Lightyear Reviews

Pros

Lightyear is visually pleasing-it's quite simple to use and understand. From the user perspective who inputs data on invoices and approves them, it's straightforward and the layout of the software does not show you more than what you need to see, however, underneath the simple processes there is complexity. Lightyear makes supplier creation, GL code settings linked to export files such as Excel, and GST codes etc are somehow made simple to set up. One thing I find particularly great is whenever I input an ABN number during the Supplier Creation process, it autofills the Supplier Name field. Additionally, this is a drop down menu, so i am able to choose ANY of the Business Names linked to this ABN.

Cons

Sometimes, there have been system bugs and I'm unable to export data for a brief amount of time, or when we top up credits to use the system, the old credits are not rolled over their expiry date. It would be great if there was a notification in place to let us know that our credits are expiring soon or we are running low. Also, there are some things which cannot be customised. For example, the Export to File which is a function that exports invoice data into a spreadsheet, cannot be modified from my end. Lightyear do add features from time to time, but I'm not sure if consumer recommendations are actually involved in the process.

Pros

Once set up, it's a one-stop-shop for invoice receipt, accounts payable and receivable reconciliation, cost management, and business information. It is intuitive and simple to use, extremely cost-effective and takes out some of the most mundane and laborious tasks so I have more time to work on improving my business and keeping front-of-house. I could not recommend it more highly.

Cons

There's nothing I dislike about this product - I am overly happy to have it as part of my suite of tools.

Pros

The Manager function has worked well for us as we have offices in different locations which has made the approval of invoices more efficient.
Easy to see where the approval process is up to.
Exporting invoices to our accounting system is great.
Also like the audit trail feature.

Cons

We haven't used the PO system yet but looking forward to the enhancements that will suit the way we use them. Yes they have listened to us and adding options to suit our business.

Pros

Lightyear allows us to easily manage the accounts payable process across our entire client base. It's unqiue mapping extraction process as well as logical flow of information, clean user interface, filing cabinet, approval process, inventory and duplicate recognition make it in my opinion the best accounts payable solution on the market. There support team is second to none.

Cons

Integrations with more POS programs or even job management programs would only increase Lightyears potential.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Lightyear

Pros

Having data extraction & approval within one system is a game changer for us.
The approval process is simple to use once you spend the time to set it up.
The Keyword feature works really well when working with multiple locations.
The mobile phone app is easy to use and easy to switch between companies.

Cons

No ability on the mobile app to add a note to the receipt/invoice and no feature for multiple page or long receipts / invoices.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Lightyear

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Lightyear

Pros

First of all, Lightyear is a standalone application that you can, but don't have to integrate with your accounting software. Second of all, strightaway you know the costs of adding it to your business. The price list is on their website and it's fair.
The setup did require some thinking about workflows and user experience, so I took my time there.
But once the suppliers and maps are set up and automation rules kick in, the whole AP process becomes much less painful. I almost enjoy it now ;). The most important features like reading the invoices, accurately mapping them, and assigning them to correct approvers work very well. It saves time, effort and annoyances. The Lightear support team is a very helpful and friendly bunch. I even did a small survey among colleagues and asked what they thought of Lightyear. No surprise - everyone likes it. I highly recommend this product!

Cons

No option to add multiple attachments to invoice at once.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Lightyear

Pros

- Invoice Processing: Significant amount of time saved for me to focus on other aspects of the business, with confidence, knowing that I have accurately captured and processed all invoices.- Security: bank fraud detection is a very powerful feature of the lightyear system as well as its ability to flag duplicate invoices.- Support: the Lightyear team are incredible. From implementation to processing/mapping support, Lightyear are unreal.

Cons

N/A: We have currently used Lightyear for < 6 months but have explored a significant amount of its functionality and capability, which has been an incredibly positive experience for myself and the business.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Lightyear

Pros

Great value for money, time saving, user friendly, outstanding customer service, provides everything you need to process creditors invoices

Cons

I have never had a bad experience with Lightyear. Whenever something doesn't work (which barely happens), their team is always very responsive and the problem gets solved super quickly

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Lightyear

Pros

Easy to use and has vastly improved the time to process our payments while providing significantly more oversight for our executive team.

Cons

Integration with existing procedures was very easy but would require the company's accounts/purchasing team to be hands on during the process.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Lightyear

Pros

Processing invoices, this also shows duplicated invoices, easy to track.

Cons

System captures the wrong information sometimes.

Pros

Not much not to like! The fact that you can have a month's free trial to test it out and set everything up is brilliant. It meant we could trial the product at no cost (including excellent support from [SENSITIVE CONTENT] ). Although there was paid implementation assistance (cheap!) available I was able to set the whole thing up without having to resort to that (the customer support team is on hand 24/7 to help with any issues).

