Comparison · Light vs Coupa
Light vs Coupa
Coupa is a business spend management platform for large enterprises: sourcing, contracts, procurement, supplier invoicing with matching and approvals, expenses, treasury and supplier payments in one suite, with AI across it. It is not an ERP. Coupa runs on top of the ERP you already have, such as SAP, Oracle or NetSuite, and that ERP keeps the general ledger and the financial statements. Light is the agentic ERP where the ledger and the payables are the same system, with AR, corporate cards, procurement, vendor payments on local rails in 80+ countries and consolidation built in.
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Light and Coupa, compared
| Feature | Light | Coupa |
|---|---|---|
| The ERP itself: general ledger and accounting system of record | Yes | No |
| Procurement: purchase requests and purchase orders | Yes | Yes |
| Supplier invoice capture with matching and approvals | Yes | Yes |
| Supplier payments in multiple currencies | Yes | Yes |
| Expense management | Yes | Yes |
| Financial statements and month-end close in the same system as spend | Yes | No |
| One system for both spend and the ledger | Yes | No |
4 week implementation
KPMG global partnership
Remove 4+ tools
700+ apps
The world's most demanding finance teams run on Light.
Keep the transaction together
Coupa runs spend on top of the ERP that keeps your ledger. In Light, the request, the invoice, the approval, the payment and the ledger entry share the same system and audit trail.
- 01
Run both sides of finance
Light includes customer invoicing and receivables alongside payables, cards and procurement. You no longer need a spend platform with a separate ERP behind it.
- 02
Consolidate in the same system
Light consolidates entities and currencies continuously, and pays suppliers on local rails in more than 80 countries.
When to choose Light
- 01
The ledger is included
Light is the system of record: spend, AP, AR and the general ledger in one platform, so there is no separate ERP to choose.
- 02
Pay suppliers from the ledger
Approved bills pay from your own bank accounts on local rails in 80+ countries.
- 03
Close every entity at once
Consolidation and eliminations update as transactions post.
Trusted by the world's
fastest growing companies
See how finance teams run lean and global on Light.
Read customer stories-
“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.”
Tanja, Director of FinanceOmnea -
“Even though we’re three entities, it’s like I’m running a finance department for one entity.”
Thobias, Finance ManagerAlva Labs -
“I really like that Light’s AI already gives me suggestions, GL accounts, cost centers, tax codes. I don’t have to start from scratch.”
Cédric, Finance ManagerOper Credits -
“Nine times out of ten the AI matches everything and posts it to the right account. One click and you’re done.”
Jeppe, CFOKeyShot
Built for the daily work
Bills through to payment
Capture invoices, route approvals and pay vendors from the same system.
Room to grow
One ledger built to handle billions of transactions across your business.
Trace every number
Open a report and drill straight into the transactions behind it.
Spending, under control
Expenses, vendors and cards connected to your ledger.
Expenses
Collect receipts, approve expenses and track spend as it happens.
Vendors
Keep supplier details, bills and approvals together. Apply your purchasing rules as work moves through.
Cards
Issue cards for employees and vendors. Pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay. Send receipts through Slack, Teams or email.
Frequently asked questions
Is Coupa an ERP?
No. It is a business spend management platform that runs on top of the ERP that keeps your general ledger.
Does Light handle invoice approvals and purchase orders?
Yes. Approvals, purchase orders and PO matching run in the same ledger as the payment.
When does Coupa fit?
When you are keeping your ERP and standardising procurement and supplier payments across a large global supplier base.
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