Last updated: 15 September 2024
Expectations are high as Odoo 18 is rolled out in October 2024. This upcoming release, previewed extensively by Odoo experts, promises a range of improvements and new features specifically designed to significantly refine business operations. As the enterprise resource planning (ERP) landscape continues to evolve, Odoo 18 is set to introduce advanced functionalities that should increase efficiency and productivity across various sectors.
In this blog, we will dive into the specific features Odoo 18 has to offer. Join us as we explore how these advancements in Odoo 18 can streamline your business processes ahead of the official release. Ready to discover what lies on the horizon with Odoo 18? Let’s get started!
Odoo 18 - General improvements
New authentication method: Passkey
Odoo 18 introduces passkeys, a new authentication method that replaces the traditional username and password combination. Instead, it uses the WebAuthn protocol to authenticate users. This method is phishing-resistant and offers higher security.
Upload your own fonts now
You could already use a standard set of fonts and also connect with Google for other fonts. But now you can upload the fonts to the Odoo server. This will have a positive impact on your website’s loading speed and therefore also on SEO!
Group by fields
It is now possible to group, aggregate, and sort by a non-stored related field.
Product types clarified
In the latest update of Odoo 18, the terminology around consumables and product types is clarified to avoid confusion. The product type 'consumables' is renamed to 'goods', and the 'Track Inventory' property is moved to a separate field specifically for goods. Here, you define whether inventory is tracked per unit, per batch, or per unique serial number.
Add products via the catalog
This was already possible for purchase and sales orders, but now you can also add products via the product catalog on vendor bills, customer invoices, and all manufacturing screens.
Complete overview of all your activities
A new overview menu and activity views have been added to see all activities (your own or others’) at a glance, regardless of their purpose, which can be useful as a task list. Via a shortcut in the 'Activities' dropdown menu, you can view all activities in a list, where clicking a row opens the corresponding record and lets you quickly mark activities as done or cancel them, with the option for bulk editing, such as reassigning tasks.
Send WhatsApp messages via automation rules
Odoo 18 introduces the ability to send WhatsApp messages via automation rules. Users can configure these rules to send messages automatically based on specific triggers within the system, such as order status updates or event reminders. This functionality increases efficiency and improves communication with customers or team members directly from Odoo.
Cloud Storage Integration in Odoo
Odoo now supports storage in Google and Azure cloud. This cloud storage integration makes it possible to store attachments from, for example, emails in the cloud. This makes file management simpler and more efficient.
Key features:
- Upload files directly to the cloud: Store your email attachments directly in Google or Azure cloud, without intermediate steps.
- Download files directly from the cloud: Download your files directly from the cloud to your local device whenever you need them.
With this integration, you optimize your workflow and manage files securely and easily in the cloud.
3 new document layouts
Odoo 18 has 3 new document layouts you can use. You can now choose from 7 different layouts.
Creating emails
With this update, creating emails in Odoo is thoroughly revamped, including the introduction of a new toolbar that makes working with emails easier and more efficient. The new toolbar offers four key features:
1. Add file: Users can now easily add attachments to their emails.
2. Manage email templates: It becomes possible to use, create, overwrite, or delete email templates. This makes it easier to reuse standard email formats or create new ones.
3. Insert text via ChatGPT: Thanks to this integration, users can include AI-generated text directly in their emails using ChatGPT.
4. Improved user experience: By placing these new features centrally in the toolbar, they become more accessible and easier for every user to use.
Drag-and-drop support for importing
In Odoo 18, importing records is significantly simplified by turning the import view into a drag-and-drop dropzone. Users can now drag files directly from their computer into the import view, making the process more user-friendly and faster.
An additional advantage is that, even after a file has been imported, the drag-and-drop functionality remains active. This allows users to easily drag new files and reload records without having to navigate through extra steps.
New security group for product management
In Odoo 18, a new security measure is introduced for product management. By default, internal users cannot create products. To provide more control and flexibility, a separate security group is now created for creating products, just as was previously done for contacts. This allows administrators to accurately determine which users have access to creating and managing products, without this depending on other modules such as POS.
With this change, security becomes tighter and companies gain more control over who can create or modify product data.
