What type of map should I ask for? And what data is extracted for each map type?

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 one thing...but what if there isn't a map there for the supplier?  Or what if the maps that are there for the supplier don't do the job that you want them to do?

Well, it's as simple as finding the blue Map For Me button and clicking on it. This will send a message to the Lightyear team, asking them to create the map for you. You can also write a note to tell us what you need.


You can find the Map for Me button in the 'Search for Supplier Mappings' screen (after searching for a supplier):



You will be presented with a dialogue box:



When you select Map For Me, a box will be displayed that you can write a note in saying what style map you require and anything else that's relevant to what you need extracted. Please be sure to put any special instructions for the mapping team into the Note window.  Then click Confirm.

Map for Me requests are marked with the following icons 
 Map request is pending
 A map has been created or an existing map has been selected
 A map was not able to be be created. View notes to see if more details are available

Keep an eye out for these icons because they will tell you the status of the request. The turnaround time for map requests is 24 hours at the most, but typically it's less than 12 hours.

Notes
Please refer to the notes in panel 2 for further instructions as to how to proceed once a map has been created, or declined. If a map is created for you, our team will tell you the map ID to apply. Instead of searching for the supplier name, you can key in the map ID into the Mapping Reference field when looking for a map.

Should you wish to retract a 'Map for Me' request, simply click on the  icon.


If you see the Manual Entry icon you will need to type the data into Lightyear (specific help article found here). If you see this icon you will have a note telling you why a map could not be created for you. Some possible reasons might be:

  • Supplier is not using Bill numbers (this is a mandatory field for Lightyear)

  • Supplier is not including a Date (this is also a mandatory field)

  • The layout of the bill does not follow the traditional header, footer, body layout

  • The PDF bill was created using a very old-school legacy system (a very, VERY rare occurrence these days)

What data is extracted for each map type?

When you send us a request to get an invoice mapped it's good to ask for a specific type of map. You have a choice of 3 styles of maps, which are broken down further into 7 extraction options;
  1. Bill - Product Line Items > product codes, description, quantity, unit prices

  2. Bill - Service Line Items > description, line amount (no quantity or product code)

  3. Bill - Service Summary > summary totals (One line item for total invoice)

  4. Credit - Product Line Items > product codes, description, quantity, unit prices

  5. Credit  - Service Line Items > description, line amount (no quantity or product code)

  6. Credit  - Service Summary > summary totals (One line item for total invoice)

  7. Statements > for statements only

  8. Query map > Query a selected map


A Product Line Item map is used for inventory & price check functions as it extracts product codes, quantities and unit prices. It is also used for assigning default GL codes to different lines by recognising the product code that is extracted. But to be able to create this the invoice usually needs to have a product code, description, quantity and line amount.

A Service Line Item  Map will extract the lines giving you a description and line amount (not quantities or unit prices).

A Service Summary Map will only give you the totals. No description will be extracted. There will be 1 or 2 lines that will read; 'goods and/or services taxed' and/or 'goods and/or services untaxed' (depending on whether all or part of the total is taxed)

Here is an example of what each looks like

1. Line Item


2. Service


3. Summary





      

    Check out our
    to stay up to date

      • Related Articles

      • What is a map? And how do I find and use a map?

        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 number, the date, line ...
      • 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 ...
      • 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 ...
      • 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.
      • 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 ...