Processing
Which Extraction Method is right for me?
Lightyear offers 3 different ways to get your data out of your documents and into your Accountancy Software! Mapping Smart Extract Manual Entry Depending on what data you need extracted, the file type of the document, scan quality, etc., some methods ...
Smart Extract BETA
What is Smart Extract? Smart Extract is Lightyear's next generation AI technology that extracts data in almost real-time from your Bills/Credit Notes/Receipts. Ideal for handwritten documents, poor quality scans, and one-off documents where a ...
Why are my receipts defaulting to manual entry?
Firstly, when you upload receipts, make sure you've uploaded them to fit the conditions outlined. If once you've uploaded them and they default to Manual Entry from the Processing tab indicated with the keyboard icon (), this means you might not have ...
Automatic Mapping
Once you send a document into Lightyear, either an invoice or credit note, we will remember some bits of information for the future, so the next time you send a document from the same supplier, we will automatically apply the same map for you. There ...
My Supplier doesn't use Product Codes, but I need line extraction, what should I do?
Have you been using Lightyear and found you love the Product Line Item maps for the accuracy and information they provide? What if you have a Supplier who provides you with invoices that don't have a Product Code, are you still able to use and ...
Manual Entry
Lightyear customers love the fact that we can automate data extraction and GL coding for the vast majority of their bills, as well as auto-reconciling account statements. Rarely will there be a document that we can't extract data from automatically, ...
What does it mean to "Query Map" and when would I use it?
One of the best features of Lightyear is our adaptability. Communication with customers allows us to cater more specifically to their needs, including in the creation of our maps. We hope that as we grow, customers will find already existing working ...
Utility Bills
At Lightyear, bills passing through our system come in all shapes and sizes. This requires an adaptable approach to ensure the satisfaction of our customers. Our data mapping technology is becoming more versatile and capable as we grow, allowing us ...
Can I do Expenses?
Can I do my Expenses in Lightyear? Yep! Lightyear has an Expenses module allowing your users to create expense reports, send them through an Approval Workflow and export seamlessly into your accountancy software. For full information on Expenses, ...
Uploading Receipts
You can upload your receipts directly into Lightyear through the browser (as well as via the mobile app). If you choose to upload receipts through the browser we'll automatically extract summary data via our Smart Extract technology (just like we do ...
Extracting Data from Bills that are Scans
Firstly, we should note that bills and receipts are different things, and Lightyear treats them differently. For details on how to process receipts (and the data that Lightyear extracts from receipts), please refer to this article. In regard to ...
Bills with "scrambled" metadata
Some bills are being generated with metadata that doesn't represent the data being displayed. On the PDF the information looks readable, however no useful data can actually be extracted. Original PDF View ...
Why are bills sent into Lightyear bouncing back as a winmail.dat file?
This can happen if you're using Microsoft Outlook to forward bills into Lightyear. Outlook, by default, can send emails in a Rich Text Format, and this needs to be changed to Plain Text. Thankfully this is very straight forward. When in Microsoft ...
What the heck is a system generated PDF?
In layman's terms, there are basically 2 types of PDF: System-generated PDFs and Scan-based PDFs Lightyear loves system-generated PDFs! System-generated PDFs have been generated by a computer system or software suite e.g. Xero, QuickBooks Online, ...
What type of documents can Lightyear receive and process?
Lightyear can process almost any type of bill/credit note/statement/receipt, but depending on the type and format they may be processed differently. System generated PDFs System generated PDFs are electronic documents sent directly from suppliers by ...
My invoice was mapped to the wrong supplier. What do I do?
Don't panic, it's super easy to fix. First we'll add the correct supplier to the invoice then go over how to prevent it from happening. Fixing the Invoice This can be done while the invoice is in the Approval Tab. Select the invoice in question, and ...
How do I cancel a map request?
If you ever want to retract a Map for Me request, simply go to the right side of that invoice's line and click on the Map Request icon, it will then ask you to confirm that you want to retract the map for me request.
The currency assigned to a map
When Lightyear creates a map, the currency defaults to the national currency of the supplier. So if it is an Australian supplier, the map will be created in AUD. But what if that supplier does not bill you in AUD? When you Find Map > Try Map > Use ...
What type of map should I ask for? And what data is extracted for each map type?
Sometimes suppliers will send in multiple invoices within the one PDF. Make sure you split these before sending in a map request. Check out this article for more information Our Free 'Map for Me' Service Finding a map, trying a map and using a map is ...
What is a map? And how do I find and use a map?
Okay, so first things first. What's a map? A map is what Lightyear calls the key to unlock the data from a PDF bill. The map tells the Lightyear servers where to look for your data on the bill from a supplier. For example, the position of the invoice ...
When does Lightyear auto-suggest maps to me?
Okay, so let's say there is a Coca Cola bill coming into your account from sales@cocacola.com, and this is the first time your account has received this type of Coca Cola bill from this email address. The bill will drop into the Processing tab for ...
My invoices are not appearing in the Processing tab
If you have sent an email to your Lightyear account, but you are unable to locate it in your Processing tab, there are a few different things that you can check: Double check that you have sent it to the correct Lightyear email address, and that it ...
I have sent in some PDFs but I can't see them in my Approval Tab
If this is the first time that a certain email address has sent this type of bill to your Lightyear account, it will first appear in the Processing tab. From the Processing tab you need to apply a map one time only. Once a map is applied, the ...
I don't like the extraction - can I change it?
Yes* you can, whether it's a Purchase Order, Bill, Credit or a Statement. What you need to do here, is send the document back to the Processing tab. From there, you need to make sure the system can't automatically apply this unwanted map next time, ...