Lightyear Review
Lightyear is AP, purchase order and expense automation for small and mid-sized finance teams in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, with published per-document pricing, unlimited users and two-way connectors to Xero, QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Sage Intacct and MYOB.
Independently scored, one dimension at a time. Every dimension is sourced, and we say whether a claim is published, reported, or estimated.
Phone, live chat and email are included on every plan, staffed from the UK and Australia Monday to Friday, with a 1 hour first-response target in business hours and map requests within 1 business day (help centre SLA article, checked 27 September 2026). Capterra shows 4.9 of 5 on 197 reviews (reported) and the Xero App Store shows 4.98 on 146 reviews. In-app help now starts with the Access Digital Assistant chatbot, which hands over to people.
The feature list documents two-way API sync with Xero, QuickBooks Online, NetSuite (Built for NetSuite, SuiteTax, 8 tracking categories), Sage Intacct (dimensions), MYOB AccountRight and Acumatica, Sage Business Cloud, AccountsIQ and iplicit; Business Central connects by API (checked 27 September 2026). Sage 50, Sage 200 and SAP Business One export by CSV. Coding lists refresh from QuickBooks Online by an import button; automatic imports exist only for Access Financials and Dimensions.
List prices are published for 7 regions with the credit unit defined per document type, top-up and overage at the plan's per-credit rate, and a 6 month bulk option (pricing pages, checked 27 September 2026). The monthly integration fee, the onboarding package and the Enterprise SSO charge are all unpublished, and Professional is custom. Xero and Sage Intacct pages state no separate integration charge.
Lightyear says most customers go live in 4 to 6 weeks through its FlightPath method: welcome call, account setup, data import, three AP admin training sessions, testing and go-live, with two post go-live check-ins (implementation page, checked 27 September 2026). Its Xero page says most teams are up and running the same day. Business Central needs an Entra app registration by an Azure admin, and the onboarding package is optional and separately priced.
Lightyear lists single, double and executive approval stages, value-based routing to up to 8 approvers, departments, a timestamped activity log, read-only auditor users, duplicate flags, bank detail checks, price checks and line-level 3-way matching on the Standard plan (feature list and help centre, checked 27 September 2026). Its help centre says it does not provide SOC reports, its only 1099 support passes Form 1099 fields to Sage Intacct on export (October 2024 release), and no W-9 handling or e-invoicing support is named on its public pages. The ISO 27001 certificate it links is Access UK Limited's with a stated expiry of 1 September 2026.
Every plan includes unlimited users and sub-entities, parent and child accounts share one bill, and Lightyear reports 30,000+ users in 20+ countries (home page, checked 27 September 2026). Published plans stop at 250 documents a month and the Professional tier for 500+ is custom. The help centre records slowness and login failures on 7 and 8 April 2026 and a 4 hour outage on 12 May 2026, and the July 2026 release paged the company picker at 50 accounts.
In-product AI is Smart Extract+ line-item extraction alongside template maps and rule-based coding; outcome claims such as extraction in 15 seconds or less are vendor-claimed. There is no first-party or community MCP server (MCP registry and GitHub searched 27 September 2026). A Lightyear Integration API v1.0.0 on The Access Group's ERP developer portal covers exportable invoices, POs, GRNs, line matches and supplier import, but its authentication section reads TBC.
Lightyear does not pay suppliers or employees: approved bills and scheduled expense reimbursements export to the accounting system for payment (feature list and expenses page, checked 27 September 2026). What it hands off is clean payment data: extracted bank details, BPAY codes and due dates, with a Bank Details Checker that flags a changed account number, IBAN, BIC or sort code before approval. There is no card program, FX or rail choice.
A well-supported approval layer for Xero and QuickBooks SMEs that stops at export: no payments, thin API.
Written by the Audit Friendly research team. No vendor edits, no sponsored placement.
You are buying an AP workflow that sits between the supplier inbox and the accounting system. Suppliers email bills to a Lightyear address. Smart Extract+ or a saved supplier map pulls header and line data, rules apply GL codes and tracking categories, and the bill moves through single, double or executive approval before one-click export to Xero, QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, MYOB or another of its 40+ integrations. POs, expenses and supplier statement reconciliation are on the entry plan, which costs $199 or 130 pounds a month for 125 documents with unlimited users and entities (published, checked 27 September 2026).
