--- title: "Lightyear Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is Lightyear the right Accounts Payable solution for you? Explore 197 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/178978/Lightyear/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-09-29" --- Lightyear 4.9 (197) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/178978/Lightyear/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated September 29th, 2026 # Reviews of Lightyear Ease of use 4.9 Customer Service 4.9 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews MW Melanie W APReal Estate, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It has streamlined our bill processing workflow, reduced manual effort, and improved visibility into invoice approvals and payment tracking.“ July 9, 2026 HK Hazel K Accounts Payable AdministratorRetail, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “When Lightyear do an update it seems to effects my system and i have to refresh or have to completely come out of the system or it takes me out of the menu i'm on. “ October 30, 2025 PT Pauline T Finance and Administration OfficerHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The automated approvals keep everything moving without delays and the two-way matching between POs and invoices has drastically cut down on errors and we’ve saved countless hours every month.“ December 12, 2025 FH Francesca H Accounts PayableEducation Management, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “The VAT rounding differences are a niggle, and create errors when importing into accounting software. “ October 24, 2025 MW Melanie W APReal Estate, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Lightyear has made our bill processing much more efficient by reducing manual work and streamlining the approval workflow.“ July 9, 2026 SS Shaun S Weighbridge - Admin AssistantRenewables & Environment, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Also there is the "Approved" tab which is misleading as nothing in there is actually approved.....should be called "Pre-Approval" or "Submitted" then the "Ordered" tab should be called "Approved" not sure you really need the "Draft" or "Approval Tab"“ October 24, 2025 MW Melanie W APReal Estate, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The automation features have improved accuracy and saved our team a significant amount of time.“ July 9, 2026 MC Mario C Operations managerHospitality, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “As someone who only uses Lightyear for invoice authorisation, many of the wider features feel unnecessary to me.“ January 18, 2026 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 197 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Daniel V. Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Software to Streamline your Accounts Payable Process" March 11, 2021 5.0 I find Lightyear easy to use and I have only had positive feedback from clients. Pros I love the automation of data extraction and the built in approval process Lightyear has to offer. It helps me to get my clients data correct, having the correct expenses and payables, and it means I can get multiple levels of approvals before the invoice hits the GL. Cons Sometimes the OCR doesn't work the way I expect, but I know they are constantly improving the software and I'm confident it will be better in future. Alternatives considered [Hubdoc](https://www.capterra.com/p/165724/Hubdoc/)[Dext](https://www.capterra.com/p/160189/Dext/) Reason for choosing Lightyear Lightyear data extraction was much better than the rest and the built in approval process means I can ease the pressure from the business owners and put it back on the staff, but the business owners still have ultimate control of the suppliers. Review Source JS Joanna S. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "5 \* support and software" August 24, 2026 5.0 Excellent software. Versatile and continually upgrading and listening to user requests and implementing them. Pros Lightyear's support is the best of any software I have ever used. Thank you Kyle and the whole LY team Cons There is nothing I do not like about LY but this Capterra is making me enter at least 100 characters about What did you like least about Lightyear? Switched from [Reckon One](https://www.capterra.com/p/154538/Reckon-One/) No authorization workflows, No Optical Character Recognition/smart data extraction, Difficult to process Accounts payable Review Source MC Michael C. General Manager Hospitality Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Failure" January 9, 2019 1.0 Terrible is all i can say to be honest Pros Nothing to like about light year it is doesn’t work simple Cons Slow, Unstable, inaccurate ocr of invoices causing excessive manual re-entry of invoices, customer support non existent as they can’t do anything as it is a terrible system I have waited for improvements over the last 3 months they haven’t happened stay from lightyear find something else Review Source Response from Lightyear AI January 8, 2020 Hi Michael, Thank you for the feedback. I've reviewed your history on our system and I believe you were using our system in the early days whilst it was still in Beta and were also having some connection issues with internet speeds. I'm sorry you didn't have a great experience with the product, certainly not what we strive for at Lightyear. Lightyear is now in full release and has been receiving great reviews all round with a much improved user experience and speed. Our team would be very happy to spend some time with you and show you the product now if you like. Just drop the team a line if so.. Many thanks, Chris. MW Melanie W. AP Real Estate Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Efficient and User-Friendly Bill Processing Solution" July 9, 2026 5.0 Overall, our experience with Lightyear has been very positive. It has streamlined our bill processing workflow, reduced manual effort, and improved visibility into invoice approvals and payment tracking. The platform is intuitive, reliable, and has helped our team work more efficiently. While there is some room for additional customization, it has delivered significant value to our accounts payable process. Pros Lightyear