I feel like I have better control over our inventory and forecasting. Using Lightspeed, we've been able to upload inventory checks quicker and keep our numbers tighter. A lot of it is trial & error, as the wait time for customer support can take days, if not longer. The community section is very helpful to find others in the same situation. Overall, I am glad our company made the switch.

I love the reporting and custom reports. As a Parts Manager I live in data and the reporting is a huge help in managing our inventory. The labels are easy to create and special orders have the last name which helps the techs. I appreciate the options for multiple BIN locations (as we have more than one workspace), the availability to see the Yamaha availability from an invoice, and the ability to export the order to the supplier's website.

The Service Scheduler can use some more improvement based on a marine repair shop which moves differently than other repair shops. I wish some of the options on the mobile app (tech notes, job complete) were available on the desktop version; and vice-versa (more Parts options on the mobile side: scan barcodes, inventory, add parts to RO).

A more clear picture of the business functionality as a whole.

How this software connects all of the departments throughout all levels of the business. Sometimes it can seem like too much, but I think overall it is more beneficial to the company to have the software work this way.

Too many different ways to achieve the same result. I often just want the best, quickest, easiest way to achieve something - instead I am told you could do it this way or that way. To me that is not helpful and can lead to errors and confusion.

Our experience with Lighspeed has been terrible since day one. Our rollout was terrible mostly due to lack of communication on the part of our project leader on this end. However, after that, it's all on CDK and the crappy software. Training was absolutely horrible. We would have been better off on our own than listening to the person they sent to train us on-site. She gave us not only conflicting information and instructions, but totally incorrect information we later learned. Functions and features we were told were operational during the sales pitch and "demo" are still not up and running. Every new feature requires a paid subscription. Suddenly, while creating options they way we had for the previous 4 years, when parts and labor were not accounted for properly in the deals, we were told it was because we were doing it wrong. Support calls go unanswered and unresolved for sometimes weeks. The general ledger is massive and extremely complicated to follow. At one point CDK told us we should have hired "accounting people". What? We are a powersports dealership. We have an accountant. One is all we have ever needed. We would have already switched to another dms had we not been locked into a contract that was too expensive to get out of. We are currently demoing and evaluating other systems that are available to us and will be moving on as soon as possible. IF LIGHTSPEED WORKED, it would be an awesome product.

I can't think of a single thing I like about it.

The sales module is so glitchy something that should take 10 minutes can sometimes take up to 2 hours.

The software is very comprehensive and fully integrated for all departments in our business.

Lightspeed is very slow at making user recommended enhancements.

Good with some limitations and necessary work arounds

Overall integration of accounting with the different modules.

Not being able to filter data on screens without building and running a special report. This applies to Sales, Pars and Service modules

We have been with this company since 1995. I realize technology costs money. But as a person that only calls once in a great while I wish the monthly fees were more economical. We have converted versions twice (Unix to NXT to EVO). Each time was a nightmare. There is no such thing as seamless conversion. It has been nearly 3 years and I still have sales categories that are not set up and when they get used I have to map the GL accounts to about 40 GL interface lines PER sales category. Mind you these sales categories existed prior to the conversion. NXT read them differently than EVO does so each has to be done line by line by line.

I like that all departments are integrated.

Quirks that are different from previous Lightspeed platforms. Off the top of my head the precheck report is cumbersome and hard to read. It is annoying when writing a group of checks. I have to mark the checks in Preview to verify the totals then I have repeat the process in Pay Invoices only there is no total to balance to. Many times I thought I checked a vendor but unless I go slowly and watch to see if it actually checked the vendor I may have missed a vendor. There should be number of checks to be written and dollar total. I wish they put a first and a last name field in security. I cannot alphabetize my timecard reports by last name. I have to settle for first name. I switched it and then their name looks weird on invoices. Not to mention I have an employee with 2 first names and another with the same first name as one with a first name as his last name! I wish I could refund service contract tax on a sales deal when processing a cancellation refund. It is not acceptable to run it through parts when it is a commissionable sales department transaction. I have a work around but it is lengthy and time consuming. These are things that come to mind. I could keep going.

