Interest Rate Groups: From Creation to Application

Applies to: DRO (IAS 37) module | Audience: Customers | Last reviewed: 08/10/2026

• What an interest rate group is
• Full Plan or By Year
• Creating or updating a group
• How versioning works
• Applying a group to a plan
• Confirming the rates a plan is using
• How the rates flow into the numbers
• The full path

What an interest rate group is

An interest rate group is a named, versioned set of three rates: an inflation rate, a discount rate, and an accretion rate. Every DRO plan is discounted and unwound using one of these groups, and every plan references exactly one. The plan's Assumptions tab shows which group it uses, the version, and the dates those rates are effective.

Full plan or by year

A rate group applies in one of two ways. Full Plan applies a single set of rates across the entire plan horizon. By Year applies rates that vary by plan year, which allows a rate curve rather than a flat assumption. DRO supports both, and it is a plan level choice. Only those two options are valid, and anything else is rejected.

Creating or updating a group

Rates are maintained under the Finance module in Treasury, set to Interest Rates. Identify the group the plan will use, set the effective date to the date the new rates take effect, and enter the inflation, discount, and accretion rates. Then add the rates and save. The same screen shows the previous version of the rates alongside the new ones, so a change is always visible next to what it replaced. From the effective date forward, the group carries the new rates.

How versioning works

Each save creates a new version with its own effective date, and the version it replaces receives an end date. This matters because when a plan is approved, it stamps the rate group and the version in force at that moment. The plan's results stay reproducible even after the rates are changed again later.

Applying a group to a plan

The group is selected during configuration and is used by every plan on the account, so there is no per plan rate entry. To select an interest rate group, go to Balance > Plan Settings > Edit Rates and External Allocation, choose the interest rate group type, either Full Plan or By Year, and then choose the interest rate group itself. When a plan already has a group selected, the rates are updated by adding a version to that group rather than by changing the selection.

Confirming the rates a plan is using

To confirm what a plan is using, open its Assumptions tab and check the interest rate group, its version, the effective date, and the three rates. On a plan change, a Prior Plan Rates column appears beside the current rates, which shows exactly how inflation, discount, and accretion moved from the last plan to this one.

How the rates flow into the numbers

The EPV is built from the inflation and discount rates. The unwinding of discount, by contrast, always uses the accretion rate stamped from the plan's rate group version, not the discount rate. That distinction is deliberate: a change to the discount rate shows up as a change in discount on a plan change, while the unwinding of discount continues at the accretion rate in force until a new plan is approved.

• Create the group and its rates in Treasury.
• Save a new version with an effective date whenever the rates change.
• Select the group during configuration.
• Confirm it on the plan's Assumptions tab, where the version and rates are stamped and, on a plan change, compared against the prior plan.

• Core DRO concepts and terminology
• Understanding Change in Discount and Change in Estimate
• Configuring DRO planning type and subtype
• Creating your first DRO plan