The catch is that Lightyear moves no money. Payment runs happen in the accounting system or the bank, so there is no payment approval, fraud screening at payout or rail choice inside the product. The AI is extraction plus rule-based coding; a new supplier layout may still need a map, which support commits to build within 1 business day. Monthly credits expire at month end. The only external surface for agents is a narrow Integration API on The Access Group's ERP developer portal, whose authentication section still reads TBC, and there is no MCP server.
Before signing, get in writing which contract governs: the website promises a 30 day rolling plan, while The Access Group's core terms default to a 36 month term with 90 days' notice when an order is silent. Ask for the monthly integration fee for your accounting system, the price of the FlightPath onboarding package, the SSO charge, a current ISO 27001 certificate that names Lightyear (the linked certificate is Access UK Limited's and shows an expiry of 1 September 2026), and how archived bills and audit history are exported at exit.
- A UK, Irish, Australian or New Zealand business on Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB with 100 to 500 supplier bills a month and many approvers who should not need accounting licences.
- Hospitality, retail and care groups that raise POs, receive goods at sites and need line-level 3-way matching and price checks against agreed supplier price lists.
- Accounting and bookkeeping firms running AP for many clients from one parent account, with one bill for credits across child accounts.
- Teams that want AP to pay suppliers: Lightyear exports approved bills, and ACH, BACS or card payment still happens in the accounting system or bank.
- US companies that need W-9 collection, 1099 filing, a SOC 1 or SOC 2 report, or dual control on payments: Lightyear's help centre says it does not provide SOC reports, and its only 1099 feature passes Form 1099 fields to Sage Intacct on export (checked 27 September 2026).
- Finance teams planning to run AP through an AI agent: there is no MCP server and the public API is export-oriented with auth still marked TBC.
The jobs a finance team actually hires Lightyear for
Jobs, mapped to how finance teams actually buy.
Route supplier bills to many approvers without seat fees
Bills route by supplier, keyword, department or value to up to 8 approvers, who approve by browser, email link or the mobile app. Because pricing is per document, site managers and budget holders can approve without adding cost. Lightyear's NetSuite and MYOB Acumatica pages pitch this as a way to avoid ERP licences for approvers.
Extract line items and code them to GL and tracking categories
Smart Extract+ or a saved supplier map pulls line, service or summary data, and rules code it by supplier, keyword or product code. The help centre says a new supplier layout may need a map first, which support builds within 1 business day. Check extraction on your own worst supplier documents during the 30 day trial.
3-way match POs, deliveries and invoices at line level
Requisitioners raise POs from a supplier catalogue, suppliers accept by email, and sites record goods received notes. Lightyear then matches invoice lines to PO and GRN lines and flags discrepancies before approval. GRNs and 3-way matching need the Standard plan ($319 a month in the US).
Reconcile supplier statements and chase missing bills
Lightyear extracts supplier statements, matches each line to bills and credit notes in the account, and flags anything missing. One click emails the supplier for a copy. Customers quoted on Lightyear's site describe statement work dropping from days to minutes (vendor-claimed).
Catch changed supplier bank details before approval
The Bank Details Checker compares the sort code, BSB or routing number, account number, IBAN, BIC and BPAY biller code on the invoice with the supplier record and colours any mismatch red. Only users with a dedicated permission can edit supplier bank details, and changes are logged. The help article describes a comparison with the supplier record held in Lightyear and no check with the bank itself.
Run AP for many clients from one practice account
A parent account holds billing and users for any number of child companies, and credits bought by the parent cover the children. Auto-bill routing sends documents from one central email address to the right child account by keyword. Unlinking a client later needs a support request confirmed by all parties.
Watch the same task in each tool
Forget the 40-row feature grid. Pick a finance workflow and see how this tool and its closest peers actually do it, with our verdict on who wins for whom.
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What it actually costs
Here's what it really costs: published rates where a vendor lists them, aggregated quote data where they don't, plus a path to your own number.
125 credits a month. POs, expenses, line-item extraction, approval workflows, statement reconciliation, and phone, chat and email support; unlimited users and sub-entities.
250 credits a month. Everything in Essentials plus goods received notes, 3-way PO matching and inventory.
Everything in Standard plus white labelling, a dedicated account manager and Enterprise SSO (additional charge and setup).
