80+
Countries with local payment rails, native to the ledger
Comparison · Light vs AFAS
Light vs AFAS
AFAS is an integrated Dutch business suite, strongest in HR and payroll, with finance built around an administration per legal entity and one base currency per environment. Light runs the whole group in one AI-native ledger: continuous consolidation, multi-currency by default, with AP, AR, cards and spend in the same system and agents that do the work.
Book a demo$2B
Revenue Tillo runs on Light across 8 entities
76%
Cut in Tillo's month-end processing time
4
People on the finance team scaling Lovable to $500M revenue
Compare Light vs AFAS
| Light | AFAS | |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation | Weeks, with a dedicated implementation team and account manager included | Led by AFAS's own consultants or a certified partner, billed separately at day rates on top of the subscription |
| Architecture | One AI-native ledger; consolidation posts as transactions happen | One integrated suite for HR, payroll, finance and CRM; an environment holds one base currency, typically with an administration per legal entity |
| Agents | Agents complete work end to end inside your controls; every action logged and attributable | Workflow-driven automation with an AI assistant that runs tasks inside a workflow; people still complete and approve the work |
| Configuration | Astra learns from your data and suggests workflow and configuration changes to increase performance; applied in-product, no consultants | Set up with AFAS consultants, who train your team to maintain it |
| Subscription management | Contract-based invoicing and deferred revenue automated | Subscription invoicing with deferred revenue spread across the contract term; not built around SaaS revenue metrics |
| Spend management | Corporate and virtual cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay, expense capture via Slack, Teams and email, native to the ledger | Expense claims through its HR workflows; no card product of its own |
| Global bill pay | AP and vendor payments executed on local rails in 80+ countries, from the ledger itself | Payment orders sent straight to the bank through its own connections, domestic and foreign; no payment rails of its own |
| Advanced reporting | Real-time multi-entity reporting with instant drill-down; no spreadsheet exports | Per-administration reporting, with the consolidated total assembled in a separate elimination administration or a consolidation dossier |
| SaaS metrics | ARR, MRR, NRR, churn and cohort metrics computed from the ledger and contracts, in real time | Not native; separate tools |
| Global coverage | Local payment rails in 80+ countries; multi-entity, multi-currency by default | Netherlands, Belgium and the Caribbean; foreign currency is supported per transaction, but an environment reports in a single base currency |
Why finance teams choose Light over AFAS
AFAS earned its place in the Dutch market: a family-owned company whose integrated suite runs HR, payroll, finance and CRM across the Netherlands, Belgium and the Caribbean, with payroll as its undisputed stronghold. For a Dutch organisation that wants those processes in one system, it is a serious answer.
The model shows its limit somewhere specific: when a company becomes a group. Each company is its own administration, an environment carries one base currency, the consolidated figure is assembled through a separate elimination administration, and the daily finance work is completed by people in workflows. Light is built for exactly that case: several entities, several currencies, one AI-native ledger, with consolidation that stays current and agents that carry out the routine work inside controls you define.
Multi-entity: one ledger instead of environments and administrations
In AFAS you work in an environment that holds one main administration and, optionally, sub-administrations, and the environment determines the currency all of them use. Group reporting means summing the administrations and recording elimination entries in a dedicated elimination administration, a periodic exercise that produces the corporate view after the fact. Foreign-currency bookings are converted to the environment's base currency at entry.
On Light there is nothing to assemble. Every entity posts into the same ledger in its own currency, intercompany eliminations and currency translation apply as transactions happen, and you drill from the group figure straight down to the underlying document. The consolidated position is a report you open, not a project you schedule.
Scope, honestly: Light does not replace AFAS HR and payroll
Worth saying plainly: AFAS's HR and payroll are excellent, and Light does not compete with them. Light is not HR software and not payroll software. This comparison is about the finance side, the ledger, AP, AR, spend, consolidation and reporting, which is where a growing group feels the seams first.
Teams that love AFAS for payroll can keep their payroll wherever it runs best. The question is not whether to leave AFAS entirely, it is whether group finance belongs in a per-country suite or in one ledger.
Where AFAS fits
A Dutch or Belgian organisation that wants HR, payroll and finance in one suite, operating in one country and one currency, is on home ground with AFAS, and switching buys it little.
The calculation changes with the second and third entity, with foreign subsidiaries and currencies, and when the finance team wants group consolidation to be a live view rather than a period-end assembly. That is the point at which the environments, the conversions and the elimination entries start costing more than the software.
Signs you’ve outgrown AFAS
One environment, one reporting currency
AFAS lets you invoice and bank in foreign currency, but the environment itself reports in one base currency and every administration in it shares that base; a subsidiary that reports in another currency means translating at entry or running its books somewhere else. On Light, each entity keeps its own currency and the group consolidates continuously into your reporting currency.
The group figure is assembled, not live
AFAS's documented route to a group figure is to sum the administrations and post intercompany eliminations in a separate elimination administration, or to merge trial balances into a consolidation dossier at period end. On Light, intercompany eliminations and currency translation post as transactions happen, so the group view is current on an ordinary Tuesday, not after the close.
Brilliant at HR and payroll, stretched at group finance
AFAS says 3.8 million people receive their payslip through its software every month, and that side of the suite is not the argument. The finance side is built for Dutch and Belgian companies with local administrations; a multi-entity, multi-currency group is the case it was never designed for.
“We evaluated several vendors. Light won because it covers our full finance stack, revenue, AR, AP, expenses, and consolidation, without stitching together a patchwork of point solutions.”
TanjaDirector of Finance, Omnea
Top 3 reasons leaders pick Light over AFAS
An all-inclusive platform
Leverage native products for AP, AR, Procurement and budgeting that seamlessly leverage AI and integrate to Slack and Teams.
Superior performance
Whether you are processing 100,000 or 50 million transactions, the Light Ledger is based on a hyper-performant database.
Beautiful reporting
Stop the reporting headache of spreadsheets, and get fast, intuitive reports with instant drill-down capabilities.
More reasons to love Light
Enjoy integrated products that both finance and the employees enjoy using.
Expense Management
Automate expense approvals, track spending in real-time, and gain insights with AI-powered analytics.
Vendor Management
Streamline vendor relationships with simplified onboarding, tracking supplier performance, and enforcing procurement policies.
Cards
Issue vendor and employee cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay globally. Upload receipts via Slack, Teams or email.
Frequently asked questions
Is Light a good alternative to AFAS?
For the finance side of a multi-entity, and especially international, group: yes. One ledger for every entity, continuous consolidation, multi-currency by default, and agents that carry out the work. For HR and payroll, AFAS remains excellent, and Light does not compete there.
Can we keep AFAS for HR and payroll and run group finance on Light?
Yes. Light is not HR or payroll software, so nothing forces that choice. The group's accounting, AP, AR, spend and consolidation run on Light, and the group's accounting, AP, AR, spend and consolidation run on Light.
Does Light cover Dutch requirements?
Light runs your entities in one ledger with the rest of the group, and holds SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 reports. Which filing formats you need, and how the handover to your accountant should work, is worth walking through concretely in a demo.
What is the practical multi-currency difference?
AFAS supports foreign-currency transactions, but an environment reports in one base currency and every administration in it shares that base, so foreign-currency entries are translated to it. On Light, each entity keeps its own functional currency, and translation and intercompany elimination apply continuously, so the consolidated position in your reporting currency is available at any time.