Smart Extract+ - Overview
What is Smart Extract+?
Smart Extract+ is Lightyear's next generation AI technology that extracts data in real time, with up to 15 seconds to wait per document, from Bills/Credit Notes/Receipts/Expenses. It's ideal for handwritten documents, poor quality scans, and documents where we don't have a map created already.
Please Note: With the latest release, Smart Extract+ can extract Lines, Service or Summary data.
Smart Extract+ has the ability to extract the following information:
- Supplier Name
- Bill Number
- Bill Date
- Due Date
- Purchase Order Number
- Product Code
- Description
- Quantity
- Unit Price
- Line Amount
- Line Tax
- Total Tax
- Document Total
Depending on your choice between Line, Service or Summary as your Extraction Type, Smart Extract+ may extract different data within your line items section.
- Line - includes all lines with Product Code, Description, Quantity, Unit Price, Line Amount and Tax where applicable
- Service - includes all lines with Description, Line Amount and Tax where applicable
- Summary - includes a single line with a default Description of Goods/Services and Tax where applicable
How do I use Smart Extract+?
There are a couple different methods for using Smart Extract+ within Lightyear:
- Document Upload
- Email
- Mobile App
Within each of these, Smart Extract+ may be triggered automatically or manually, depending on your Auto Smart Extract setting.
Document Upload
If you are in Lightyear, you can click the Upload icon 
in the Header Navigation Bar or button 
in the Processing Tab.
You will see the Upload modal where you can select your document(s). Click Browse Files to find the document(s), or drag and drop the document(s) into the Upload modal.
From here you can select whether or not you want to use Smart Extract+ in the first column checkbox. Depending on what you have selected, you will see a number of Document Types to upload.
When Smart Extract is checked, you can choose between Bill, Credit Note, Receipt or Expense and then choose your Extraction Type between Line, Service or Summary.
Please Note: When uploading a Receipt or Expense, Smart Extract will be selected by default and cannot be unselected. Smart Extract+ is not available for Purchase Orders or Statements.
After clicking Upload, the document will appear in your Processing tab and will begin to Smart Extract.
When Smart Extract is not checked, you can choose between Bill, Credit Note, Receipt, Expense, Statement or Purchase Order. Depending on your Auto Smart Extract setting, a number of things may happen.
Automatically
When Auto Smart Extract is enabled in Company Settings, if you upload a document to Lightyear via the above method and don't check Smart Extract in the modal, Lightyear will look for a working map and if one is not found it will automatically trigger Smart Extract+ to extract your data.
Manual
When Auto Smart Extract is disabled in Company Settings, if you upload a document to Lightyear via the above method and don't check Smart Extract in the modal, Lightyear will look for a working map and if one is not found it will remain in Processing for you to trigger if and when you need.
In this scenario, you can select the document in Processing and, within Panel 2, click the Smart Extract button either within Doc Data tab.
This will trigger Smart Extract+ and your data will be extracted within seconds.
Email
Automatically
More info coming soon!
Manual
More info coming soon!
Mobile App
If you have the Lightyear App installed on your mobile phone, you can take photos of documents and receipts to be sent into Lightyear.
When you have the Upload via Smart Extract option enabled, all documents* sent to your Lightyear account will automatically be Smart Extracted.
*All documents that can be Smart Extracted. This will not include Statements or Purchase Orders.
Simply upload an image via the mobile app, or capture an image directly from the mobile app, and click Upload. Once sent to your Lightyear account, the document will begin to Smart Extract.
If you do not have Upload via Smart Extract enabled, your documents will follow the same path as if it was uploaded via the desktop upload modal.
- When Auto Smart Extract is enabled in Company Settings, Lightyear will look for a working map and if one is not found it will automatically trigger Smart Extract+ to extract your data.
- When Auto Smart Extract is disabled in Company Settings, Lightyear will look for a working map and if one is not found it will remain in Processing for you to trigger via the desktop if and when you need.
What happens after I use Smart Extract+?
With every upload method, the documents will first appear in the Processing tab and begin to Smart Extract.
After completion, one of two things can happen.
If Smart Extract+ extracts all required fields, i.e. Bill Number, Bill Date and Document Total, and a Supplier Name which does match to a Lightyear Supplier within your account, the document will automatically move into Approvals with the extracted data.
There may be instances where the Extracted and Lightyear Supplier Names are different, and the document automatically moves into Approvals anyway. Click here for more information on this feature.
If Smart Extract+ misses any of the required fields, doesn't get a Supplier Name, or does get a Supplier name but there is no matching Lightyear Supplier within your account, the document will remain in Processing with the extracted data within Doc Data > Smart Extract.
The missing required fields will be highlighted in yellow for you to manually enter.
If you're repeatedly seeing the same issues on documents, click the Report Issue button 
to flag extraction issues to the Lightyear team. This will be a closed feedback loop to provide us with insights to the errors customers are seeing.
Switching Between Line, Service and Summary Extraction
When uploading via the Upload Modal, you can choose your Extraction Method within the dropdown. If you choose to Smart Extract after the document has already been uploaded, your Extraction Type will come from your Company Settings.
At any point when the Bill or Credit Note is in the Processing Tab, you can change the extraction type between any of the three types.
Supplier - Extraction Rules
When a document is extracted via Smart Extract+, whether the extracted Supplier Name automatically matches to a Lightyear Supplier or you need to manually tell it which Supplier it belongs to, it will be remembered in future to automatically flow through to Approvals.
Full information about this feature can be found here.
Multiple Tax Rates
If you live within Europe, you will be familiar with the concept of having multiple tax rates to choose from depending on the items you're purchasing e.g. Ireland will have a 0%, 9%, 13.5% and 23%, UK has 0%, 5% and 20%, etc.
Smart Extracted documents can apply these rates automatically, providing you have entered the correct Tax Indicator against your Company or Supplier.
FAQs
Where can I see the Maps related to my Smart Extracted documents?
Smart Extract+ extracts your data in real time, using our very own built-in logic to figure out which piece of data relates to which field within Lightyear.
So the simple answer is, you can't, there are no maps!
Why isn't my document Automatically Smart Extracting?
If you have uploaded a document and it's not automatically Smart Extracting, there will be one of two reasons.
- Map - if there is a working Map for any of your documents, this will apply/suggest first and will not automatically Smart Extract. You can manually trigger it by clicking Smart Extract in Processing.
- Auto Smart Extract - the setting to automatically Smart Extract has been disabled within your Lightyear account. Head over to Company Settings and enable this
Why has my document disappeared from Processing?
When Smart Extract finds a Lightyear Supplier matching to the extracted Supplier Name, and all required fields have been extracted, the document will automatically move through to the Approvals tab.
What Type of documents can I use Smart Extract+ for?
Bills, Credit Notes, Receipts and Expenses.
Purchase Orders and Statements cannot be Smart Extracted.
Why is my document appearing as Manual Entry only?
If you are seeing the manual entry icon 
in Panel 1 there will have been an issue with the Smart Extraction.
Be sure to check in Activity to see the error message - the most common issue will be related to the number of pages. Smart Extract+ has an upper limit of 20 pages currently, anything higher than this will fail.
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