Odoo 18 - Analytic Accounting
Odoo 18 brings a significant restructuring of analytic accounts. The main change is the removal of the analytic account field in various modules, such as projects, tasks, sales orders, manufacturing orders, and bills of materials. Instead, a new project field is introduced, linked to an analytic ledger in which multiple analytic accounts can be defined per project. This gives companies the ability to flexibly allocate costs across different analytic accounts.
Some key changes:
- Projects: The analytic notebook allows users to link multiple accounts to a project. This replaces the old system where only one analytic account per project was possible.
- Tasks: The analytic account field has been removed and tasks are now linked to the project field.
- Sales: In sales orders, the field for analytic accounts has been replaced by a project field. This means that users can now link projects directly to sales orders for better cost visibility.
- Manufacturing and bills of materials: In manufacturing orders and bills of materials, the old analytic_distribution functionality has been replaced by the project field. Analytic distributions are now managed through projects.
- Inventory: A new field has been added to the operation types of stock transfers, indicating whether the type should generate an analytic line and perform re-invoicing upon validation.
- Purchasing: Just like in the other modules, a project field has also been added to purchase orders, ensuring a consistent way of cost management throughout the workflow.
These changes not only improve control over analytic accounting, but also ensure that costs are automatically and accurately allocated across different projects and accounts. This makes financial reporting in Odoo simpler and clearer.
Quickly retrieve product images via barcodes
Odoo 18 introduces a handy new feature that allows users to retrieve product images based on the barcode. This feature makes managing product information much faster and more efficient, especially for companies with large inventories.
Odoo 18 - New - Marketing Cards
Odoo 18 introduces the marketing card app, which allows users to create dynamic and shareable URLs. Partners can share these links with a custom cover image on social media, ensuring consistent branding and greater reach.
Key benefits:
- Event promotion: Speakers can promote their own sessions with personalized links.
- Rewarding contacts: Contacts who share can receive a reward, such as a discount coupon.
The marketing card add-on is a powerful tool for encouraging word-of-mouth advertising and promoting events effectively.
Odoo 18 - Sales
Order of quotation templates
Rank quotation templates based on importance.
Product documents in email templates
The email templates for "Send Quotation" and "Order Confirmation" have been updated to refer to product documents available to the customer in the portal.
PDF quotation builder - All fields available
In Odoo 18, an important improvement has been made to the PDF quotation builder. Previously, users could only use approved fields in the PDFs, while any field could be used in XML reports. With this update, the quotation builder can now use any field in the PDFs. However, these fields must first be approved by an administrator. If they are not approved, they remain empty in the PDF.
Change in percentage discounts in pricelists
In the latest update of Odoo 18, several small but important changes have been made regarding pricelists and discounts. Here is an overview of the adjustments:
Before the update:
- No discount policy: Discounts were only shown if the line's computation price was a percentage.
- Automatic display of discount values: The discounted value was automatically shown on the website.
- Advanced settings for “multiple prices per product”: These were enabled by default.
After the update:
- Show discounts based on percentage: Discounts are only shown to customers if the discount feature on order lines is activated (sales setting).
- Pricelists as the basis for discount rules: It is now possible to select a pricelist as the base price for discount rules.
- Do not show discounts: If a user does not want to show the discount to a customer, they can use a formula to calculate the price or not activate the discount feature.
Odoo 18 - Projects, planning and timesheets
History of changes
You can track changes in the task description and return to earlier versions.
Hide weekends
We can now toggle the visibility of weekends in the timesheet grid view.
Allocated time based on planning
The allocated hours are now automatically set on tasks based on their planned dates.
Automatically restore planning
Users can now undo their action if they accidentally click the 'automatic planning' button.
Improved time in Gantt view
The progress bar in the Gantt view now shows the time allocated to tasks instead of the duration between the planned dates. This means that we can schedule multiple tasks at the same time without causing a conflict.
Integrated actions
In Odoo 18, the first step toward integrated actions is being introduced for the Projects app. It adds an integrated action for tasks and project updates, and they are available when a user opens a project's tasks.
Improved project sharing
In Odoo 18, it is possible to define roles and access rights per project collaborator.
Curious about the power of Odoo? Why not try the demo now: Free, Flexible and Efficient?
