Lightning Labs Launches Accounting Feature for LND
On Wednesday, Lightning Labs announced the addition of an accounting feature as part of the latest release of Faraday, a management tool for node operators using LND, Lightning Labs' implementation of the Lightning Network. According to Lightning Labs, the accounting tools were developed in response to feedback from business operators requesting better auditing functionality for their Lightning nodes.
Real Money for Real Business
The latest Faraday update attempts to 'translate' Lightning payments data generated by a user's node into a full account of transactions that is easier to understand for accountants and auditors who may not be familiar with the terminologies and structures surrounding the Lightning Network.
With the addition of an account feature, small businesses that accept Lightning payments have the option to generate reports with less overhead. According to Lightning Labs, the tool includes information on all transactions an LND node has participated in, both on- and off-chain, and further separates operational expenses from regular Lightning transactions.
What’s more, users can tweak the programming to create an output in a .csv file, a universal spreadsheet compatible with Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, and optionally include the USD values of each transaction in a report.
Lightning Labs, a bay-area research startup, raised over $10 million in 2018 and is backed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.
Setting the Tone for Lightning Adoption
Lightning Labs' management tool Faraday was launched in April this year with the objective to optimize liquidity and channel management for node operators by helping identify the best peers to connect to. The tool seeks to automate tasks users previously had to take care of manually.
In August, Lightning Labs announced an upgrade to LND that would allow for larger Lightning channels, paving the way for higher volume on the network. The research group said they had tested the technology for two years before pursuing the upgrade.