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Comparison · Light vs Mesh Payments

Light vs Mesh Payments

Mesh Payments is a travel and expense platform with corporate cards, expense management, travel booking and early-access bill pay. An orchestration layer applies policy across them, and transactions sync to your ERP. Light is one agentic ledger where cards, expenses, bills, vendor payments, billing and consolidation sit in the same books.

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At a glance

Light and Mesh Payments, compared

Light and Mesh Payments, compared
FeatureLightMesh Payments
One system for spend and the general ledgerMesh Payments: cards, expenses and travel sync continuously to NetSuite or the ERP you already runYesNo
Group consolidation and intercompany eliminationsMesh Payments: entity-level policies, approvals and multi-book support, with spend viewed in total or by entityYesNo
Corporate and virtual cardsMesh Payments: Visa virtual cards, a numberless physical card and local-currency cardsYesYes
Expense capture and approvalsMesh Payments: Mia matches and codes receipts and routes out-of-policy charges for approvalYesYes
Accounts payable and vendor bill payMesh Payments: bill pay is in early access, with AI reading bills, approvals routed by amount, vendor or entity, and payments by ACH or MASAVYesYes
Accounts receivable and customer invoicingMesh Payments: covers outgoing spend, travel and bill paymentsYesNo
Subscription billing and deferred revenueMesh Payments: SaaS spend management covers the subscriptions you pay for, with cards locked to each vendorYesNo
Financial statements (P&L, balance sheet)Mesh Payments: real-time spend reports with filters and custom fields; financial statements come from the connected ERPYesNo

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

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Put spend on the ledger

Mesh Payments runs cards, expenses and travel, with bill pay in early access, and syncs transactions continuously to NetSuite or the ERP you already run. Light's agents capture, code and post spend inside its own ledger, under your finance team's controls.

  1. 01

    Bill customers in the same books

    Mesh Payments covers outgoing spend, travel and bill payments. Light also handles customer invoicing, contract-based billing and deferred revenue, so the P&L and balance sheet come from the system that holds the spend.

  2. 02

    Run every entity on one ledger

    Mesh Payments sets spend policies and approvals per entity and shows spend in total or by entity. Light holds every entity on one ledger and consolidates as transactions post, with intercompany eliminations included.

When to choose Light

  1. 01

    The ledger is included

    Light is the system of record: spend, AP, AR and the general ledger in one platform, with no ERP decision left open.

  2. 02

    Close every entity at once

    Consolidation and eliminations update as transactions post.

  3. 03

    Billing and revenue in the books

    Contract invoicing and deferred revenue post straight to the ledger, so nothing needs a tie-out.

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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
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Built for the daily work

A bill open in Light on a laptop
01

Bills through to payment

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

02

Room to grow

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

A laptop with reports on a desk
03

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.

Managing expenses on the Light mobile app
01

Expenses

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

Light open on a laptop in a quiet booth
02

Vendors

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

A Light card beside a phone and a laptop on a desk
03

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 Mesh Payments a general ledger?

No. It is a travel and expense platform that syncs transactions, vendor bills and reimbursements to NetSuite or the ERP you already run. Light is the ledger itself.

Does Mesh Payments consolidate entities?

It sets spend controls and approvals per entity and shows spend in total or by entity, with multi-book support. Light consolidates every entity on one ledger as transactions post.

When does Mesh Payments fit?

When travel and expense is the main problem to solve and you want cards, booking, policy and receipt chasing in one platform beside the ERP you keep.

Does Light issue cards?

Yes. Light issues corporate and virtual cards with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and the spend posts to the same ledger as the bills and the accounts.

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