Diagnose and fix the most common Smart Extract and mapping problems, including incorrect field extraction, supplier misidentification, map conflicts, and documents stuck in Processing.
Wrong supplier identified
This happens when the document contains ambiguous supplier information, for example, invoices from suppliers like Amazon that include multiple VAT numbers or trading names.
Steps to resolve:
Check whether a predefined map exists for this supplier. Apply it from the Processing tab; it will also apply to future documents from the same supplier.
If no predefined map exists, manually correct the Supplier field in Doc Data > Smart Extract. The field will be highlighted in yellow if it was not extracted.
Fields extracting incorrectly
Smart Extract+ works by identifying Label/Field pairings in the document. Extraction fails when labels are ambiguous, missing, or positioned unusually on the document.
Common causes and fixes:
No clear label beside the field: Smart Extract cannot detect unlabelled fields. Use Smart Extract Edit Mode to manually map the field using Labels, Words, or Tables extraction.
Field is already extracted as a different value: If Lightyear has already assigned a document value to a field, you cannot override it through Smart Extract alone. Return the document to Processing (More > Return to Processing) and correct it from there.
Field is written at the bottom of the document or spans multiple sections: Smart Extract may not detect these. Use Smart Extract Edit Mode and select the correct region manually.
Line items appear in wrong columns: Open Smart Extract Edit Mode and re-map using the Tables extraction method.
Due dates not capturing: Use Smart Extract Edit Mode and apply a Label or Words extraction targeting the due date field.
Auto Smart Extract not triggering
If invoices or credit notes are not automatically being processed by Smart Extract, or are not routing to the Approvals tab, a manual map for that supplier is most likely overriding Auto Smart Extract.
Steps to resolve:
Use the Disregard Map feature to remove all active maps for the supplier. Maps take priority over Auto Smart Extract and prevent it from triggering automatically.
Process one new document from that supplier using Smart Extract. This saves the automation rules in the supplier's settings so future documents route automatically to Approvals.
Auto Smart Extract only applies to documents entering the system after the feature is enabled. There is no bulk option to retroactively process documents already in Processing; each must be downloaded and re-uploaded individually, or Smart Extract triggered by clicking More > Switch Extraction > Smart Extract.