Lightyear Pricing for Bookkeeping Clients 2026

Lightyear pricing combines a monthly document-credit plan with any applicable integration or premium-feature charges. Budget from the client’s document mix and purchasing needs, then keep the subscription separate from your bookkeeping and setup fees.

Read the Australian Pricing Terms

Lightyear’s Australian pricing page covers purchasing and accounts payable. It is the bill-processing product at lightyear.cloud, separate from investment services and telecommunications products with the same name.

Essentials includes 125 monthly credits and Standard includes 250. Professional starts at 500 credits with custom pricing. The page advertises a 30-day rolling contract with unlimited users and sub-entities, so staff numbers alone do not determine the bill.

Use the Australian offer for an Australian client. Record the currency and GST basis beside the amount in the accepted quote. The linked Access core terms describe fees as exclusive of tax, with applicable tax added. Keep the order and any product-specific terms with the engagement records, because these form part of the agreement.

A useful quote identifies the credit allowance, billing period and selected features. It also separates recurring charges from one-off work. That lets the client authorise the software expense without confusing it with your practice’s fee.

Count the Documents That Use Credits

Count credit events, because receiving a bill and exporting it happen at different times. Lightyear’s published rules allocate credits as follows.

A purchase order and its eventual supplier invoice are separate events. Include both when the client uses purchasing. A statement adds another event even when its invoices already appear in the bill count.

Fictional Monthly Document Mix

The following example is invented for a client using purchase orders. The bill count includes exported or archived documents only. Expense reports are counted separately from ordinary receipts.

The normal month consumes 230 credits from 222 counted documents and reports. The heavier month consumes 335 credits from 323. Treating every item as one credit understates expense-report use.

Compare the Features and Additional Charges

Choose the feature level before sizing the allowance. Essentials includes extraction, approval workflows and statement reconciliation, alongside purchase orders and expenses. Standard adds goods received notes, three-way matching and inventory. Professional adds white labelling and a dedicated account manager.

Enterprise single sign-on carries additional setup and recurring charges. Integration charges depend on the connected accounting software. Setup is optional, while telephone, email and chat support are included. Separate these items in the proposal instead of assuming every client pays every extra.

Overage is optional and bills excess credits in the next cycle at the current per-credit rate. Six-month bulk billing is another option, with some premium features charged separately. Compare the commitment as well as the expected usage.

For a client receiving goods against purchase orders, matching requirements can decide the tier even when document volumes are low. For approval-led work, compare the separate ApprovalMax pricing guide using the same client workload and integration needs.

Cost the Client’s Monthly Work

Build the monthly budget in separate lines for the software and the work your practice performs. In the fictional example, assume an agreed allowance of 250 credits and enabled overage. This is a budgeting assumption, not a quotation.

The normal month’s 230 credits leave 20 unused within that allowance. The heavier month’s 335 credits exceed it by 85. Multiply those 85 credits by the contracted overage rate to estimate the following cycle’s extra charge.

For each month, add the applicable software charges to the agreed bookkeeping fee. Record GST on the correct basis for each line. Keep one-off implementation outside the recurring total so the client can compare the first month with later months.

Have the client own the subscription unless your engagement expressly assigns that responsibility to the practice. Name the person who can authorise a plan change and decide who absorbs overage. Your bookkeeping onboarding checklist can record the client’s authority and access arrangements before work starts.

Assign the bookkeeper a monthly usage review. Lightyear’s credit-usage guidance explains Billing Overview and Transaction History, including CSV export. Compare actual credit events with the budget and investigate recurring excess usage before the next billing cycle.

Check Changes, Cancellation and Retained Records

Lightyear’s plan-change instructions allow a new plan immediately or at the next billing date. Revisit the allowance when the heavier month becomes routine.

The advertised trial lasts 30 days. Before converting, the subscription owner must approve the paid plan and its billing terms, including the overage choice. Keep that approval with the agreed recurring budget.

For monthly subscriptions, the cancellation instructions direct the administrator to Billing Overview, Cancel plan and Confirm. Remaining credits expire at the next renewal date. Complete the final export and record the cancellation confirmation.

Lightyear’s archive guidance describes eight-year document storage. Bills, credit notes and purchase orders require at least one bill exported or manually archived using a paid credit. Statements run from their statement date, and attachments follow their source document. Preserve your own required records before access arrangements change.

Use a handover list when the client changes provider.

1. Save approved bills and credit notes with their attachments and purchase-order evidence.
2. Preserve the approval history and the record of who changed or exported each document.
3. Export document reports and keep the accounting export-batch references needed to reconcile the final balance.
4. Record integration permissions and arrange authorised disconnection after the final transfer is checked.
5. Confirm the client’s future archive access and store the handover files where the client and authorised bookkeeper can retrieve them.

Match the signed order’s notice and exit provisions to the cancellation plan. The linked Access core terms also form part of the contract documents. An in-product cancellation and a separately agreed contract commitment need to be considered together.

Keep Bill Processing Separate From Client Onboarding

Tax Genie handles guided client onboarding for your practice. Rules and AI check the client’s answers, automatic reminders chase missing information and engagement letters are generated for online signing. Your team spends less time correcting forms and sending follow-up emails.

Lightyear handles the client’s purchasing and accounts-payable documents, including extraction and invoice approval. Keep its usage budget attached to that client’s bill-processing work.

A practice can use Tax Genie to collect checked client details and a signed engagement letter, then manage the client’s supplier bills in Lightyear. Assign each job its own owner and records. Budget for each job separately, without assuming that the two products exchange data automatically.