In the ever-evolving landscape of business management, Odoo has consistently stood out as a pillar of innovation, nimbly adapting to the ever-changing needs of modern organizations. With the exciting launch of Odoo 17 during the Odoo Experience, held in early November, this comprehensive platform takes a step forward, introducing a series of enhancements and new features designed to radically transform how companies approach their day-to-day operations.
From INDAWS, as certified experts in Odoo implementation and customization, we are excited to break down for you the most significant updates of this new release.
Join us in this blog, where we will explore in depth how Odoo 17 can be the catalyst to optimize processes, improve efficiency and foster smarter management within your company.
What's new in Odoo 17
General
New User Interface Design
Odoo 17 introduces a completely revamped user experience, focused on efficiency and aesthetics. The interface now benefits from a minimalist and modern design, with cleaner visual elements and uncluttered workspaces, making it easier to focus on important tasks. This redesign not only improves overall navigation but also speeds up the adoption process for new users.
Enhanced Search and Navigation Functionality
The new advanced search transforms how users interact with their databases in Odoo. Custom filters, along with a more accessible "View All" option, allow for detailed and efficient segmentation of information. Data preview via avatars brings an additional layer of visual interaction, making navigation not only more intuitive but also more personalized.
Efficient Data and Communications Management
Odoo 17 facilitates the creation, editing, and management of email templates, enabling companies to maintain consistent and professional communication with customers and partners. With improved tools for tracking task durations, users can optimize their time management, while new user assignment facilities promise more agile and effective task delegation.
Enhanced Information Visualization and Access
Data visualization receives a significant boost in Odoo 17, with optimized list and map interfaces for quick and clear understanding of information. Odoo's Progressive Web Application (PWA) greatly improves accessibility, allowing users to access the platform from any device with the same functionality as in a native application.
Process Integrations and Optimizations
Odoo 17 is ahead of the technology curve by integrating artificial intelligence capabilities such as ChatGPT for automatic text generation, which can transform the way companies create content for marketing, internal communications and customer care. This functionality opens up new avenues for communication automation and personalization.
Record Creation and Duplication Facilities
With significant improvements in the user interface, Odoo 17 makes the creation and duplication of records more intuitive and less error-prone, increasing operational efficiency. Improvements in charting and data analysis enable companies to gain deeper insights from their information, facilitating data-driven decision making.
ODOO APPS: FINANCE
Accounting
Improved Reporting and Accounting Reconciliation
Simplification in the configuration of accounting reports, new design of bank reconciliation and improvements in report visualization.
- Advanced AI Integration: Implementation of artificial intelligence for automatic and more accurate classification of transactions in bank reconciliation..
- Advanced Report Customization: New drag-and-drop tools to customize accounting reports, allowing users to tailor them to their specific business needs without the need for advanced technical knowledge.
Discount Allocation & Asset Management
Separation of sales and discounts on invoices and usability improvements for importing and publishing assets.
- Enhanced Asset Dashboard: New user interface for asset management that allows for more effective visualization and tracking of asset performance over time.
- Discount Allocation Automation: Implementation of configurable business rules for automatic discount allocation based on specific criteria, such as purchase volume or customer loyalty.
Automation and Tax Calculations
- Improved PDF Data Extraction: Use of advanced OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to extract data from PDF invoices with higher accuracy and fewer errors.
- Integration of more accurate tax calculations with Avalara and AvaTax.
- Improvements in the prediction of taxes and accounts.
Advanced Invoice and Payment Management
New functions for the automatic creation of expenses, options for early payment and cash discounts, and improvements in the management of deferred payments.
- Cash Flow Optimization: Tools for better cash flow forecasting and management, including predictive analytics based on historical payment patterns.
- Integration with Mobile Payment Systems: Expansion of payment options to include popular mobile payment systems, enhancing convenience for customers.
Integrations and Additional Functionalities
Integration with PEPPOL and Ponto, protection against payment scams, and improved bank synchronization.
- Support for More e-Invoicing Standards: Expansion of the list of supported e-invoicing standards, covering more countries and regions.
- Enhanced Fraud Alerts: Implementation of a more sophisticated fraud alert system, using machine learning to identify suspicious transaction patterns.
Interface and Navigation Enhancements
Redesign of the interface of the accounting reports, facilitation of invoice uploading and improvements in URL navigation.
- Customizable Shortcuts: New functionality that allows users to create customized shortcuts to the most frequently used functions and reports, improving navigation efficiency.
- Real-Time Data Visualization: Integration of interactive widgets in the accounting dashboard that display key data in real time, enabling more agile decision making.
Implementation of new features
Nueva función para generar y firmar facturas Factura-e, así como implementar la facturación electrónica TicketBAI. Posibilidad de exportar los archivos de los libros de IVA del informe general de impuestos e importar facturas XML de Factura-e en Odoo. El modelo 390 está disponible en los informes fiscales. Actualización de los impuestos exentos y mejora en la compatibilidad con los reportes del SII.
