Connect your company's bank accounts to Light to enable automatic transaction feeds and reconciliation. This article covers bank account setup and the connection process.
Last updated Jul 22, 2026 · 5 min read
Connecting bank accounts enables:
Light supports connections to major banks in US, Europe, and Asia through providers like Plaid, GoCardless, Stripe and Host-to-Host (AMC) integrations.
Ensure you have:
To add a new bank account to Light:
To enable automatic transaction imports, authorize Light to access your bank account:
Important: Light never stores your banking password. You authenticate directly with your bank each time. Your bank shares only transaction information with Light, not passwords or credentials.
Light supports transaction feeds from:
Plaid (United States) - Connects to thousands of banks in the United States
GoCardless (Europe, UK) - Covers European and UK banks including Revolut, Wise, Starling, and traditional banks
Stripe (Payment Processing) - For Stripe payment accounts
AMC (Host-to-Host) - For banks not covered via Plaid and GoCardless - note your bank may charge you a fee for setting this up. Timeline is often 2-3 months depending on the bank.
Not all banks support all providers e.g. J.P. Morgan and HSBC is not supported via Plaid in the US while Gocardless do not support J.P. Morgan in the UK. If your bank isn't available via your preferred provider, you can always upload the bank feed manually or inquire Light about options for Host-to-Host integration support.
Bankgiro is the primary payment method for Swedish business-to-business transactions. Swedish customers expect to see a Bankgiro number on their invoices to process payment, so adding it to your bank account lets Light display it on the documents you send.
To add a Bankgiro number:
Once saved, update your invoice template to display the Bankgiro number on invoices. See Invoice templates for details.
Note: The Bankgiro field is optional and appears only when the bank country is set to Sweden. If you invoice internationally using BIC/IBAN only, no action is needed.
If your account holds multiple currencies, specify the base currency for reporting:
The bank account is associated with one currency, but Light can match it with invoices in different currencies using FX conversion.
For each company entity and currency, set a default bank account for payments:
You can override the default for individual payments if needed.
Each bank account is mapped to a ledger account for posting to your general ledger:
The mapping is checked when posting—if the account doesn't exist, posting will fail.
Good to know: Each bank account must be mapped to its own unique ledger account code — Light will reject a ledger account code that is already in use by another bank account. Use a consistent numbering scheme (e.g., 1010, 1011, 1012 for accounts at the same bank) to keep reconciliation and reporting easy to follow.
Bank accounts can be:
Active - Enabled and visible for transactions
Inactive - Disabled and hidden from most screens
Expired - Bank feed connection has expired (re-authorize required)
If a connection expires (your bank requires periodic re-authorization), you'll see a notification to re-authorize.
To change the display name of a bank account in Light:
The updated name will appear in bank reconciliation and throughout Light.
Note: The bank account name is separate from the label of its linked ledger account. Renaming the ledger account in Chart of accounts changes how it appears in your financial records, but the bank account name shown in bank reconciliation is managed in Settings > Bank accounts.
Bank feed authorizations may expire after a period set by your bank (for example, UK banks limit access to a maximum of 90 days per authorization):
To stop importing from a bank account:
You can re-authorize later if you change your mind.
"Cannot find my bank" - Check that you selected the correct country and bank name. Try a different provider (Plaid vs. GoCardless).
"Login fails at the bank" - Ensure you're using correct credentials. Some banks require special app passwords for third-party access.
"Connection times out" - Try again later. Your bank's servers may be temporarily unavailable.
"Connection succeeded but no transactions appear" - Bank feeds sync on a schedule (daily or twice a day depending on the feed), so it can take up to a day for the first transactions to appear. If it takes longer, check that your account has recent activity and the connection status shows "Linked".
Light validates bank account details:
Invalid account details prevent adding the account. Double-check the IBAN or routing number if validation fails.
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