A 6 month prepaid credit plan bought from the billing area; credits expire after 6 months and some premium features bill separately.
Top-ups and opt-in overage bill at the current plan's per-credit rate on the next cycle; about $1.59 on Essentials and $1.28 on Standard (Audit Friendly estimate).
An additional monthly fee may apply depending on the accounting system; the Xero and Sage Intacct pages say no separate charge.
Optional FlightPath onboarding, discussed before the first plan purchase; Lightyear says most customers take it.
Professional plan only, at an additional charge plus setup. Xero and Azure AD sign-in are documented in the help centre.
Data sits on AWS in a location Lightyear chooses; a local data server is available on request for a fee.
Unlimited users and sub-entities, and phone, email and chat support, on every plan.
What it actually takes to go live
Lightyear's help centre says credits bought through a monthly plan expire at the end of each month, and bulk credits expire after 6 months unless the bulk plan is renewed first (Step 9: Purchasing a Plan, checked 27 September 2026). Seasonal businesses pay for their peak unless they change plans each month, which the pricing page allows. Overage is opt-in and bills at the plan's per-credit rate on the next cycle.
The pricing page offers a 30 day rolling contract and cancellation from the billing screen. Lightyear's terms link now points to The Access Group's core terms (Version 2, modified 16 September 2026), which say that where an order does not specify, the initial term is 36 months, renewing for 12 months unless either side gives 90 days' notice, and fees may rise once a year. Anyone signing an order form with sales, for onboarding or Professional, should get the term and notice period written into it.
Approved bills and expense reimbursements export to the accounting system, which then handles payment (feature list, checked 27 September 2026). Lightyear does store supplier bank details for its Bank Details Checker; the security FAQ line about storing no payments data refers to the card customers use to pay Lightyear, which Stripe holds. Segregation between bill approval and payment release therefore depends on how the accounting system and bank are set up. The Bank Details Checker helps, but only if supplier bank details are kept current in Lightyear, because a blank supplier field counts as a match.
The help centre says a bill from a new supplier layout needs mapping before the system recognises it, drawing on a network of 150,000+ mapped suppliers, and map requests carry a 1 business day SLA. Smart Extract+ covers many documents, and April 2026 added a Disregard Map option that sends a supplier's documents straight to Smart Extract+. Expect a heavier first month while maps build up, and test difficult suppliers in the trial.
Lightyear says it is ISO/IEC 27001:2023 certified, but no 2023 edition of that standard exists, and the certificate its site links is issued to Access UK Limited under ISO 27001:2022, with a current expiry date of 1 September 2026 and a scope that refers to an annex not included in the PDF (checked 27 September 2026). Lightyear's help centre says it does not provide SOC reports. The security FAQ commits to 99 percent monthly uptime while the help centre claims 99.99 percent and logs a 4 hour outage on 12 May 2026. Ask for the renewed certificate, the annex showing Lightyear in scope and the SLA in the order.
For QuickBooks Online, the help centre tells users to click import buttons for suppliers, GL codes, tax rates and classes to pull changes into Lightyear. The November 2025 release added automatic accountancy imports only for Access Dimensions and Access Financials, with other API connectors pending feedback. New GL codes created in the ledger will not appear in Lightyear until someone imports them.
Scored on what an outside agent can actually reach: the documented API, how it authenticates, and whether the vendor ships an MCP server.
Inside the product, Smart Extract+ pulls header and line-item data from PDFs, scans, images and handwritten bills, and Lightyear says it does so in 15 seconds or less (vendor-claimed). It still relies on supplier maps for many layouts: the help centre says a first-time document may need mapping, backed by a network of 150,000+ mapped suppliers and a 1 business day SLA for map requests. Coding is rule-based by supplier, keyword or product code, and Edit Mode (January 2026) lets users teach it where a field sits.
Around extraction, Lightyear checks line prices against agreed supplier price lists, compares extracted bank details with the supplier record, flags duplicates on supplier name and bill number, and reconciles supplier statements. The Access Digital Assistant is a support chatbot. The help centre also describes Access CoPilot as a tool that interacts with Lightyear data, but no Lightyear article documents its availability, so treat it as unconfirmed.
