Comparison · Light vs Vena
Light vs Vena
Vena is a Microsoft-native, Excel-native platform for financial and operational planning, consolidation, close management and reporting. It keeps finance working in a familiar Excel experience on top of its own database, connects to your ERP, CRM and HRIS, and does budgeting, forecasting, workforce planning and scenario modelling well. It is a planning and reporting layer that reads from your general ledger rather than the ledger itself. Light is the agentic ERP where the ledger, the consolidation and budget-versus-actual are the same system, so the numbers you plan against are the books.
Book a demoAt a glance
Light and Vena, compared
| Feature | Light | Vena |
|---|---|---|
| General ledger and accounting system of recordVena: an Excel-native planning, consolidation and reporting platform that loads data from your GL or ERP, not a ledger itself | Yes | No |
| Multi-entity consolidationVena: a genuine strength: Excel-native consolidation with intercompany eliminations, FX translation and ownership logic, on trial balances loaded from your entities | Yes | Yes |
| Budget, forecast and budget-vs-actual varianceVena: a core strength: budgeting, forecasting, driver-based and scenario modelling, and workforce planning, in Excel | Yes | Yes |
| Accounts payable and accounts receivable ledgersVena: AP and AR stay in the ERP or GL Vena integrates with | Yes | No |
| Corporate cards and spend managementVena: not part of the product; Vena plans and reports on spend rather than issuing cards or capturing expenses | Yes | No |
| Vendor payments on local railsVena: not part of the product; Vena is a planning, close and reporting layer | Yes | No |
| Drill-down from group figures to the source bill or invoiceVena: traces consolidated results back to source GL data, down to transaction level; the bills and invoices themselves are held in the ERP | Yes | No |
4 week implementation
KPMG global partnership
Remove 4+ tools
700+ apps
The world's most demanding finance teams run on Light.
Budget on the books
Vena plans on data loaded from your GL into an Excel-native model. Light budgets and forecasts on the ledger's own structure, and every variance drills to the documents behind it.
- 01
Keep daily finance together
Light runs bills, invoicing, cards and payments alongside the general ledger and consolidation. Agents complete routine work within your controls, with a record of every action.
- 02
Check the planning requirements
Vena covers driver-based, scenario and workforce planning in Excel. Light budgets and forecasts on the ledger, and its own FP&A and Management Reporting apps are free with your Light plan. If you need deeper planning than that, Light also connects to dedicated planning tools such as Abacum and Drivetrain.
When to choose Light
- 01
Budget against the books
Budget and forecast on the ledger's own structure, with variances split into operational and currency effects.
- 02
Group reporting is always current
Every entity rolls up in real time, with drill-down to the source document and no exports.
- 03
One product for all of finance
Ledger, cards, bills, billing and consolidation run in one product, so no data has to move between systems.
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 Vena a general ledger?
No. It plans, consolidates and reports on data loaded from your GL and other systems, in Excel.
Can Light replace our planning tool?
Light does budget, forecast and variance on the ledger. If you need driver-based models or scenarios, a dedicated planning tool is the right answer.
When does Vena fit?
When your team plans in Excel and the Microsoft stack, on top of ERPs you plan to keep.
See Light at work
