You can send bills into Access Capture by Lightyear by email, by uploading from your desktop, or via the mobile app. Each method is covered below, along with how to extract data from bills once they arrive.
Send bills into Access Capture by Lightyear
Before Access Capture by Lightyear can extract data from your bills, you'll need to send your bills into Access Capture by Lightyear. Currently this can be done via email, or through the Upload function in the Processing tab. Once a bill is uploaded and in your Processing awaiting action, a symbol on the far left of the email line will let you know how the bill was sent into Access Capture by Lightyear.
Desktop upload.
Send via email.
Uploaded via mobile app.
Send bills via email
Every Access Capture by Lightyear account has a unique @lightyear.cloud email address, e.g. [email protected]. You or your suppliers can send bills to this email address to send them into Access Capture by Lightyear. If you're not sure what your Access Capture by Lightyear email address is, you can view it at the top of the Access Capture by Lightyear window.
If a bill is received via email, it will go to one of two places:
Processing Tab: If this is the first time Access Capture by Lightyear has received a bill from this supplier, you'll need to apply a map before we can extract the data. If Access Capture by Lightyear receives a file type that doesn't support automatic data extraction, it will also go to Processing awaiting Manual Entry or Smart Extract.
Approvals Tab: If you have previously received and mapped a bill from this supplier, Access Capture by Lightyear will automatically extract the data and send it through to the Approvals Tab awaiting approval.
If you want to use Smart Extract, you can add +bill (to upload as a bill) or +receipt (to upload as a receipt) to your email address — for example [email protected].
Upload bills from your desktop
Bills can be uploaded directly from your desktop. When in the Processing tab, use the **Upload** button in the top right corner of Panel 1 to upload a bill directly from your computer.
Click this to drag and drop a file into Access Capture by Lightyear, or browse your computer to find a file to upload.
You can add up to 50 files at a time. Once you have selected your files, click the green **Upload** button.
You'll see a notification at the top of the screen once the upload is successful.
The document will arrive with the user's logged-in email address as the source. It can then be managed through the usual Access Capture by Lightyear workflow as if it was received via email. This means it will go to one of two areas:
Processing Tab: If there is no map associated to the bill and your email address, you'll need to apply a map before we can extract the data. If Access Capture by Lightyear receives a file type that doesn't support automatic data extraction, it will also go to the Processing Tab awaiting manual entry.
Approvals Tab: If you have previously uploaded and mapped a bill from this supplier, Access Capture by Lightyear will automatically extract the data and send it through to the Approvals Tab awaiting approval.
There's a limit of 10MB per file. Any file above that size will not upload. Supported file types are below, however only PDF currently supports automatic data extraction.
PDF.
PNG.
TIF.
JPG.
JPEG.
Access Capture by Lightyear will warn you if you try to upload an unsupported file, and will not add it to the upload queue.
Each file uploaded, even if uploaded at the same time, will show as a separate email. The example below shows three files uploaded at once. Group any separate pages into one file before uploading.
Extract your data
Access Capture by Lightyear can extract your data in one of two ways:
Smart Extract
Mapping
Smart Extract uses Access Capture by Lightyear's AI technology to extract your data. Mapping creates a reusable template from your invoice. When you receive a PDF from a supplier for the first time, it routes to your Processing tab as Access Capture by Lightyear hasn't been set up for that supplier yet. Click your document in Panel 1 to see the PDF preview in Panel 3.
If Access Capture by Lightyear detects certain unique fields from the PDF metadata (like a tax number, company reference or email address for example) it will query it's database for existing maps, and will suggest to you the best extraction based on how many times a map has been used. If no map/extraction is suggested to you, fear not... this does not mean that no map exists...
As maps are available to everyone in the Access Capture by Lightyear community, there's a strong chance that a Map already exists for the supplier, so the first thing you'll want to do is search for an existing Map.
Find a map
Select the document in Panel 1:
Then click the large **Map My Data** button to the left in Panel 2:
You can also click the **Find Map** button. Both **Map My Data** and **Find Map** have the same function.
You'll see a pop-up with fields you can use to search for an existing map:
Mapping Type: You can filter what type of map you'd like to find.
Country: Set this to the country the supplier is located in. It's possible that suppliers will have locations in more than one country.
ABN/VAT Number: Search for a supplier using their ABN/VAT Number, which is usually located on the bill itself.
