How Salter Brothers Hospitality Optimised AP During Busy Seasons
Salter Brothers Hospitality (SBH) manages a portfolio of luxury retreat hotels across Australia. The group’s philosophy, The Art of Hospitality, goes beyond service. It’s about creating genuine human connections between guests, spaces, and the people who bring each experience to life. With a team empowered to lead with authenticity and innovation, SBH continues to deliver exceptional, deeply personal guest experiences across its venues.
Managing financial operations across a large, growing portfolio presented challenges for the finance team, particularly in handling invoices during peak hospitality periods and controlling costs. To address these needs, SBH integrated the Lightyear AP automation solution with their accounting software NetSuite to maintain the control needed to sustain their growth trajectory
Facing the Finance Check-In Challenges
Liesa McGrorey, Accounts Team Manager at Salter Brothers Hospitality, explained that with a finance team of 23, including 5 AP specialists, their main focus was automating manual and time-consuming AP tasks.
“We implemented an AP automation software to save time from routine data entry”
She further highlighted that in an industry with tight margins, maintaining control over cash flow was a key priority for them.
“We want to avoid risk of unnecessary losses and duplicate invoice payments, particularly during peak periods when invoice volumes are high.”
Liesa explained that, just two years into the industry, Salter Brothers Hospitality adopted Lightyear as their first accounts payable solution.
Our next focus is rolling out more Lightyear features and integrating it with our inventory systems.
Keeping AP Automation on the Guest List
“The integration between Lightyear and NetSuite is very reliable. Lightyear seamlessly imports new data, such as suppliers and the chart of accounts, into NetSuite without issues. Being able to import and export CSV files also saves us significant time and effort.”
During peak seasons, when invoice volumes increase, Lightyear enables Salter Brothers Hospitality to manage the workload by automating and making AP tasks efficient.
“Lightyear makes managing AP during peak periods much more efficient. Line-by-line automated product coding reduces manual work, and statement reconciliations are faster than ever, recording each action in the audit trail. With the ability to email suppliers directly from the platform and keep all communications in one place, our team can easily pick up tasks and support each other during absences.”
Moreover, Liesa explained that by automating routine AP tasks and helping them control cash flow, Lightyear has redirected their focus from manual processing to enhancing guest experiences.
“Lightyear’s automation features significantly reduce our time spent on routine data entry tasks and gave us greater control over cash flow.”
She further emphasised that delegation of authority is crucial in the hospitality industry, where operations move quickly and decisions often need to be made on the spot.
“Since joining, I’ve reinforced our Delegation of Authority policy by introducing company and supplier approval limits. This change was well received, as it allowed General Managers to delegate invoice approvals to their Heads of Department, giving them greater ownership and accountability for their spending.”
Lightyear automatically records each action in the audit trail.
When Front Desk Meets Finance Desk
“With Lightyear, we now spend only 1 day per month on statement reconciliations.”
The efficiency and time savings have enabled the finance team to process invoices more quickly, creating a smoother and more reliable workflow and freeing up their time for higher-value financial activities.
“The significant time reduction in admin tasks has allowed us to focus more on maintaining accurate data extraction and product lists to ensure optimal efficiency.”
When asked what advice Liesa would give other hospitality finance leaders looking at Lightyear for AP automation to manage operations across multiple properties, she said:
“I would recommend Lightyear to any business looking to streamline their AP processes. It provides greater efficiency, improved visibility, and stronger financial controls. My advice would be to invest time in proper setup and team training from the outset so the benefits of automation can be seen from day one.”
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