Unfortunately, Odoo 18 is not here yet, but you can already try Odoo 17!
Odoo 18 - Website Builder
Save webpage as template
Enjoy effortless template customization! Use the new wizard to set any webpage as a new template.
Lots of new building blocks
Odoo 18 introduces a range of new building blocks for website creation, giving users even more flexibility when designing attractive and functional webpages. These new blocks make it easier to create dynamic and professional-looking websites without technical knowledge.
Extra fields for web form
You can now create property fields and integrate them directly into web forms!.
Example: If you want to know which product category your lead is interested in, add the product category as an attribute to your lead form and then to your contact form on your website.
Support for YouTube Shorts videos
Before this update, it was not possible to embed a YouTube Shorts video or a livestream on a website. When you tried to do this, you received an error message saying that the specified URL was invalid.
This update now makes it possible to integrate YouTube Shorts videos and livestreams into website content.
Improved SEO workflow in Odoo 18
In Odoo 18, the SEO workflow has been improved by displaying a notification when a page is published or saved without essential SEO data. The notification warns users if the SEO title is not set, or if the SEO title is set but the SEO description is missing. This helps ensure that all published pages contain complete SEO metadata.
Odoo 18 - eCommerce
Webshop accessible only to logged-in users
Odoo has added a new setting that allows the webshop visibility to be restricted to logged-in users only. If this option is enabled, users who are not logged in cannot see the products, shop page, cart, or wishlist buttons. They are automatically redirected to the login page if they try to access it via a direct link.
Odoo 18 - Accounting
Vendor on expense claim
You can now further streamline financial management with vendor-specific expense tracking for easier reconciliation and transaction identification 👀 (Note: currently only for company-paid expenses.)
Balance sheet in account form
You can now also display the balance sheet in account form. A horizontal balance sheet layout, with debit and credit sides next to each other.
Receive PEPPOL documents in the Documents app
When using multiple purchase journals, or having specific processes in the Documents app for processing incoming vendor bills, Odoo 18 makes it possible to receive your PEPPOL documents directly in the Documents app for processing. It also offers the possibility to assign specific tags to the document.
Manage your budgets on analytic accounts
Before this update, budgets were calculated using both budget positions and analytic accounts. Now the budget is calculated solely using analytic accounts. In addition, a new field called "committed amount" has been added to the budget line, which is calculated from the analytic distribution of the purchase order line. This change simplifies budget management and improves financial tracking. A new budget report overview has also been created to improve financial oversight.
The budget has also been added to many reports. From the report, you can see the status versus your budget and also directly view and adjust a budget.
Assets, non-depreciable value in percentage
You can now set the non-depreciable value as a percentage on your asset model. This allows you to speed up the capitalization of an asset from the posting of the vendor bill. You no longer need to enter the residual value manually.
Locking your accounting
Odoo 18 brings a thorough revision of the locking system in accounting, providing more flexibility and control. One of the key changes is the introduction of new types of lock dates, including the Sale Lock Date, Purchase Lock Date, and the immutable Hard Lock Date, which permanently locks all accounting activities.
In addition, a new model for lock date exceptions has been added, making exceptions to lock dates possible for specific users or periods. This gives companies room to make exceptional changes without jeopardizing the integrity of their accounting.
The changes in Odoo 18 make managing financial periods simpler and more robust, while at the same time giving companies more control over who can change what, and when. These improvements contribute to more efficient and secure financial management.
Odoo 18 - Purchase
Create a purchase order based on a template
A new type of purchase agreement has been added to Odoo, specifically for easily creating requests for quotation with fixed quantities.
Just like the quotation-sales order template, you can now also use a template for purchase requests for quotation in Odoo.
Save time in purchasing processes with Odoo 18
When a request for quotation (RFQ) or a purchase order (PO) is sent to a vendor, the vendor must create the quotation or sales order (SO) in their own ERP system. Then, when they send this quotation or SO back, you must update your RFQ or PO with the prices. This process takes a lot of time, adds no value, and can lead to many user errors during data entry.
In Odoo 18, there is a more efficient solution to this problem. If both the customer and the vendor use Odoo, they no longer need to carry out these updates manually. The customer can send a purchase order to the vendor, either as a PDF with an embedded UBL BIS 3 XML file, or the vendor can download the XML file directly via a URL. It is also possible to download the UBL from the Odoo portal.