has made our bill processing much more efficient by reducing manual work and streamlining the approval workflow. The platform is easy to use, invoices are processed quickly, and it's easy to track their status from submission to payment. The automation features have improved accuracy and saved our team a significant amount of time. Cons There isn't much to dislike overall, but there is a slight learning curve when first setting up workflows and getting familiar with all the features. It would also be helpful to have more customization options for reporting and approvals to better accommodate different business processes. Review Source CF Cathryn F. Senior Administrator Construction Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Awesome Product and Experience" January 28, 2026 5.0 Excellent product, support is quick simple and easy and very astute quick to respond and updates and quick and often Pros Great product love using it. I works brilliantly and I love the product and your support system is amazing. Cons the inability to have 1 xero file linked to several lightyear companies. We have suppliers who give us different pricing for different builders and that means that we have to create several LY companies. however when we link to Xero we have to create different xero logins and then it does not give details of which company is linked in xero, Alternatives considered [SAP Concur](https://www.capterra.com/p/380/Concur-Expense/) Reason for choosing Lightyear I know we looked at several other options but in all honesty I cannot remember any of their names Review Source CB Claire B. Management accounting Veterinary Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Lightyear review" September 16, 2026 4.0 Great service from the Lightyear team and always quick to come back to us. It has been a great timesaver and allows us to easily view our invoices. There are some little niggles but these are far outweighed by the pros Pros Easy system for all abilities of people to use. All information is visible on one screen. Reports feature is useful provides multiple search functions. Being able to see archive function. Duplication symbol Cons You can not manually amend the VAT - biggest downfall of the system. Processing some times goes around in circles. Review Source CQ Claudia Q. Accounts Hospitality Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent service" September 9, 2026 5.0 Pros support team resolves issues in a prompt manner! Big thanks to \[sensitive content hidden\] who always finds quick solutions. Cons No comments Review Source AO Amanda O. Accounts Manager Construction Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great Software" September 9, 2026 5.0 Great addition to our accounts process, cuts out the manual entry and so saves so much time. Super easy to use. Pros Processes invoices super fast ready for sign off and so cutting out manual entry. Easy to use. Smart extract is great. Cons Rounding the figures when entered as line items is annoying as i then have to manually change these. Review Source RB Rebecca B. Accountant Food & Beverages Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Best Support Team and Time saved" August 21, 2026 5.0 Really happy with Lightyear overall. It's taken a lot of the manual effort out of invoice processing and made things much more efficient. The support has been excellent, and it's been great working with a team that's proactive and genuinely helpful. Pros Shoutout to \[sensitive content hidden\] from support who helped map our invoices. What used to be a pretty painful and time-consuming process is now automated, saving us loads of time. They were great to work with and made the whole setup easy from start to finish. Cons There weren't any major drawbacks. The initial setup took a little time to get right, but the time savings and automation benefits have more than made up for it. Review Source LD Lawrence D. Finance Assistant Veterinary Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Brilliant system!" September 15, 2026 5.0 Lightyear is a great invoice processing system! If there is ever a problem with invoice processing, their team are always supportive. Pros Keyword rules are really good. I also like the product and description rules - it makes invoice processing very quick. Cons The amounts can sometimes be picked up wrong when using smart extract if it's a large invoice with lots of lines Review Source CS Christine S. Bookkeeper Hospitality Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Love it!" May 27, 2020 5.0 I've used the software for years and have always found it to be reliable and the support start are fantastic if ever I need help with something. Pros There are so many things I love about Lightyear. The new statement reconciliation feature though is a game changer! Lightyear tells you what invoices are missing and allows you to contact the supplier to request missing invoices direct from the software. Amazing!!! Cons There's not much I don't like about the software, and the things that I would like are already in the works. Alternatives considered [Dext](https://www.capterra.com/p/160189/Dext/) Reason for choosing Lightyear With Lightyear, you can delegate approvals into groups, so if you have multiple cost centres like the hotels that we do the bookkeeping for, the Chef isn't seeing bills which need to be approved by the Cellarman. Also, you can have suppliers that you don't want everyone to see, so you can select that only certain people see them. As well as multi-level approvals so the General Manager can check off and I as the bookkeeper can check the data is accurate before bringing it into the accounting software. In conjunction with the integration with Xero happens within seconds so you're not waiting for your bills to come across from one software into another. Review Source LD Leigh D. Partner - Management Accounting Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent Accounts Payable System" September 4, 2020 5.0 Our clients can see where their AP invoices are at any point in time as well as the value of AP "in progress". The fact that the system picks up duplicates is the game changer for us. Reconciling & "filing" statements is an absolute breeze. Pros We love how