Exists: no. No first-party or community MCP server turned up in the official MCP registry or a GitHub search on 27 September 2026, and Lightyear's own pages do not mention one. Scope: the Lightyear Integration API v1.0.0, documented on developer.erp.accessacloud.com, can list bills ready for export, read an invoice with line items, download the image, mark it complete or rejected, create, update and delete POs and GRNs, read PO-to-invoice line matches, run import jobs and sync supplier cards. Turnkey: no. The overview says authentication is TBC, with the intention of a machine-to-machine flow, and no self-serve key process is documented.
Process a vendor invoice
Who wins for whom: UK, Irish, Australian or New Zealand teams that want line-level 3-way matching and many approvers without seat fees: Lightyear. Accounting firms that want up to 5 approval stages and duplicate checks before client bills reach Xero or QuickBooks Online: Dext. Small US teams that want the W-9 Agent on every plan and 1099 e-filing to the IRS and 50 states: BILL.
Lightyear
Approval stages and bank checks. Lightyear routes bills by value to up to 8 approvers across single, double or executive stages, flags duplicates and changed bank details, and runs line-level 3-way matching on Standard ($319 a month in the US).
Where it loses: Its help centre says it provides no SOC reports, the only 1099 support passes Form 1099 fields to Sage Intacct on export, and no W-9 or e-invoicing support is named.
- Compliance depth: 68/100
- Time to live: 4 to 6 weeks (vendor)
Source: AF score rationale: Compliance depth 68; Lightyear pricing tiers and not-for list.
Watch: Lightyear - Product Demo 7:46 · Official demo · Gary Mallett on YouTube (Lightyear's Sydney team)
Dext
Five-stage approvals, duplicate checks. Dext runs up to 5 approval stages with amount thresholds and a self-approval block, checks duplicates on supplier, amount and reference, flags receipts that look AI-generated, and attaches an approval-history PDF to bills published to QuickBooks Online.
Where it loses: No SOC 1 or SOC 2 report surfaced on public pages, the help centre has no 1099 articles, and PO matching works only with Xero and QuickBooks Online at one PO per item.
- Compliance depth: 62/100
- Time to live: Days, self-serve (AF estimate)
Source: AF score rationale: Compliance depth 62; Dext use cases and watch-outs.
Watch: Learn 80% of Dext in under 30 minutes! 27:44 · Consultant walkthrough · accountant_she on YouTube (sponsored by Dext)
BILL
Approvals, W-9 Agent, 1099 e-file. Every BILL plan gets approval workflows and the W-9 Agent, the audit trail is time-stamped and cannot be altered, 1099s e-file to the IRS and 50 states, and SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II audits run annually.
Where it loses: Dual control is Enterprise only, ERP PO sync with 2 and 3-way matching sits on the quote-only Enterprise plan, and none of the pages reviewed mention e-invoicing mandates outside the US.
- Compliance depth: 80/100
- Time to live: Days to 3 months (reported)
Source: AF score rationale: Compliance depth 80; BILL pricing tiers.
Watch: Accounts Payable and Bill Pay using Bill - Is it better than QBO!? 22:55 · Independent walkthrough · Financial Tech Lab by Clara CFO Group on YouTube
Pay a vendor
Who wins for whom: Teams content to pay from the accounting system or bank once approved bills export, with changed bank details flagged first: Lightyear. UK firms that want supplier, expense and payroll payment runs from the same inbox: Dext. Small US teams that want each domestic per-payment fee posted before signing: BILL.
Lightyear
Exports approved bills for payment. Lightyear moves no money: approved bills and expense reimbursements export to the accounting system for payment with extracted bank details and due dates, and a Bank Details Checker flags a changed IBAN or sort code before approval.
Where it loses: There are no payment runs, rails, card program or FX, so segregation between bill approval and payment release depends on how the accounting system and bank are set up.
- Payments & money movement: 28/100
- Time to live: 4 to 6 weeks (vendor)
Source: AF score rationale: Payments & money movement 28; Lightyear watch-outs.
Watch: Lightyear Product Video 7 mins 7:46 · Official demo · Lightyear on YouTube (official)
Dext
UK-only payments through Airwallex. Dext Payments runs on Airwallex's e-money licences and pays suppliers, expenses and payroll for UK Xero and QuickBooks Online users from 25 pence a payment, with Confirmation of Payee and a Supplier Shield check.
