rates resolve against each other on a transaction (including multi-currency transactions), what to give support when requesting one, and what to keep in mind around rate frequency and currency reference.

On this page

  • How entity and company rates work together
  • How to set one
  • Things to keep in mind
  • Related articles

Summary

If your organization has more than one entity, you can set a custom foreign-exchange (FX) rate in Light for one specific entity instead of the whole company. It's handy when different entities settle the same currency at different negotiated rates. Today, entity rates are set for you by Light support — there's no self-serve screen yet.

How entity and company rates work together

For any transaction, Light resolves the FX rate in this priority order:

  1. Entity rate - a custom rate set for that transaction's entity
  2. Company rate - a custom rate set for the whole company
  3. System rate - the daily market rate (used when no custom rate applies)

An entity rate always wins for that entity, and a company-wide rate covers every entity that doesn't have its own. You can use both together: set one company-wide rate as the default, and a different rate for the one entity that needs it. Setting an entity rate doesn't remove or replace the company-wide rate — the two exist side by side, and the entity rate simply takes precedence for that entity.

Note on multi-currency transactions: rate resolution is all-or-nothing per transaction. Every non-EUR currency involved in the transaction needs a matching rate override for the custom rate to apply. If even one non-EUR leg has no override in place, the entire transaction falls back to system rates — including any other leg that does have an entity or company override. If you're setting an entity rate to guarantee coverage, confirm that every non-EUR currency in the transactions you care about has an override, not just the one you're adjusting.

How to set one

As with company-wide rates, entity rates are set by Light support; there's no self-serve screen for this yet. Provide the same details you would for a company-wide rate, plus the entity:

  • Currency - the currency the rate applies to
  • Rate - how much 1 unit of the currency is worth in EUR (for example, "1 CZK = 0.04 EUR")
  • Month - custom rates apply for a full calendar month, effective the 1st of that month
  • Entity - the specific entity the rate applies to

Not sure which entity a transaction belongs to? Support can help you confirm before setting the rate.

Things to keep in mind

  • Custom rates, both entity and company-wide, are monthly only. A rate takes effect on the 1st of the month and applies for the full month; there's no way to set a rate for a single day.
  • The currency-reference rule is identical to company-wide rates: rates are always expressed as how much 1 unit of the currency is worth in EUR. See Setting a Custom FX Rate for Your Company.
  • Setting an entity rate does not remove the company-wide rate. It only takes precedence for that entity, and only when every non-EUR currency on the transaction has a matching override (see the note above).
  • There's no self-serve screen for entity FX rates today. If your team wants programmatic or API access to manage rates, ask your Light support contact whether that's available for your organization.

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