Support is Horrible. It is Brutal, Torturous, Ridiculous, and Extremely Stressful. From nearly the beginning, getting support for the product was a pain because of long hold times on the phone. But in the past 10 years, it has gotten Worse By The Year. I can honestly say that my company is getting 50% less out of the product than we otherwise Could, if we could get support in a timely manner. I am talking an hour or more on hold, and THEN... you get a nice enough tech support person, but more than half of the time, they are not sufficiently trained to help resolve your problem. Whenever my people have a question or an issue, the Lament begins because we KNOW that it will be a Good While before we can get an answer to our issue. In nearly All Cases, my people Don't call for support because they simply don't have the amount of time needed to wait on endless hold, so I, the owner of the company, have to school myself on What The Issue At Hand Is and then contact support and wait forever on hold The Self Service Support, Service Connect, is very clunky to use and rarely resolves a support issue I have. And as for trying to avoid the Absurdly Long Phone Hold Times, Submitting a Case in the Service Connect Portal, FORGET IT. That Takes Even Longer to get an answer, Much Longer. And when they had Chat, which I am not sure if they still do, it NEVER Worked. And What Is Up with No Support on Weekends???!!? Don't they Know that the Boat Business is a Saturday Business??

It has a good amount of features that are very meaningful .

Support is Horrible. It is Brutal, Torturous, Ridiculous, and Extremely Stressful. Implementation of new features including Extra Cost Add-Ons is Terrible. Things don't work as represented, and then you can't get decent support to get things resolved.

Even though certain things are a little hard to accomplish the overall experience has been pleasant. From easy training to great back up help from remote support. We get it done ☺

The software is easy to learn (especially with the online classes/training) when it comes to the basics-customer information input along with adding units.

As a marina based company that uses LightSpeed for everything it is most difficult when it comes to monthly billing (the actual payment collection process not invoicing) and then using a 'storage spot' while the active customer is just away temporarily. and also there is not a way to send a mass email to a selective group or even all customers, has to be done one by one.

its good just needs some help on Marine side.

For the most part I do like the purchasing program. except for listed below All of accounting is good. the program is good just need to be updated and adjusted some.

Was promised a way to have jobs declined on work orders for future reference has never happened. Cannot move or insert jobs to be in order for work to be done. Can't use bulletin check because has to be separate unit in system but the way we look at (Boat, Motor Trailer) one unit based on Hull Id number. bulletin lookup need to have a algorithm to look at engine number on total unit Need to be able to track unit based on Hull Id Number for past work preformed on unit. In purchasing the part number should be in system only once no matter whom you buy if from i know this can be don had it on another program that had 1 part number with multiple supplier showing their price.

My experience with Lightspeed has been excellent. The implementation was very easy and the support people are all super knowledgeable and great to work with. The product is seamless and contains all of the operational side functionality that we need.

The Lightspeed software covers all aspect of our business from parts and unit sales to purchasing, store operations and all aspects of accounting. The system has good controls to ensure all modules "play nice" with each other. It is generally pretty intuitive and easy to use. It is a very well thought out system.

It would be great if there was a little more functionality in the general ledger and payables modules. Also, customer service availability is limited and often have long wait times. For a product like this customer service should have much greater availability.

Nothing works together in a simple transaction. Not a user friendly program at all. Accounting does not work well with the rest of the program. Too many keystrokes per transaction. Ridiculous to say the least. Only being able to use Worldwide for Credit Card SUCKS!!!!!! They are the worst.

I dont know of any pros this program offers. One of the most difficult programs I have ever worked with in my life.

Too many key strokes to accomplish a single task. Does not carry over info to corresponding places. Should not have to reconcile accounts daily. That is ignorant for an accounting person. My list is very long.... Service Connect is way too broad usually doesnt answer the question you have to go to several searches to figure it out. Customer Service only puts a band aid on the issue generally creating other issues and they never can help when you ask and accounting question. As well as being put on hold many times throughout the call. To the point we dont like to call for help unless we are completely stuck.

Overall I would say it is a decent option for us if we could get a little better support and they could work on a few holes in the sales portion of the software it would be everything we could ask for.

We liked the Point of Sale portion of the software for the over the counter sales and its ability to integrate or price books from our vendors. In the demo it seemed easy to use. The Service portion of the software is a strong segment and integrates well with the POS portion.

When it comes to the Sales Deals segment of the software there are a few holes that need some ironing out. The support staff is marginal at best, if you get the right person the may know the software but if you get the average person they seem to be lost with most questions.

