Light vs DATEV

DATEV is built around the tax advisor relationship: one Mandant per company, and a group picture assembled from closing data once the period is done. Light runs the whole group in one agentic ledger, with AP, AR, cards and spend in the same system, consolidation that stays current, and agents that do the work.

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  • 4 week implementation
  • KPMG global partnership
  • Remove 4+ tools
  • 700+ apps

The world's most demanding finance teams run on Light.

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Light and DATEV, compared

FeatureLightDATEV
Can run billions of transactions
Immutable ledger
Global bill pay
Spend management
Subscription management
Treasury intelligence
700 native built apps
Big4 implementation team
Workflows and agents

One ledger across companies

DATEV uses a separate Mandant for each company. Light keeps entities together, with consolidation and currency translation updating as transactions post.

Connect spend to the accounts

Light includes cards, expenses and vendor payments. Receipts, approvals and entries stay connected in the same system.

Keep your adviser involved

Your Steuerberater gets live access to the ledger and reports. Light’s implementation team handles the move with your finance team.

When to choose Light

One ledger for every entity

Add a company, a country or a currency without adding another system.

Close every entity at once

Consolidation and eliminations update as transactions post.

Cards and expenses built in

Spend posts to the same ledger as everything else.

“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

Built for the daily work

Bills through to payment

Capture invoices, route approvals and pay vendors from the same system.

Uploading a bill to Light for AI extraction

Room to grow

One ledger built to handle billions of transactions across your business.

The Light ledger with live transactions

Trace every number

Open a report and drill straight into the transactions behind it.

Real-time reporting in Light with drill-down

Spending, under control

Expenses, vendors and cards connected to your ledger.

Expenses

Collect receipts, approve expenses and track spend as it happens.

Managing expenses on the Light mobile app

Vendors

Keep supplier details, bills and approvals together. Apply your purchasing rules as work moves through.

Vendor and bill management in Light

Cards

Issue cards for employees and vendors. Pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay. Send receipts through Slack, Teams or email.

A Light payment card

Frequently asked questions

Does DATEV offer consolidation?

Yes. DATEV Konsolidierung works with imported closing data; Light consolidates continuously.

Can we keep our Steuerberater?

Yes, with live access to your ledger and reporting.

How do we check German requirements?

Review your filing formats and adviser handover in the demo. Light supports German entities, local payments and VAT handling.

See Light at work

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