Lightyear
Purchasing software
Accounts payable automation software
Procurement software
Accounting & finance software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$199 per month
Free Trial
Free version unavailable
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What is Lightyear
Lightyear is a procurement and purchasing platform focused on helping organizations manage supplier purchasing workflows and related spend controls. It is used by finance and operations teams to centralize purchasing requests, approvals, and supplier interactions, with supporting capabilities that can extend into invoice handling and accounts payable processes. The product emphasizes streamlined intake-to-purchase workflows and visibility into purchasing activity rather than broad, enterprise-wide source-to-pay suite depth.
Centralized purchasing intake and approvals
Lightyear consolidates purchasing requests into a single workflow with configurable approval steps. This helps standardize how employees initiate purchases and how finance/operations teams review them. Centralization can reduce ad-hoc buying and improve auditability compared with email- or spreadsheet-driven processes.
Spend visibility for finance teams
The platform is designed to provide visibility into purchasing activity, including what is being bought, by whom, and through which suppliers. This supports budget oversight and policy enforcement before commitments are made. In practice, this can shorten the time to identify off-contract or out-of-policy spend compared with fragmented purchasing channels.
Workflow-first procurement operations
Lightyear focuses on operational procurement workflows (request-to-approval-to-order) that are often the bottleneck for mid-market teams. This can be a practical fit for organizations that need faster adoption and clearer process ownership rather than a highly modular enterprise suite. The approach can reduce process complexity for teams that do not require extensive sourcing, contract lifecycle management, or deep supplier risk modules.
Suite breadth may be limited
Compared with larger source-to-pay platforms, Lightyear may offer less depth across advanced sourcing, complex category management, and end-to-end supplier lifecycle capabilities. Organizations with multi-entity global procurement requirements may need additional systems or custom work. Buyers should validate coverage for contracts, supplier risk, and multi-stage sourcing events if those are in scope.
AP automation depth varies by use case
While Lightyear can support invoice-related workflows, dedicated AP automation platforms often provide more mature capabilities for high-volume invoice capture, matching, exception handling, and payment operations. Companies with complex three-way match requirements or large invoice volumes should confirm the level of automation and controls available. Integration expectations with existing accounting systems should be validated early.
Integration and ecosystem dependencies
Procurement tools typically rely on integrations with ERP/accounting, identity, and supplier systems to deliver full value. If Lightyear’s prebuilt connectors do not match an organization’s stack, implementation may require additional configuration or third-party integration work. This can affect time-to-value and ongoing administration for lean teams.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | From $199 per month (125 credits) | For simpler business requirements. Includes: Purchase orders, Expense Management, Line-item data extraction by default, Automated approval workflows, Automatic statement reconciliation, Live chat/email/telephone support. 125 and 250 credit bundles available. 30-day rolling contract with unlimited users and sub-entities. |
| Business | From $529 per month (500 credits) | For larger teams / more complex requirements. Includes all Starter features plus Goods Received Notes, 3-way purchase order matching, Inventory. Credit plans start at 500+. |
| Enterprise | From $839 per month (1000 credits) | Designed for complex SMEs, mid-market and enterprise. Includes all Business features plus White labelling, Enterprise SSO (additional charge + setup), Dedicated Account Manager, larger credit packages. |
Usage / credit bundles (document-based credits):
- 125 Credits — $199 per month — $1.59 per credit
- 250 Credits — $319 per month — $1.28 per credit (20% credit discount)
- 500 Credits — $529 per month — $1.06 per credit (34% credit discount)
- 1000 Credits — $839 per month — $0.84 per credit (47% credit discount)
- 2000 Credits — $1,529 per month — $0.76 per credit (52% credit discount)
- 4000 Credits — $2,849 per month — $0.71 per credit (55% credit discount)
- 8000 Credits — $5,099 per month — $0.64 per credit (60% credit discount)
- 8000+ Credits — bespoke pricing (contact sales)
Notes:
- Credits are consumed per document (e.g., exported invoice, purchase order, supplier statement = 1 credit; employee expense export = 3 credits).
- Pricing is quoted in USD on the US pricing page and billed monthly; the site states pricing are quoted in USD and recurring monthly payment is made via card.
- The site states an optional setup/onboarding package may be available (price not listed) and some Enterprise features (SSO) incur additional charges.
