Comp changes don't break audits
Effective dating means historical pricing replays correctly. A comp change today does not retroactively rewrite last quarter's quotes.
Capability · Comp & margin
Comp, margin, and overlays — layered for how your org actually works.
Org → Entity (BRANCH·REGION·TEAM·DIVISION·CORPORATE) → Loan Officer hierarchy with typed org roles (ORIGINATOR / INVESTOR / CORRESPONDENT / SUBSERVICER). Layered margin rules with effective dating. Per-org pricing and guideline overlays with merge priority and sign-policy enforcement. Compensation plans with tier logic.
Overview
What it is, in one paragraph
Margin rules attach at any level of the hierarchy: PLATFORM, ORG, ENTITY (BRANCH / REGION / TEAM / DIVISION / CORPORATE), or OFFICER. Each rule carries an effective range (start + optional end). At pricing time, the engine resolves the applicable stack from broadest (platform default) to narrowest (officer override) and layers them onto the base price. Beyond margin, the platform supports per-org pricing overlays and guideline overlays — subscription-gated, with merge priority and sign-policy enforcement, so wholesale lenders can ship investor-specific overlays without code changes. Compensation plans handle the LO comp side with tiered logic over loan amount, product, or volume.
Typed Org hierarchy
ORIGINATOR / INVESTOR / CORRESPONDENT / SUBSERVICER. Each org type carries default OrgRoles and a capability set.
Five-type Entity tree
BRANCH / REGION / TEAM / DIVISION / CORPORATE. Entities nest naturally; resolution respects the path.
Effective dating
Every rule carries a start (and optional end) date. Pricing as-of 2025-11 uses the rules effective then — useful for audit and replay.
Pricing + guideline overlays
Per-org overlays with merge priority and sign-policy enforcement. Subscription-gated activation; backfill endpoints for admin.
Compensation plans
Per-officer plans with tiered logic (basis points by loan amount, product, volume). Plans bind to officers via assignment with their own effective range.
Applicable-margin API
Inspect the resolved stack for any (org, entity, officer, asOf) tuple. Returns rules in resolution order with each rule's contribution.
Audit trail
Every margin / comp / hierarchy / overlay change writes a row to the platform audit chain with actingAsOrgId. Who, when, from-state → to-state, why.
How it works
The pipeline, end to end.
Numbered steps from input to output. Each step maps to a specific subsystem you can inspect via OpenTelemetry.
- 1
Define your hierarchy
Create orgs and assign type. Build entities under the org (BRANCH, REGION, TEAM, etc.). Assign officers to entities. Moves write audit rows.
- 2
Attach margin rules
Add a rule at any level with an effective start (and optional end). Rules are versioned — editing replaces, never mutates.
- 3
Configure overlays
Per-org pricing or guideline overlays with merge priority. Sign-policy enforcement gates activation; backfill endpoints help admins migrate historical loans.
- 4
Bind comp plans
Define plans with tier logic; bind plans to officers with their own effective range. An officer can have a sequence of plans over their tenure.
- 5
Engine resolves at pricing time
On every quote, the engine resolves the applicable margin stack + overlay set for the borrower's officer + entity + org as of now (or as-of any timestamp for replay).
- 6
Layer onto base price
Each rule fires in resolution order with its declared combine strategy. The trace shows which level contributed how much, in what order, and which overlays merged.
Hands on
Inspect applicable margin as-of a timestamp
Live cURL sample — copy, paste, ship.
# Inspect applicable margin at a point in time
curl 'https://api.ratestack.com/v1/admin/comp/margins/applicable?\
orgId=org_X&entityId=ent_Y&loanOfficerId=lo_Z&asOf=2026-04-01T00:00:00Z' \
-H "X-API-Key: $RATESTACK_KEY"
# Returns the rules that applied on 2026-04-01, in resolution order:
# [{ "level":"PLATFORM", "value": 0.250, ... },
# { "level":"ORG", "value": 0.125, "orgType":"ORIGINATOR", ... },
# { "level":"ENTITY", "value": 0.250, "entityType":"BRANCH", ... },
# { "level":"OFFICER", "value": 0.000, ... }]Why this matters
The pain it removes.
Branches stop arguing with HQ
When an entity sees their margin and overlays in the trace, they can audit it themselves. No more 'what number did corporate use'.
Wholesale ships overlays without code
Investor-specific pricing and guideline overlays land via admin endpoints with sign-policy enforcement. New investor onboarding is configuration, not a release.
M&A is survivable
Move entities between orgs; the resolution path updates and the audit chain captures the move. Re-org of corp structure does not require a re-import.
Frequently asked
Direct answers, no marketing spin.
What happened to 'branch'?
BRANCH is still a first-class Entity type. The concept generalized: entities now also include REGION, TEAM, DIVISION, and CORPORATE so multi-state and multi-layer orgs can model their structure without contortions.
Can rules combine across levels?
Yes. The combine strategy is per-rule. Most platforms use SUM at platform/org and OVERRIDE at entity/officer; the engine supports any combination.
How do overlays differ from margin rules?
Margin rules are price additions/subtractions. Overlays modify entire rule sets — investor-specific guideline tightening (e.g., 'this investor adds 20bps for cash-out >70 LTV'). Overlays are sign-policy gated and subscription-aware.
How do you handle an officer who works across entities?
Assignments carry effective ranges. An officer can have overlapping entity assignments; the engine picks the one effective for the loan's transaction date and falls back to the rest of the hierarchy from there.
Are comp plan changes retroactive?
Never automatically. Comp plans bind via effective ranges; changing today does not affect a loan that priced yesterday. If you need a retroactive correction, do it explicitly with a journal entry.
Ready to see it on your data?
Wire comp, margin, and overlays — layered for how your org actually works. up to your real workflow.
We'll spin you a sandbox, load your actual ratesheets, and walk you through this capability against your top scenarios.