Where it loses: The US pricing page lists Payments as coming soon and Canada is in open beta, so US teams publish bills to Bill.com as a secondary connection to pay.
- Payments & money movement: 40/100
- Time to live: Days, self-serve (AF estimate)
Source: AF score rationale: Payments & money movement 40; Dext pricing tiers and watch-outs.
Watch: Dext Payments with QuickBooks Online (UK) 2:15 · Official demo · Dext on YouTube (official)
BILL
Posted per-payment fee table. BILL publishes ACH at $0.59, check at $1.99, free virtual card, card-funded payments at 2.9 percent and instant payments at 1 percent, runs processing in-house with Positive Pay on checks, and pays vendors in 130+ countries.
Where it loses: The FX margin on free local-currency wires is not disclosed, no payer rebate on virtual card payments is published, and API payments need an SMS-verified session.
- Payments & money movement: 88/100
- Time to live: Days to 3 months (reported)
Source: AF score rationale: Payments & money movement 88; BILL watch-outs.
Watch: How to Automate Domestic AP Payments with BILL V3 API 14:24 · Official demo · BILL on YouTube (official)
Lightyear, kept current
Keyword Rule automation now applies all enabled categories to incoming bills and credit notes, closing the manual gap left by the April release. Product rule automation is named as next.
Customers on these three systems can enable a third, fourth and further category or dimension and export them. Coding them was manual at launch.
NetSuite accounts with SuiteTax can enable it in Lightyear's accountancy settings. The release note says to enable it only when directed by an account manager or onboarder.
Users can correct where Smart Extract+ finds a field, such as a PO number or line tax, and it remembers the change for that supplier going forward.
Groups can give suppliers one central email address, and Lightyear routes each document to the right child account using words on the document such as an address or postcode.
Lightyear called this its biggest extraction release since Smart Extract+ launched: it now extracts sort codes, BSBs, account numbers, IBAN, BIC and BPAY codes, plus freight and discount lines. Documents detected as statements are routed away from Smart Extract.
Lightyear FAQ
Lightyear publishes its prices. In the US, Standard is $319 a month for 250 credits, and one exported bill uses one credit, so 200 bills plus a few statements and POs fit inside it: about $3,828 a year before any integration fee (Audit Friendly estimate from the published price, checked 27 September 2026). In the UK the same plan is 179 pounds a month.
Essentials ($199 a month, 125 credits) with top-ups at about $1.59 a credit comes to about $318 at 200 credits, level with Standard, so it saves money only below roughly 200 documents a month and lacks goods received notes and 3-way matching (Audit Friendly estimate from the published prices, checked 27 September 2026). Add the unpublished monthly integration fee if your accounting system carries one, and the optional onboarding package. Users and entities cost nothing extra.
The pricing page offers a 30 day rolling contract that can be cancelled from the billing screen, with charges running to the end of the month. Lightyear's terms link now goes to The Access Group's core terms, which default to a 36 month term with 90 days' notice when an order is silent, so confirm the term in writing if you sign an order form.
Archive reports export bill and PO data at summary or line level to CSV, and depending on the connector, exported bills carry a PDF attachment or a link back to the original. The pricing FAQ says data stays available for your regulatory period after cancellation, and full deletion is a request to support@lightyearap.com.
Lightyear says most customers go live in 4 to 6 weeks, and its Xero page says most teams are up and running the same day (checked 27 September 2026). The onboarding team runs the FlightPath method: a scoping call, account setup and connection, supplier and GL import, three AP admin training sessions and an approvers session, a testing checklist, go-live support and two check-ins.
FlightPath is an optional paid package, and a lighter Lightpath option exists for small businesses; neither price is published. Budget internal time for redirecting supplier emails, setting approval and keyword rules, and, for Business Central or NetSuite, an admin to register the app or install the bundle.
Not through a ready connector. There is no first-party or community MCP server for Lightyear (MCP registry and GitHub searched 27 September 2026).
The Lightyear Integration API v1.0.0 on The Access Group's ERP developer portal lets an external system list bills ready for export, read line items, download images, mark bills complete or rejected, manage POs and GRNs, read line matches and import suppliers. Its overview lists authentication as TBC, so a developer would need credentials from Lightyear before wrapping it for an agent. Approvals, coding rules and users are not exposed.
Lightyear alternatives
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