Lightyear automatically extracts data from your bills at a line item level, saving you time on manual data entry and giving you more detailed, accurate information to work with.
What line item extraction does
When you email a bill to Lightyear, the system extracts the data from it automatically. Depending on the map type set for that supplier, Lightyear can capture individual line items from each bill, including product codes, quantities, prices, and descriptions.
This level of detail unlocks several benefits:
You can export a CSV file to import into third-party systems, such as those with inventory requirements.
You can run more detailed reports from the Archive to support better business decisions.
Smart coding uses the product code to automatically assign general ledger codes, tax codes, and categories.
Price Checker compares extracted line items against your product catalogue.
Customise your CSV exports
To control what data is included in your exports, you can configure your export settings in Lightyear.
Click Settings, then click Accountancy software.
Click Export Mappings.
Specify the details you need, such as line-level data, invoice headers, tax codes, and account codes.
Enable grouped line items if you want to simplify exports and reduce errors from special characters in individual line items.
Choose the right map type for your supplier
Not all suppliers provide the same level of detail on their bills, and you may not always need full line item data. Lightyear offers three map types to suit different needs:
Product Line maps capture full line item detail, including product codes and quantities. This is ideal for bills where you need to track individual items.
Service Line maps capture line items for service-based bills where product codes are not present.
Service Summary maps capture header-level data only, with no line items. This is common for utility bills.
Lightyear saves your map preference per supplier, so you only need to set it up once. See how to set this up and what data each map type extracts.