**Supplier Name:** Search for the name of the supplier.
**Mapping Reference:** Each map has its own unique ID. If you know the ID of the specific map you're looking for, enter it here.
A country always needs to be selected, but will default to the country your Access Capture by Lightyear account was created in. Only one other field needs to be populated. Click **Search** and review the results.
You'll see all existing maps for that supplier as a list. A supplier can have more than one map — this happens because users may need different extractions, suppliers may change their bill format over time, and credit notes may need a different map from a standard bill. Access Capture by Lightyear may suggest the most used map for your supplier, but you can try any result to see if there's one you prefer.
Select a map to apply it to your bill. If it fits, you'll see a preview of the extracted data and can click **Use Map** to confirm. If you're not happy with the extracted data, try another map. Once you've found a map, select an Access Capture by Lightyear Supplier from the **Next Step** option. If one doesn't exist, click **+Supplier** to create one.
Creating a supplier profile is fast — it's where you set the default preferences to automate your Accounts Payable. Once you've selected or created a supplier, click **Send to Approvals**. This sets the mapping rule for future bills, so the next time a bill arrives from this supplier it goes straight to your Approvals tab. Access Capture by Lightyear will also ask if you'd like to apply the rule to other bills from this supplier already in your Processing tab.
Supplier map not found
If your search brings back no results, or the results that do come back aren't suitable, you'll see a blue Map For Me button.
Click this button to request a new map from the Access Capture by Lightyear team. Select the map type, add any special notes, then click **Confirm** — we'll create one for you.
The turnaround for a map request is one business day, though we aim to deliver much faster than that. You can check the status of a map request through the symbol on the email in the Processing tab.
A Map for Me request has been sent
A Map has been created
If map creation fails, the notes on the bill will explain why. Once a map has been created, find the Mapping ID in the bill's notes, search for it and apply the map. After a map is applied, it will be used automatically whenever a new bill arrives from that supplier — bills will flow straight into the Approvals tray. When moving a mapped bill from the Processing tab to the Approvals tray, Access Capture by Lightyear will also apply any default GL codes, tax rates or tracking categories set at supplier or product level.
Manual entry
If a map can't be created, or Smart Extract doesn't extract all required details — for example because the bill is missing key supplier information, or a bill number and date — the notes will explain why. You can still enter documents for approval manually. Select the bill in the Processing tab and click the **Manually Enter Data** button in Panel 2:
Panel 2 will then open up and you will be able to enter your data manually.
It may look a bit intimidating at first but it's really straightforward. Fields marked with a red asterisk are mandatory. We can split the fields into two groups: Bill Details and Line Item Details. Mandatory fields are in bold. Select 'View more fields' to see more options.
Bill detail
**Doc Type:** Select whether this is a Service or Line Item bill or credit note.
**Supplier:** Select the relevant supplier from the drop-down.
**Bill #:** The unique invoice number for the bill.
**Bill Date:** The date the bill was issued.
Due Date: Enter a date on which payment for the bill is due (for some accounting software integrations, this is mandatory).
Delivery Date: Enter a delivery date if one is on the bill.
Shipping Date: The date the order was shipped.
Order Date: The date the order was placed.
P/Order #: The purchase order number, if required.
Line item detail
**Product Code:** Unique code for the line item. This field is only applicable if you have selected a Line Item document type.
**Description:** The description or name of the line item.
**Qty:** The quantity of the line item. This field is only applicable if you have selected a Line Item document type.
**Unit Price/Amount:** The price of an individual unit (if a Line Item document type) or the overall line price (if a Service document type).
**Tax Code:** Will be set as your default Taxed or Tax Free rate, but can be changed for each individual line if needed.
**GL Code:** Select the correct code for the line from your chart of accounts.
Tracking Categories: shown as Location/Project in the screen above, but this will change depending on your accounting software. Select the correct Tracking Category for the line if you use these.
Add as many lines as needed by clicking **+ Line Item**. Once you're happy with the data, click **Send to Approvals** — the bill will move to the Approvals tab ready to be processed. Supplier defaults (GL code, tax code and tracking category) apply automatically once the supplier is selected. Default GL codes set in product details do not apply when entering a bill manually.
OCR extraction of images (invoices and receipts)
Using state of the art OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology, Access Capture by Lightyear can extract data from image files in certain formats (PNG, TIF, PDF (Scans) & JPEG).