In addition, vendors now have special buttons in the portal for ‘View order’, ‘Accept’, and ‘Decline’. This makes it easier to respond to orders and minimize errors, while making the process much faster.
Odoo 18 - Spreadsheets
Odoo 18 offers the possibility to comment directly within spreadsheets and tag colleagues. With this, the Odoo platform strengthens its position as a powerful tool for business management. This functionality makes it easier than ever to quickly ask for and give feedback, allowing teams to work more efficiently and with greater focus.
Change layout
You can now format tables automatically, making it easier to sort, format, and filter data. New data is automatically included in the table, so it is no longer necessary to manually apply styles to new rows or columns.
Create a pivot table from a spreadsheet
Odoo introduces a new feature: the spreadsheet pivot table. This pivot table is based directly on data from the spreadsheet itself, where users select a range of cells to create the pivot table. The first row of this range determines the fields, while the following rows serve as data. The data type—date, boolean, number, or text—is recognized automatically. Users can use these fields as dimensions or measures in the pivot table, and apply various aggregation functions such as sum, average, or count to improve data analysis.
Odoo 18 - Field Service
View which products you need to bring
The products that the field service employee needs to bring are now visible via a button.
Schedule field service tasks on location
Field service tasks can now be grouped by postal code and city to assign tasks in the same region to a field service employee.
Warranty on field service tasks
In Odoo 18, functionality has been added that allows products under warranty to be added to field service tasks. When this feature is activated for a task, the sales price of the relevant item is automatically set to zero, reflecting its warranty status. This addition simplifies the management of warranty services directly through the module, improving service delivery and customer satisfaction.
Odoo 18 - Knowledge
Breadcrumb for easier navigation
Odoo 18 introduces breadcrumbs for quick and easy navigation. This functionality allows users to effortlessly track their path within the document structure, improving usability and access to information.
Excalidraw integration
Discover the power of visual communication with our latest feature: effortlessly integrate drawings from Excalidraw directly into our platform. Whether it is about sharing complex processes, creative brainstorming sessions, or fun sketches, make your ideas vivid and understandable for everyone. Let your creativity run free and transform how you work and communicate!|
Open Graph metadata for better link previews and SEO
In Odoo 18, the link preview of articles on social media is improved by adding manual Open Graph metadata in the Knowledge module. This ensures that when an article is shared on platforms such as Facebook or WhatsApp, an informative and attractive preview is displayed based on the content of the article. This makes people more likely to click on the link and also improves the SEO of the articles.
Odoo 18 - Inventory
New inventory dashboard
Push and pull rules
Push and pull rules are now triggered when a transfer is validated. Because moves are not created in advance, greater flexibility is possible. Moves waiting for a new move no longer clutter the space. All standard multi-step routes have been redesigned to support this change.
Create backorders in advance
You can now create a backorder before marking the delivery as done. This gives you the option to deliver from different locations or on different delivery dates.
Use lots/serial numbers across multiple companies
Lot and serial numbers remain fully traceable across multiple companies. When transferring between companies, serial and lot numbers are retained, ensuring uninterrupted traceability.
Generate lot or serial numbers upon receipt
Automatically create lot numbers when products that need to be tracked are received. This ensures structured registration and tracking from the moment of receipt.
Putaway strategy
Odoo has implemented new inventory putaway strategies to improve warehouse management. Odoo 18 includes a new "sublocation" column that allows users to specify whether and how a sublocation should be selected. The options are: no sublocation (default), last used (the last location used for this product), and nearest location (used with storage categories, requires specification of a storage category). In addition, the system now supports putaway rules without requiring specification of a product, product category, or packaging, which simplifies the setup process.
Dispatch management
Odoo 18 introduces a new dispatch management functionality in transportation. The system automates dispatch processes, improves the efficiency of transport activities, and offers companies the ability to optimize transport costs and shorten delivery times. These features integrate seamlessly with other Odoo modules such as inventory management and sales, providing a fully integrated transportation management solution.
Odoo 18 - Inventory - Barcode App
Signing deliveries now also via the barcode app
With the Odoo 18 update, new features have been added that allow users to have deliveries signed while on the road via the barcode app.
