Cambridge United Made Approvals 7x Faster
Cambridge United Football Club has long been a proud representative of the local community, known for its competitive presence in League One and its deep-rooted commitment to integrity, unity, and excellence. With a mission to be more than just a football club, Cambridge United champions education, health, and inclusion through various community initiatives and outreach programmes.
Operating across both professional sports and community engagement, this multifaceted environment required efficient internal systems to support their growing ambitions. However, Cambridge United faced challenges with manual invoice processing, which consumed valuable time and resources. Hence, the business sought an AP automation solution that seamlessly integrates with their accounting software, Sage.
Caught Offside by Manual Tasks
Anthony Jones, the company's Finance Manager, explained that before implementing Lightyear, the finance team was on the back foot with physically storing invoices.
“We needed a solution that could give us digital storage for our invoices and help cut the constant printing costs." says Anthony.
Anthony also highlighted how manual data entry of invoices was a time-consuming process that further added to their AP challenges.
“What’s worse, our team spent less than 20 hours per month manually entering data into the accounting software.”
To eliminate these manual challenges and save costs, the team implemented Lightyear, the playmaker, as their AP automation solution.
From Red Cards to Green Lights
Implementing Lightyear saved the team significant time, allowing them to focus on valuable tasks.
“Lightyear integrated seamlessly with Sage, saving us 18+ hours of data entry and delivering everything we needed quickly.”
Anthony further added that one of the biggest ROIs received with Lightyear is high-cost savings.
"Implementing Lightyear has allowed us to remove physical storage from the office, creating much-needed space. Everything is digital now, and printing costs are reduced for us. Overall, we’re saving 30 to 40% on our accounts payable functions."
We're saving 30 to 40% on our accounts payable functions
Winning in Extra Time: 7x Faster Approvals
The total time taken for Cambridge United to approve an invoice has reduced from 7 days to just 1 day since implementing Lightyear.
"Not only has the approval time reduced, but finding documents is faster and easier than ever. Before Lightyear, it would take us around 5 minutes just to locate a single supplier invoice. Now, it takes less than a minute."
Faster approvals have had a positive impact on the wider business by enabling greater flexibility and efficiency across teams. There are no more last-minute goals against late payments.
"Some staff no longer have to come into the office just to approve or review invoices."
When asked what advice Anthony would give someone looking at Lightyear for AP automation, he said:
"It will save a lot of time on data entry, filing, and locating invoices, not to mention the eliminated printing costs. It’s transformed the speed and accuracy with which we manage our Purchase Ledger."
| Before Lightyear | After Lightyear | |
| Data entry | 20 hours per month | Less than 20 hours per month |
| Approval time | 7 days | 1 day |
| Finding an invoice | 5 minutes | 1 minute |
| Reporting | 4+ hours | Less than 1 hour |
| Rating | ***** |
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