We were told they could give us reports like we had. They said they had developed the same reports for other dealers. During the software installation I told the installer to make sure he did that and go over with our controller. I later found out he did not he said he didn't have enough time and left. When we asked for help we were stalled or they didn't know what we were talking about. I saw the salesmen at a show a year later he assured me you could still do that introduced me to his sales manager who said they could asked me to have my controller call. We have now been told no one at Lightspeed knows anything about it and we would have to go to an outside contractor to do it.

Over all service and ship store likes the program To date we still do not have the integration we were promised.

It doesn't give us the reports we were promised when we were sold the software.

Sometimes the technicians are not super knowledgeable when calling lightspeed. I have been told incorrect information on multiple occasions. The wait times when starting a case are also getting outrageous. Every time I am on hold for at least an hour.

I like how integrative the system as a whole is, and all the checks and balances in place. I also like that it is relatively easy to use and that service connect can answer most questions

There are random fields that are not available to put in a report. There are also fields that would be better if we had the ability to change in order to be relevant/ useful to our business. The lack of integration between rental and accounting is not sufficient. It would be nice to be able to include fields from different report types together in one report.

Great software. We always recommend it to our peers and 20 group. We love the software and how it works for our boat dealership.

The customer service response time is terrible. We have trouble tickets that last weeks. We give our boat customers guaranteed same day service and I do expect similar from our vendors. The call backs and email reply to issues is terrible and takes weeks to get a for some problems or questions.

Benefits are less lost inventory better repair order flow. up to date running total for Repair orders. Good control of what's ordered and tracking of parts.

Inventory control is great. Implementation was horrible, Accounts are not favorable for canadian company's eg. Tax's, Pst and Gst reports are terrible and don't always match other reports. Repair orders are great. Great parts system

Poor set up, left us hanging for 6 months to figure it out, had to hire outside company to make heads or tails of the accounting system. pst and gst reports , inventory asset report still haven't found please call me [SENSITIVE CONTENT]

it is better then our old DOS based system but it has issues and if initial set up is not correct you spend alot of time fixing and changing things after the fact. each season and year we learn different and better ways to use the product to try and make it easier to use on a daily basis. would have been nice to know these items at the time of install and training.

customer contact via email and text is smooth and quick.

can be complicated to use, alot of steps for each process from selling parts, to making work orders to invoicing.

we have been very frustrated with lightspeed over our 26 years of doing business with them

it is a necessary part of our business that I wish there was a competitive alternative for.

the process to train existing dealers about best practices, new features etc is very , very weak. quick access to support and follow up from support is weak. this is a very expensive on going cost for us and LS has been underachieving in training and support for as long as we have been a customer.

Commutating with manufactures, Point of sale

TOO MANY FEES!!!! For every little function you have to have a fee. To put this in perspective it would like going to a gas station and getting a nozzle fee, a hose fee, a fee to pull in the station, a self pumping fee, a fee to watch the meter, and so on. This may sound stupid but this is what Lightspeed does.

If we could find another software that would like with the manufacturer that we deal with, we would consider switching in a minute. I find the capabilites of this software are very limited and generic and there is not alot of customizing that can be done to make the software better suit your needs.

Not much. It may be easy to use but this doesn't come close to outweighing the negatives.

Tech support staff have little trained knowledge. They repeat over and over the same thing and can only offer same "box" type answers. When we ask questions about system created reports we get the same answer, like they are reading a script, but can not assist or tell you where the numbers the the system standard reports are coming from. Very very frustrated dealing with tech support.

It is very comprehensive and has so many good moving parts that are beneficial for our dealership. We simply need quicker response From support !

It is frustratingly slow and hard to get to a person for support! As much is this product cost, that should not be a problem. Please please address that ! Thank you

overall it is better than what we had but this day and age it should be more free flowing

parts ordering works good for me cashering is good

reports don't work properly cust service quick to close cases long ordeal to deal with parts from suppliers that have no inventory and have to buy from another one payment integration does not do tap - very important due to current events ! difficulty with multiple suppliers for a part

We were able to solve the problem of tracking the costs for Repair Orders

Easy to use. The Monthly Financial Statements.

Cannot get Monthly Financial Statements by Month on one Sheet. Tedious to create new accounts and ensure the fall in the correct position of the Financial Statements. The Inventory Ledger can be updated without entries automatically hitting the General Ledger.

overall a good product. they still have some bugs, but are working to fix them.

They provide good training modules. Almost anyone who is computer literate can complete the training and be able to navigate this product

there are no features for easily changing a customer work order into an internal/sales pay work order without rewriting the complete work order and moving parts and labor manually