Scanner gives sound on successful scan
Previously, when a barcode was scanned successfully, the screen would flash to indicate a successful scan, but there was no sound. This lack of audio feedback sometimes made it difficult for users to know for sure that the scan had been successful. After this update, a sound now also plays when a barcode is scanned successfully, providing clear and immediate feedback to users and assuring them that the scan was successful.
Delete barcode lines directly
In earlier versions, you had to open a barcode line in form view to delete it. In Odoo 18, this process has been simplified: you can now delete barcode lines directly from the barcode lines page. This saves time and makes managing barcode lines much easier.
Product images visible directly
Previously, you had to open the form view to see the image of a product. In Odoo 18, the image is directly visible on the line itself. If you click on the image, it is displayed in fullscreen, which is especially useful for users who want to quickly see more details.
Odoo 18 - Email Marketing
Optional splitting of the contact name
For more personalized emails, you can now split the recipients' first and last names in the mailing lists.
Odoo 18 - POS Retail
New login screen
Odoo 18 comes with a new login screen for the POS, where employees can identify themselves by scanning a badge, using a PIN code, or manually.
Create and edit products from the POS
it is no longer necessary to go to the Odoo 'backend' to create or modify a product. This can now be done directly from the POS screen
You can also scan the international product barcode and Odoo will create the product, with all the information available online.
SMS Integration
Odoo has added a new feature that enables SMS integration for order confirmations. Users can now effortlessly send confirmation messages to customers with just one click, improving communication with customers and increasing their satisfaction. This streamlined process makes it easier to keep customers informed and engaged with their purchases.
Product details in accounting closing
Previously, when closing a session, one journal entry was created with the total revenue. In Odoo 18, a new configuration option, 'closing entry with product lines', has been introduced in the POS module. When this option is enabled, the system generates a journal entry with one line per product when closing the session. This change improves the accuracy and level of detail of financial reporting in the POS system.
Order management in POS improves
With the latest update in Odoo 18, the Odoo Point of Sale has gained a useful feature for order management. This new addition allows managers to check whether cashiers have made changes to an order.
Once an order has been saved in the backend, the system marks every change made afterwards. If the quantity of a product line is reduced or a line is removed, the order is marked as “edited”. In addition, a message is logged in the order's chatter, making it clear that an adjustment has taken place.
Changes to employee permissions
In the latest update of Odoo 18, important changes have been made to the permissions of employees working on an Odoo Point of Sale. Previously, employees had the following permissions:
Permissions before the update:
- No cash in and cash out transactions: Employees could not perform cash in or cash out transactions.
- Adjusting prices: Employees could adjust the prices of product lines.
- Editing products from the Point of Sale: Employees could edit products from the PoS, although they could not create new products.
Permissions after the update:
- Cash in and cash out transactions allowed: Employees can now perform cash in and cash out transactions, providing more flexibility in cash management.
- Adjusting prices not allowed: Employees can no longer adjust the prices of product lines, which contributes to a consistent pricing policy.
- Editing products not allowed: Employees can no longer edit products from the Point of Sale, ensuring a clearer separation between sales and product management.
Open session directly
In the latest update for the Point of Sale (POS) module in Odoo 18, the user experience has been simplified even further. When opening the POS URL, the session now opens automatically as soon as the user visits the POS URL, without any intermediate step. This saves time and makes working with the POS module even more efficient. This adjustment ensures that users can get started right away, without extra actions or navigating through the dashboard.
Odoo 18 - Restaurant Point of Sale
Orders without a table
In the latest update of Odoo's restaurant Point of Sale module, it is now possible to create "floating" orders that are not linked to a specific table. This is especially useful for orders such as delivery and takeaway meals. By default, a "shadow table" is created on each restaurant floor to which these floating orders are linked, without needing to modify the entire codebase.
Drag and drop your restaurant layout
New functionality has been added that makes it possible to drag and drop tables directly on the floor screen as soon as edit mode is activated. This improves flexibility and speed when setting up the restaurant layout.
A grid for the floor in edit mode has been added, making it easier and more user-friendly to align tables and organize the floor plan. The default background color for each floor is now set to white, ensuring a uniform and clear display.
