80+
Countries with local payment rails, native to the ledger
Comparison · Light vs Business Central
Light vs Business Central
Microsoft Business Central takes a long time to implement and you need a lot of third party solutions to make it work. Choose Light to go live quickly, and get AP, virtual cards, procurement controls as well as consolidated reporting and multi-entity accounting.
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 Business Central
| Light | Business Central | |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation | Weeks, with a dedicated implementation team and account manager included | 3–9 months, VAR/partner-led |
| Architecture | One AI-native ledger; consolidation posts as transactions happen | Per-company databases; consolidation via add-ons |
| Agents | Agents complete work end to end inside your controls; every action logged and attributable | Dynamics Copilot, assistive |
| Configuration | Astra learns from your data and suggests workflow and configuration changes to increase performance; applied in-product, no consultants | Consultant-led; VAR-managed configuration and ISV add-ons |
| Subscription management | Contract-based invoicing and deferred revenue automated | Subscription billing via ISV add-ons |
| Spend management | Corporate and virtual cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay, expense capture via Slack, Teams and email, native to the ledger | Marketplace add-ons |
| Global bill pay | AP and vendor payments executed on local rails in 80+ countries, from the ledger itself | Payment journals and bank exports; per-country localization packs |
| Advanced reporting | Real-time multi-entity reporting with instant drill-down; no spreadsheet exports | Via Power BI, separately configured |
| SaaS metrics | ARR, MRR, NRR, churn and cohort metrics computed from the ledger and contracts, in real time | Not native; via Power BI or ISV add-ons |
| Global coverage | Local payment rails in 80+ countries; multi-entity, multi-currency by default | Localizations via partners, per country |
Why finance teams choose Light over Microsoft Dynamics
Business Central keeps each company in its own database. That single architectural fact drives the rest of the experience: consolidation via add-ons and exports, localization via per-country packs, and a VAR on retainer to hold the estate together. It is Microsoft-solid and partner-shaped.
Light inverts the shape: entities are dimensions of one ledger, consolidation posts continuously with eliminations and FX, and the finance team runs the platform directly, with agents doing the daily work.
Implementation: weeks, without the VAR
BC implementations run 3 to 9 months through value-added resellers, and every localization pack, ISV module and change request routes back through the partner. Light implementations run in weeks with Light's own team, and 80+ countries of rails and tax logic ship in the platform.
Architecture: one ledger, not one database per company
A 6-entity group on BC is 6 databases and an add-on to stitch them; on Light it is one ledger where group reporting is the default view, drillable to any entry in any entity. Intercompany eliminations post as transactions happen instead of at consolidation time.
Cards, AP and payments
BC handles payments through payment journals and bank exports, with spend in marketplace add-ons. Light issues cards natively, captures receipts in Slack and Teams, and executes vendor payments on local rails from the ledger itself.
Dynamics Copilot vs agents that post
Dynamics Copilot drafts and summarizes inside the old workflow. Light's agents complete the workflow: coding, matching, reconciling, chasing and posting inside your approval thresholds, with every action logged and attributable.
Cost of ownership
BC's licence is modest; the VAR hours, ISV add-ons and localization packs are not. Light ships whole, implemented in weeks, operated by the finance team.
Signs you’ve outgrown Business Central
Consolidation is an add-on
Business Central keeps each company in its own database; group reporting means add-ons and exports. Light consolidates continuously across entities on one ledger.
Your VAR is on speed dial
Localization packs, ISV modules and change requests all route through a partner. Light ships multi-entity, multi-currency and localized rails out of the box.
Copilot describes; agents do
Dynamics Copilot summarizes and drafts. Light's agents complete the work: coding, matching, reconciling and chasing, logged and inside your controls.
“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 Business Central
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 Microsoft Dynamics Business Central?
For multi-entity groups, yes: Light replaces per-company databases and consolidation add-ons with one continuously consolidating ledger, native spend, and agents doing the work.
How long does migration from Business Central take?
Weeks, with Light's implementation team moving each company database into the unified ledger, history and open items included.
We are a Microsoft shop. Does Light fit?
Light runs approvals and receipt capture natively in Microsoft Teams, exports to Excel, and connects to the rest of your stack. Being a Microsoft shop does not require a per-company ERP.
Does Light cover our countries without localization packs?
Local rails and tax logic across 80+ countries are part of the platform, not per-country purchases.
See the Light
Ready to un-ERP? The world's most complex finance teams already did.