Rare Steakhouse Saved 30% on AP Costs Through Automation
Rare Steakhouse is a proud fixture of Melbourne’s dining scene, renowned for its dedication to quality, consistency, and the art of steak. With three venues across the city, Rare Steakhouse champions premium Australian beef, warm hospitality, and an elevated yet approachable dining experience.
Committed to excellence in both produce and service, Rare Steakhouse operates in a fast-paced, multifaceted environment that requires efficient internal systems. However, the business faced challenges with manual invoice processing and stock control, which consumed valuable time and resources. To support continued growth and streamline operations, Rare Steakhouse sought an AP automation solution to simplify and speed up invoice management.
Stuck in the Slow-Cooked Lane
Rozanne Miller explained that before implementing Lightyear, the team's main pain points were manual invoice handling and stock control.
“We needed a solution that could take the manual work out of processing invoices and give us better control over our stock." says Rozanne.
She further highlighted how manual invoice data entry was time-consuming and added to their AP challenges.
“We were spending nearly 30 hours every month manually entering data into Xero, which left little room for any other work.”
The team adopted Lightyear as their AP automation solution to eliminate these manual challenges and manage their inventory.
Manual AP Removed From The Menu
Implementing Lightyear saved the team significant time, allowing them to focus on valuable tasks.
“Lightyear integrated seamlessly with Xero. Its automatic data extraction feature captured every detail from our invoices in less than 15 seconds, saving us over 25 hours each month.”
Rozanne also explained how Lightyear processed their stock data without needing complex integrations or manual data entry. This helped them keep inventory records accurate and up to date while maintaining their existing systems and workflows.
"Lightyear made the inventory side of our business seamless by extracting all essential product-level data, such as codes, quantities, and prices, directly from supplier invoices. It also gives us the flexibility to export this data in a CSV format, making it easy to integrate with our existing systems and re-export effortlessly whenever adjustments are needed."
Now, the approval process takes just 3 to 5 days.
Well-Done Savings: 30% Off AP Costs
Since implementing Lightyear, the company has saved 30% on costs related to accounts payable functions.
"The 30% cost savings we’ve achieved include the time previously spent chasing approvals, waiting over 15 days to get a single bill approved. Now, that process takes just 3 to 5 days."
Faster approvals have positively impacted the wider business by enabling greater flexibility and efficiency across teams.
"Lightyear has made customising approvals incredibly easy, allowing us to set up workflows that perfectly fit our business needs."
When asked what advice Rozanne would give someone looking at Lightyear for AP automation, she said:
"You have to try Lightyear because it does everything for you. The transition is painless, their customer service is fantastic, and they know the industry. You won’t be disappointed."
| Before Lightyear | After Lightyear | |
| Data entry | 30 hours per month | Less than 2 hours per month |
| Approval time | 15+ days | 3 - 5 days |
| Finding an invoice | 10 minutes | 1 minute |
| Reporting | 4+ hours | Less than 1 hour |
| Rating | ***** |
Its automatic data extraction feature captures every detail from our invoices in less than 15 seconds
See what our other customers say about Lightyear
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Get started with Lightyear today and see how AP automation can help you save time and costs.
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