2 People, 50 Invoices an Hour — Here's How JENKI Matcha Does It
JENKI is a London-based matcha brand founded in 2020 by Claudia and Otto Boyer. Born from a mission to bring exceptional Japanese matcha to the UK, JENKI sources single-origin powder directly from family-run farms in Uji, Japan, working closely with growers to select for flavour, texture, and quality. The brand operates across retail and e-commerce, with six stores located across London - Battersea Power Station, Canary Wharf, Borough Market, Spitalfields, Covent Garden and Selfridges (Oxford Street) - serving a growing community of matcha enthusiasts seeking a considered alternative to coffee.
With more locations came more invoices, greater complexity, and a weekly payment run that needs to be accurate. This placed pressure on the company’s lean finance team, increasing the time required for them to process invoices. This meant finding a system that could handle their AP across different revenue centres, and pushing everything straight into Xero. That’s where Lightyear’s AP automation solution came in.
500+ Invoices. 6 Stores. 2 People
Janine Roberts, Accounts and Payroll Manager at JENKI, explained that they have a very lean finance team of 2, responsible for the AP function across all the stores.
“Within the team at the moment, it’s just Luke, the Finance Director, and me. I am responsible for doing all of the AP processing across the 6 stores, which is 500+ invoices per month.”
When Janine joined as Accounts and Payroll Manager, the business was relying on outsourced bookkeepers. As JENKI grew, and with the current automation software, it made more sense to bring AP in-house rather than continue outsourcing.
“Once I joined, we stopped using the outsourced agents and looked for a more sustainable solution for our accounts payable.”
However, the main challenge was finding the right tool to make that transition viable without adding complexity.
“Both Luke and I knew of Lightyear, and we almost brought it with us. However, before committing, we looked at other automation solutions, but those systems couldn't handle the line-by-line breakdown we needed. With Lightyear, we could do everything we wanted.”
I am responsible for all AP processing across the 6 stores, totalling 500+ invoices per month.
Lightyear - Xero Integration: Seamless Data Sync
“Lightyear is a Godsend. It seamlessly connects with Xero. Setting it up was straightforward without complicated steps, and we were able to link our accounts in just a few clicks. Once connected, everything started flowing automatically.”
Once Lightyear is connected to Xero, it automatically pulls your chart of accounts, supplier records, tax codes, and tracking categories, and keeps both platforms in sync, ensuring consistent data mapping from day one. The Lightyear-Xero integration sits at the centre of how the JENKI Matcha finance function operates day to day.
“I love that it’s paperless. The documents are stored in Lightyear and automatically attached to Xero, so everything is in one place. It really makes me feel much more in control of our accounts payable.”
When asked to rate her confidence in the accuracy of data flowing from Lightyear into Xero, Janine's answer was immediate:
“I'm 99% confident with the data reaching Xero. We do a payment run each week, so I need our accounts payable to be up to date. Now with cleaner data coming into Xero from Lightyear, our AP is up to date every day.”
With Lightyear’s seamless Xero integration and faster invoice processing, the team can scale their workload without increasing headcount.
“I think we definitely would need another person if we didn't have Lightyear AP automation.”
I can now process 50 invoices in just an hour!
50 Invoices Processed In Under 60 Minutes
“With Lightyear set up, I can now process around 50 invoices in just an hour. Also, the system automatically codes products and assigns them to the correct stores. This makes the process much more efficient.”
Janine believes that with Lightyear, they will be able to scale and grow faster.
“As we expand, we will still use the same suppliers. The coding and everything are already set up on Lightyear, so it will work seamlessly when we bring on new stores. It will not really create a massive amount of extra work because of the automation.”
Janine also sees the opportunity to leverage more of Lightyear’s features as the company scales.
“We've talked about using more Lightyear features as we grow. For example, the purchase order side and approvals will become more important as we expand.”
When asked if Janine would recommend Lightyear to other retail businesses, she said:
“I'd definitely recommend it. The setup of the system is quick and easy. It's a product that's very user-friendly.”
See how Lightyear can help your retail business scale with success
See what our other customers say about Lightyear
Sonnel have 14 hotels across Australia and have been using Lightyear since mid 2020 to more efficiently and effectively manage their AP processes.
We spoke with Sanjay de Silva who is the Compliance Officer & Stocktake Manager for Sonnel.
COVID has put a huge pressure on many businesses to reassess how they operate as some business procedures are simply no longer viable.
Healthcare Ireland implemented Lightyear to go paperless with their Accounts Payable as no one could access paper after switching to remote working.
Pizza Pilgrims are a multi-site pizzeria franchise that have been using Lightyear for 5+ years. Their previous process was very manual, with a lot of data entry and checks.
We spoke with both the Financial Director Sophie and the Financial Controller Laura of Pizza Pilgrims, to get their perspective on why they chose Lightyear and more importantly, why they stay with us.
"Lightyear is a cutting edge technology"
Launch was "launched" in 2015 and I took over the ownership in 2018. I needed a solution that would reduce data entry and allow clients to approve their bills.
We spoke with Bookkeeper Lynley Pryde to catch up on all the changes to Launch since she has implemented Lightyear.
"Easy to use & approve bills & export to Xero" - Lynley Pryde
St Basil's have been using Lightyear since July 2020 and have enjoyed 30+% reduction in AP costs, up to 50% increase in efficiency of financial reporting and much more.
The Royce Aged Care have seen marked improvements in their business processes and functions since implementing Lightyear in 2020.
95% of time reclaimed with Archive Search, 80% decrease in bill approval time & 50+% reduction in Financial Reporting time.
Recognised As An Industry Leader