this product enables our clients to check & approve their invoices before the invoices land in Xero. We know that anything in Xero is checked & ready to be paid. Easy for multiple people to have access & sign off. All AP is in one place & finding historical invoices is a breeze. Cons Reading OCR receipts has been a bit behind other competitors but improvement is coming through really quickly. Alternatives considered [Hubdoc](https://www.capterra.com/p/165724/Hubdoc/) Reason for choosing Lightyear When we looked at Hubdoc about 18 months ago, Lightyear was already far more advanced than what Hubdoc was offering. Switched from [Dext](https://www.capterra.com/p/160189/Dext/) Controls are tighter in Lightyear but the product is so easy to use & can easily be customised to the level of control that our clients need. Visibility of the flow of invoices through the approval process is perfect. The Dashboard makes it so easy for our Corporate clients to manage their AP really well and for us to manage the bookkeeping for our clients. All our clients from corporates to sole traders love Lightyear - they can have access to the data they need 24/7. Review Source JN Justin N. General Manager Hospitality Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Efficient, intelligent and easy-to-use" May 25, 2020 5.0 The team at Lightyear are hospitality-experienced and so empathise and comprehend my business and the daily problems I need to resolve. They are fantastic to deal with - grounded, patient (I test them on this), understanding and always willing to help and train. They are more than a supplier - they are a true business partner, with the best interests of my business as their main concern (even if it means cutting themselves short a few dollars here and there). A great company to have on your side, and an inspirational team to work with. 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. Reason for choosing Lightyear An overall better system, but also better priced and better people to deal with! Review Source Response from Lightyear AI May 28, 2020 Many thanks for the review. We're glad to hear that you are taking full advantage of Lightyear. JS Jane S. Business Manager Accounting Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "This software took away our headaches with accounts payable" May 27, 2020 4.0 We love using Lightyear. It provides a fast, smooth process for auto processing and two-step approval. This saves us time and gives us the control process we need with administration staff checking mapping and accounts along with Directors approving the bill for payment; all before getting exported to Xero. Customer support is helpful and timely , especially during the set-up process. Pros Integrates seamlessly and easily with Xero - our accounting software The option for single, double or exec approval process within Lightyear - meaning bills can be directly exported to the payment tab in Xero rather than draft. Ability to file statements within the software - very handy with suppliers that send multiple dkts then ask you to pay on a statement Cons Minor wish list item:The archive tab for completed bills would be handier to search if located on the horizontal tab area where reviews, approvals are shown - rather than only accessible from the left-hand menu bar. Switched from [Datamolino](https://www.capterra.com/p/150838/Datamolino/) Being a previous user of Invitbox, I liked the approval process within Lightyear and the fact that you could export to Xero instantly. Really handy for those last minute bills you receive late but needing payment before your impending creditor run. Review Source SS Shaun S. Weighbridge - Admin Assistant Renewables & Environment Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Lightyear Review" October 24, 2025 5.0 I was a bit apprehensive about moving over to a new software but it's actually a lot better than my previous PO system. It's quick, it's easy and I love it!! Pros I enjoy it's ease of use, quick to raise a PO and the automated email going to the supplier once approved Cons Sometimes when raising a PO and I enter all the details, I attach the quote and the form resets so I have to go all through the process again. Also there is the "Approved" tab which is misleading as nothing in there is actually approved.....should be called "Pre-Approval" or "Submitted" then the "Ordered" tab should be called "Approved" not sure you really need the "Draft" or "Approval Tab" Switched from [Smartsheet](https://www.capterra.com/p/79104/Smartsheet/) Better program to keep track of expenditure Review Source PB Pietro B. Maintenance Manager Hospitality Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy tool for everyone" November 14, 2025 5.0 Overall I'm glad that starboard hotel use Lightyear for our Orders and invoice, easy to have all the invoice and PO under control Pros easy to use, all the pages are very intuitive and readable very clearly. great online support from LY staff Cons Using Lightyear for Purchase Order section should be starting from the last PO , and not from the oldest. Review Source LL Leslie L. Finance Accounting Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Will definitely recommend!" November 13, 2025 5.0 The support team is always there and super easy to talk to. They get back to you fast, are really helpful, and make fixing any issues simple. Pros It’s easy to use and navigate, very straightforward, and highly efficient, saving a lot of time while keeping all details clearly organized. Cons The system sometimes picks the wrong info but we're reminded that nothing is 100% with computers during process training so it’s still a good idea to double-check things. Review Source JG Janine G. Accounts Payable Leisure, Travel & Tourism Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Lightyear 100% Recommend" March 10, 2025 5.0 I've been using Lightyear for a year and love that it saves so much data entry time and picks up any duplicate invoices, creating very efficient business systems. The support team are outstanding, super friendly and always available immediately to help solve any queries. I recommend Lightyear 100% Pros Simple, easy to use programme and like that it detects any duplicate invoices giving confidence