The product is not that mature - which could be seen as a downside. However, the Lightyear team is so responsive that it doesn't actually come across that way. Most of the niggles that I had at the beginning (just over 6 months ago) have already been resolved through the regular product updates, and I have confidence that the remainder will be resolved in due course.

The product is very easy to set-up and use (as evidenced by being self-implemented). We have implemented in four locations, and once you understand how things work, it only really takes a couple of hours of setup to do each new location.

Cons

Given the nature of the rapid development of the product, there is still some work to be done to rationalise all the features (e.g. 'Edit Bill' permissions were add retrospectively to the 'Task Approver' role, so they don't integrate in a completely cohesive manner with the interface). However, I understand that the team are proactively working on that aspect.

Pros

Taken a huge load in processing time of the supplier invoices, it can streamline the processes, identify duplicate invoices and eliminates any human errors.
It is also well integrated with Xero.

Cons

Getting the right mapping for some suppliers due to their invoice formats can sometimes be challenging and ongoing.

Credit notes can at times be problematic as the reference in the credit notes can cause confusion in the processing (due to formats), they can be processed as the original invoices again rather than credit notes.

Pros

Streamlined our processes and added features of line mapping, statement mapping, price matching

Cons

that when you log into the app on mobile devise you have to re-enter the password every tiem

Pros

We never lose an invoice. Even if we accidently delete an invoice we can return it for processing. We have reached our goal of being almost paper free. The processing, approval, review and signing off tabs are wonderful and provides us with a simple system that provides accountability from our department managers. So easy to use and saves so much time.

Cons

A very small number of our supplier invoices can't be mapped but with the overall benefits of this system it is just a minimal issue.

Pros

The Lightyear software is very affordable, user friendly and easy to implement. It does have many functionalities and the integration to NetSuite ERP system is very robust. The accuracy of data extraction is impeccable. What I valued most though is the customer service. The Lightyear team has made the implementation and ongoing operation of the software a breeze.

Cons

The Lightyear software is feature packed. However, more could be done in the space of multi level coding and exporting capabilities.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Lightyear

Pros

User friendly and easy use and no effort required to understand every thing is self explanatory.

Cons

No such other tool available in the market that is near close to the lightyear performance.

Pros

Having Lightyear enables us to do in minutes what used to take hours of manual data entry to enter suppliers bills into our accounting software.

Cons

I find it annoying that I have to set up a supplier in Xero, raise a test bill, then pull that back into Lightyear to set up a supplier in Lightyear.

Pros

The integration was seamless - around the clock support from [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and the team meant that we were up and running immediately. Our invoice storage and processes pre-lighyear were quite complex and very time consuming. Since we started Lightyear, I have saved atleast 4 hours a week in wages.

I like that our bookkeepers have instant access and can export invoices within seconds. We run two entities and I was able to create a sister company at no extra cost.

Cons

Honestly, nothing. If I could add one function, it would be to add the ability to mark an invoice as paid. As we don't have direct access to our companies MYOB account, this would be handy but I realize this is not the case for majority of users.

Pros

This is the simplest software we know. It just works. Chefs approve food bills, Marketing Managers approve marketing bills etc. Data extraction and approvals workflow in one. Plus the price-checker means we don't get overcharged. Love it. Local support. Easy setup. Would highly recommend.

Cons

none to be honest. This does more than anything in market, at a similar price.

Pros

Lightyear has given me the ability to stop having to manually enter invoices. which for us was becoming out of hand as the company grew. There was some teething issues but the support is excellent. The team are very responsive and always work on fixing any issues we run into.

Cons

The maps don't alwasy work and you have to fund multiple maps for a supplier.

Pros

The ease and simplicity at which it operates. The seamless integration with Xero. The transparency, accountability and control it allows.

Cons

No cons at this stage. There is some initial set up work and testing to be done but the more you use the more efficient it becomes.

Pros

- Ease of access for different managers to approve their own departments invoices
- ability to bring up old invoices as a click of a button
- quick turn around from customer service team
- Data interpretation to avoid data entry errors
- Access 24/7 anywhere in the world

Cons

Phone app does not have all the same capabilities as the website, waiting for further updates.

Pros

Lightyear allows for excellent reporting and intelligence

Cons

The delay in mapping new suppliers, although there is an option to speedily approve.

Pros

Of all the software that I use, for me Lightyear is the best. It provides automated information which made my work easier. You can also find solutions to your issues/concern through Knowledge Base or you can just simply chat lightyear Team and they will respond to you in just a snap. Would highly recommend of course.

Cons

None for me to be honest :)Because, If I wanted to know a thing or If I experienced some issues , I can just chat the support team for assistance :):):)

Pros

The ability to set up different team members to approve invoices, as well as keeping all invoices in one central location, uploaded via suppliers. Integration to Xero is also fantastic.

Cons

The learning curve for new users takes some work.