Sonnel Hospitality
Sonnel are one of Sydney's largest hotel groups with many hotels across Australia. They 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 Hospitality.
What were the pain points you needed Lightyear to solve?
We had a number of pain points that we needed an automation solution to solve for us including;
- Simplifying our accounts payable processes.
- Speeding up our processing time.
- And reducing the amount of human error that could occur whilst paying our supplier bills.
Were you previously using an Accounts Payable solution, if so, what was it and why have you moved?
We were, and currently are still using Netsuite as out accounting software, however we use Lightyear to process our bills and export them into Netsuite.
Why have you chosen to implement Lightyear?
When we looked at other providers we decided that Lightyear was the one that best suited our needs and they have simplified our processes and made them as seamless as possible.
Is Lightyear your first AP automation app and how easy did you find implementation?
Yes, Lightyear is our first AP automation app and as for implementation it was a breeze. The onboarding team were very helpful and had us up and running in no time.
Did you avail of our Let's Get Going (onboarding) program and how useful did you find it?
Yes we availed of the program, our Accounts Payable team found them to be particularly helpful. They were professional, answered all of our questions in a timely manner and made implementation easy.
Were you happy with the level of customisation available to you?
I was happy, further customisation would have been great, but I understand that every business wants their own customisation which wouldn't be feasible.
Pre-lightyear, how long did you spend on these Accounts Payable tasks?
- Manually entering in data into accounting software per month: 30+ Hours
- Getting approval to pay 1 bill: 7-10 Days
- Finding 1 supplier invoice: 10 Minutes
- Compiling accurate financial reports: 3-4 Hours
Since implementation how long is your team spending on the same Accounts Payable tasks?
- Manually entering in data into accounting software per month: Less than 2 Hours
- Getting approval to pay 1 bill: 3-5 days
- Finding 1 supplier invoice: Less than 1 minute
- Compiling accurate financial reports: 1-2 hours
Since implementing Lightyear, on average, how many supplier bills did you need to go back and fix errors with your Accounts Payable data in your accounting software?
- 10% or less
What percentage on costs are you saving on your overall accounts payable functions and have you been able to take advantage of early payment discounts?
Since joining with Lightyear we are saving 20-30% on overall costs each month, which is fantastic. We have also been able to avoid late fees and take advantage of most early payment discounts.
See what our other customers say about Lightyear
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.