that your payments won't be duplicated. Cons There is nothing I dislike about Lightyear Review Source LT Liezel T. Admin Assistant Hospitality Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Lightyear Review" November 24, 2024 5.0 The overall experience with Lightyear is great! The platform is easy to navigate and you can easily find invoices in there. Pros What I like most about Lightyear is it’s easy to navigate and very user-friendly Cons So far, there’s nothing that I like least about Lightyear because in more than 3 years of using the platform, I didn’t encounter any issue Review Source DD Daniel D. International Finance Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Lightyear - great product, easy implementation, great value and top notch customer support! " November 12, 2021 5.0 AP Automation was long overdue within our organisation. Lightyear ticks the boxes for us in terms of automation and improving our processes, particularly in an international organisation working in multiple timezones. Would thoroughly recommend you are least trial the product - no cost if you don't like, but I'll be surprised if you turn back! 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. Reason for choosing Lightyear Best value, free trial, easy (and free) implementation. Review Source SC Sarah C. Accounts Wholesale Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Lightyear as Approval and Processing Accounts Payable" March 19, 2024 4.0 Mostly it is a very good software. It does save a huge amount of processing time, identifies duplicate invoice numbers, streamlines and smoothens the approval system. The Manage Suppliers function helps auto G/L coding to eliminate any inconsistencies and human errors. 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. Review Source ES Evette S. Accountant Construction Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Highly Recommended - A Cost Effective Solution and Amazing Customer Service" July 22, 2022 5.0 I wish we had moved to Lightyear a long time ago, it's a simple solution to a time consuming process. Customer service has been second to none - from the start of demonstrations to ongoing support (which we rarely use now) the service has been 10/10! Pros Complete visibility across supplier invoices either via the dashboard as a quick view or in detail across all stages of approvals. This is especially helpful at the end of the month to see if all invoices have been through the entire approval process and exported to our accounting system before close off. Search functionality is helpful and shows which stage of the process each invoice is at - search results can be exported. The audit trails and notes show full history of the life of the invoice and save a lot of external communication and queries. Implementation was easy after the demonstrations given to us by \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] who took the time to understand what we wanted (which was a little bit out of the ordinary!) and configure the settings accordingly. We gained confidence in Lightyear through the demonstration/training process and the additional webinars. Cons Looking forward to enhancements to the mobile app to allow more functionality while on site. Review Source YM Yvette M. Accounts and Payroll Manager Hospitality Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Lightyear is fantastic" March 25, 2021 5.0 Since purchasing lightyear it's made a huge difference to our business. It's hugely free'd up my time as the invoice processing is automatic now and all I have to do is check the coding for new products and then import them into our accounting system. It's made each head of department responsible for their own invoices and the processing of them which is great. It's stream lined our accounting processing as it's compatible software system MYOB plus our POS system Bepoz for beverage inventory and stock takes so we don't have to double enter invoices anymore into 2 different systems. It's free'd up my office from paper and files. I highly reccomend it to any business, it's fantastic. Pros Lightyear makes invoice processing and filing efficient and time effective. I have now set up departments within the parent comapany so we can split our food cost per department easily. It integrates with our POS system Bepoz, which our Beverage Manager is extremly happy with. It makes his stocktakes more efficient and takes him less time and also integrates with our accountimg system MYOB which is extremely efficient. Cons Sometimes the export to MYOB lags and I have to do it numerous times before they actually move across. I can live with that! Reason for choosing Lightyear It reads off a scanned PDF documnet (OCR) and the others don't. Huge advantage. Review Source DB Diego B. Head of System Integration Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great AP tool for your business" May 11, 2020 5.0 User friendly platform, great support and an outstanding approval options. I recommend Lightyear to all my clients, specially the ones that requires a complex approval process before the bill is imported to the accounting system. Pros The approval options definitely is the differential of Lightyear. From a simple 2 steps approval, to up to 3 executive approval, there are many options that can suit the most complex business. Another strong point from Lightyear is their support. You usually gets a response on the same day. Cons Their subscription is based on the number of transactions, so if your business manages a large quantity of bills, it might become a bit expensive. Alternatives considered [Hubdoc](https://www.capterra.com/p/165724/Hubdoc/)[Dext](https://www.capterra.com/p/160189/Dext/) Reason for choosing Lightyear Due to their approval options. Review Source Response from Lightyear AI May 28, 2020 Many thanks for the review. Glad to hear that the approvals are making your life easier. Megan R. Management Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Time Saver" June 16, 2020 5.0 Using Lightyear eliminates the overhead of a staff member and risk of manual data entry errors. Saves time and money for the business 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. 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