Manage your bookings in the Restaurant Point of Sale
You can now book tables directly from the restaurant Point of Sale. With this new feature, you can easily open the Gantt view of appointments in a dialog window, making reservation management easier than ever.
This means you no longer have to navigate to the back office to manage appointments. Everything you need is now directly available in the POS interface. This improvement ensures a more efficient workflow and faster service for your customers.
Odoo 18 - Online appointments
Select the time and then the available person/resource
A third option has been added. You could already have people assigned automatically to an appointment request. It was also possible to first select a person and then a time. In Odoo 18, it is now fully complete and you can first select a time and then the available person.
As the launch of Odoo 18 approaches, we have taken a closer look at a number of promising new features and improvements that this version brings. From improved business processes and more user-friendly interfaces to new capabilities and efficiency gains, Odoo 18 seems ready to make a significant impact. Don't wait any longer, try the current version and get ready for the innovations Odoo continues to deliver to transform your business. Don't miss it, stay tuned for the official release!
Odoo 18 - Manufacturing
Separate valuation entries for labor costs in manufacturing orders
In Odoo 18, an improvement has been made to the MRP accounting process. When marking a manufacturing order as completed, the valuation of the finished product may be higher than that of the individual components due to the labor costs of work centers and employees.
Before this update, these costs were added to the production cost account. After the update, labor costs are posted to the expense account of the relevant work centers. If no expense account is set, the expense account of the finished product is used.
Finally, all labor costs from the expense account are transferred back to the production cost account in a separate ‘labor’ journal entry when completing the manufacturing order.
Save manufacturing orders as draft
Odoo 18 introduces useful new features that increase flexibility and control in manufacturing and purchasing processes. One of the key improvements is the option to save manufacturing orders as drafts. This gives users the ability to first confirm the location and optionally adjust the picking type before the order is finalized. In addition, there is now a direct link between sales and purchase order lines, ensuring seamless integration and up-to-date information at delivery. These changes make processes more efficient and less error-prone.
Odoo 18 - Quality Management
Quality control on demand
Odoo now supports on-demand quality checks for inventory and manufacturing processes. This new functionality allows users to set up quality points on demand for any action in a stock move (picking) or manufacturing order. By clicking a specific action in these forms, a wizard opens where users can specify the product, the quality point, and, if applicable, the lot or serial number.
Quality check on repairs
Odoo has now added quality checks to repair processes. This extension ensures that quality control can be applied to repairs, providing a systematic way to enforce standards.
Create a quality check in a spreadsheet
With the latest update in Odoo 18, it becomes possible to perform quality checks using spreadsheets. This new way of working offers a flexible alternative to the existing worksheets and does not require the use of Odoo Studio. This makes configuring quality checks much simpler and more accessible.
Instead of static worksheets, the spreadsheet method offers the possibility to use the value of a cell as the result of a quality check point. If the value is “true” (TRUE or a number other than 0), the check passes. If the value is false (FALSE or 0), the check fails.
What makes this feature special is the ability to use custom formulas, allowing the value of a cell to be calculated based on other cells. This makes it possible to create complex logic and interactions between different input fields – a significant improvement over the static worksheets.
Odoo 18 - E-sign
Request a signature request from any app
Via the standard action menu, you can now request a signature request for a document from any app section. that is quite handy :)
Odoo 18 - Events
Sell event tickets via the Odoo POS
In Odoo 18, a new functionality has been added to the POS module that allows you to manage events. This module makes it possible to create events and sell tickets for them. The tickets are linked to a product and can be sold directly in the POS.
Odoo 18 R&D Sneak Peak Preview
During Odoo Partner Day on May 24, 2024, Odoo gave a presentation about what we can still expect from Odoo 18. Can't you wait either? Download the Odoo 18 R&D Sneak Peak Preview here.
Written by Erwin van der Ploeg
Erwin van der Ploeg is an expert in business processes and digital transformation, with a focus on Odoo as an ERP solution. As director of Odoo Experts, he helps companies optimize processes and achieve growth with pragmatic solutions.
Erwin believes that companies perform better with complete insight into and control over their processes. His approach is transparent and focused on practical, industry-specific solutions that make an impact. His motto? “Digitalization is not the goal, but the means to excel.”
