September 2020
25.09.2020 - Improved mapping capabilities
Our mapping technology is constantly developing to allow us to provide you with the extracted data that you need. Previously we have been limited to extracting line item data that was presented across one single row:
While most invoice data is presented this way we know that a few companies like to mix things up a bit. To tackle this we have developed a new piece of technology to expand our abilities. We now have the capability to extract line item data spread across multiple rows (provided this data follows a repeating pattern that we are able to identify) such as this example:
Does your supplier send you an invoice with an item code and description on separate lines? No problem! We can map that now. Keep an eye out for more exciting mapping updates coming your way soon. At Lightyear, we are committed to providing you with as much data as you need and every update brings us closer to this goal.
25.09.2020 - Supplier Setup CTA has moved
One of the main things we noticed when using lightyear initially, is that when setting up suppliers at the processing stage, it wasn't as easy to see the supplier setup stage as it could have been.
So, in true Lightyear style, we have taken the supplier option and "re-vamped" it.
Below, shows you where the supplier setup function has moved to:
The function is exactly the same.
23.09.20 - Set Company Time Zone
We have added the ability to set your companies Time Zone.
It is important to note this will not affect any of our companies that operate East of the International Date line.
Why make the change?
Not all companies have staff in house, or in the same country, therefore, depending on where the user was, document dates would sometimes change if a user was logging in from West of the International date line, if the document origin was East of the International dateline. This was obviously not good, so we have introduced a company timezone setting to keep document dates consistent no matter where you are logging in from.
For example, if my company is based in the UK but my staff are based in the US, then the US staff would see documents shown a day previous if logging in from the US. Now, by selecting the Company Time Zone, no matter where the user is when they log in, they will see the relevant date and time to the company profile timezone setting and the users local browser timezone setting will not affect the dates.
To set your time Zone, go to your profile from the drop down to the top right of the Lightyear Screen:
Select Company profile from the drop down menu:
And in the screen that appears, set you Company Timezone:
It is important to note that the activity history timestamps will continue to display in the local timezone, this change only affects document dates. So if someone in Australia takes an action at 11PM, and a user logs in from the UK, the UK user will view this activity stamp as 12PM (11 hours difference). This is the same experience as currently exists in Lightyear.
11.09.20 - Sending Product Codes to Xero
Lightyear has always been able to extract line item details and we can now send these Product Codes to Xero as well! Previously, we sent the line item details but were read as Service bills when arriving in Xero. Whereas now, exporting to Xero will now also update your inventory (if you are tracking this item) in Xero. See here for an example of the data sent from Lightyear to Xero.
Bill as seen in Lightyear^^
Bill as seen in Xero^^
^^ As seen in Products/Services in Xero when tracking items)
Read on for more details on how to get this set up!
11.09.20 - Importing Contacts from Xero
Lightyear now allows you to Import Contacts from Xero. This might be handy when first starting out on Lightyear (or even Xero).
You'll now see two options under Settings > Accounting Software > Suppliers Cards >
- Import All Contacts will import both Contacts AND Suppliers
- Import Suppliers from Xero will import Suppliers only (Lightyear imports Suppliers by default)
Click on Import All Contacts and you will receive this message upon successful imports of Contacts from Xero.
By importing your contacts, this will make life easier by allowing you to treat them as a Supplier Card within Lightyear and avoid creating duplicate Contacts/Suppliers when exporting to Xero.
08.09.20 - New Xero Integration: OAuth 2.0
We have today moved across to Xero's new API integration, this will result in a more reliable API experience when transmitting your data. This will also allow us to introduce further improvements such as sending in product codes to automatically update Inventory levels in Xero and syncing back All Contacts, which are due for release in the coming weeks.
How does this affect you?
All Xero connected accounts will need to be reconnected from Accountancy software settings to re-establish the new API connection
In case you haven't found these notes yet, you'll receive an alert upon export, directing you to do so.
This means you will just need to head over to:
Settings > Accounting Software > Disconnect > refresh your screen > See this article to walk you through connecting to Xero (again) or watch the video below.
If you are trying to connect multiple Xero files, Xero will present the drop down above with a mention of files that are "already connected". Don't worry! This not in relation to your current connection (unless you have multiple Lightyear accounts connecting to a single Xero file). Please proceed to select your current file to establish the connection between Xero and Lightyear.Check out our
to stay up to date
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