Comparison · Light vs Navan
Light vs Navan
Navan is travel and expense management software: business travel booking, expense reports, corporate cards and reimbursements, synced into the accounting system you already run. Light is the agentic ERP that is the ledger, with expenses, corporate cards, AP, AR, global vendor payments and consolidation in the same system. Switching does not mean reissuing cards: keep your Navan cards and bring their transactions into Light.
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Light and Navan, compared
| Feature | Light | Navan |
|---|---|---|
| General ledger and accounting system of recordNavan: syncs pre-coded expenses into NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks, Xero and other ERPs | Yes | No |
| Expense capture, reimbursements and policy controls | Yes | Yes |
| Corporate and virtual cardsNavan: Navan corporate cards, or existing Visa, Mastercard and Amex cards via Navan Connect | Yes | Yes |
| Accounts payable and vendor bill payNavan: payments cover travel bookings and employee spend | Yes | No |
| Accounts receivable and customer invoicing | Yes | No |
| Multi-entity accounting and consolidationNavan: tags spend by legal entity and subsidiary; consolidation runs in your ERP | Yes | Partial |
| Financial statements (P&L, balance sheet)Navan: produced in your connected accounting system | Yes | No |
| One system for spend and the ledgerNavan: two systems by design | Yes | No |
4 week implementation
KPMG global partnership
Remove 4+ tools
700+ apps
The world's most demanding finance teams run on Light.
Put spend on the ledger
Navan manages travel and employee spend and syncs coded transactions into your ERP. Light's agents capture, code and post expenses inside its own ledger, under your finance team's controls.
- 01
Pay every bill from one system
Light handles expenses, supplier bills, customer invoicing and vendor payments on local rails in more than 80 countries. The work stays with the accounts.
- 02
Run every entity on one ledger
Light holds every entity on the same ledger, with continuous consolidation and intercompany elimination, so group reporting is current any day of the month.
When to choose Light
- 01
Your finance team runs the books
Expenses, bills and payments post straight to the ledger, so current figures are there any day.
- 02
Agents do the routine work
They code, match and post inside the controls you set, with every action logged.
- 03
One ledger for every entity
Add a company, a country or a currency without adding another system.
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 Navan a general ledger?
No. It is travel and expense software that syncs transactions into the accounting system you already use.
Do we have to replace our Navan cards?
No. Add your Navan cards to Light as an external card account and bring the transactions in by CSV upload or a continuous push through the Light API. From there the transactions are handled like Light card spend: cardholders are asked for receipts, AI matches and codes each transaction, and it posts to the ledger. Your cards and your plan stay with Navan. If you later move to Light cards, the card transaction and the ledger entry become one record.
Does Light replace our ERP?
Light becomes the accounting system, with spend built in. It is a different choice from adding a spend tool on top of a ledger you keep.
When does Navan fit?
When business travel booking is the main problem to solve and you want to keep your current accounting system.
See Light at work