- Expanded Support for International e-Invoicing: New tools to simplify the implementation of electronic invoicing in different jurisdictions, with special attention to local regulations and compatibility requirements.
- Electronic Invoicing Security Enhancements: Implementation of new security layers, including enhanced encryption and two-factor authentication for the generation and signing of electronic invoices.
Documents
Improved Document Management
Odoo version 17 introduces a revamped document management, adding a recycle garbage can functionality that offers additional security by retaining deleted documents for 30 days before permanent deletion. This feature is essential to prevent accidental loss of information. Additionally, the document splitting tool has been optimized, allowing for greater accuracy and ease of use, which facilitates the management of large documents or documents composed of several relevant sections.
Easy File Sharing and Downloading
Odoo 17 facilitates collaboration and access to information through significant improvements in file sharing and downloading options. It is now possible to share and download documents individually or in batches, streamlining collaborative work processes and enabling a more efficient distribution of document resources. This enhancement is especially useful for teams that handle large volumes of documents and need to share them quickly and securely.
Integrations and Document Viewing
With Odoo 17, the centralization of documents related to fleet management has been achieved, improving the access and organization of critical documents for vehicle maintenance and operation. The thumbnail display for multi-page documents has also been improved, offering a clearer and more detailed preview that makes it easier to identify and access specific documents without having to open them completely.
Advances in Requisitioning and Document Management
Document request and management have been optimized in Odoo 17 by introducing an improved activity management system and reminder emails. This allows for a more efficient follow-up of document requests and ensures that deadlines are met. In addition, signed HR-related documents are now automatically stored in the Documents application, improving the organization and security of sensitive information.
Additional Functionalities and Navigation Enhancements
Odoo 17 enriches the user experience by incorporating new actions such as the automatic creation of expenses from incoming documents, which simplifies expense management and reduces the time spent on administrative tasks. Improvements in link management, keyboard shortcuts, and advanced product search enhance navigability and accessibility within the platform, allowing users to find the desired information more quickly and accurately.
Human Resources - Payroll
Improvements in Bank Account and Contract Management
Odoo 17 introduces a more secure and transparent approach to bank account and contract change management, including:
- Enhanced Security Alerts: When bank account numbers are modified, the system will generate clearer and more detailed warnings, providing an additional layer of verification to prevent errors or fraud.
- Intelligent Contract Management: Automatic cancellation of signature requests is complemented by a notification system that informs both employees and managers of contract status and changes, improving internal communication.
Modifications in the Display and Management of Contracts
- Contract Management Optimization: The elimination of the Contract History view is accompanied by a new functionality that allows HR managers to access a comprehensive dashboard where all contract amendments, renewals, and terminations are automatically logged and can be reviewed in real time. This centralized approach enhances transparency and facilitates better decision-making in contract management processes.
- Improved User Interface: To facilitate the administration of employee contracts, a more intuitive and visual interface is introduced, allowing effective management and tracking of contract terms and renewals.
New Features in Benefits and Overtime
Implementation of conditional benefits and automatic recording of overtime in work entries.
- Flexible Benefits Management: In addition to the conditional benefits, Odoo 17 facilitates the customization of benefits packages according to individual employee needs, promoting a more inclusive and satisfying work culture.
- Overtime Integration: Automatic overtime recording is now integrated with Odoo's project management module, allowing you to allocate and compensate these hours on specific projects, thus improving resource planning and cost allocation.
Improvements in Salary Structuring and Management
Inclusion of new options in the salary configurator, improved reporting and the ability to sort salary structure types.
Expenses
Updated Flow of Expense Accounting
Odoo 17 has introduced a more dynamic and automated expense accounting flow, enabling efficient and transparent expense management. The platform now clearly distinguishes between expenses incurred by employees and those incurred directly by the company, optimizing the processing and reconciliation of these expenses. In addition, a multi-level approval functionality for expense reports has been integrated, improving internal monitoring and control.
Automatic Categorization of Expenses
The new version allows administrators to define business rules that automatically categorize expenses according to their nature, project, department or any other relevant criteria. This makes it easier to organize and track expenses, as well as providing a solid foundation for detailed financial analysis and reporting. Artificial intelligence plays a key role in this feature, learning from category assignments to automatically suggest the most appropriate one on future occasions.
Optimization of Expense Reports
Odoo 17 has significantly improved the generation of expense reports, incorporating functionalities for a more agile reconciliation between expenses and payments. PDF reports can now include scanned attached receipts, with the option to add annotations or comments on each expense line. This version also introduces dynamic reports that allow users to customize fields, filters and groupings, providing deeper and more specific insights according to the needs of the company.
Flexibility in Currency Management
With Odoo 17, the flexibility in handling different currencies for expenses has been extended, allowing employees to record expenses in any currency, with automatic conversions based on daily updated exchange rates. This functionality is especially useful for companies with international operations, simplifying the management of expenses in multiple currencies and minimizing discrepancies due to currency fluctuations.
Improvements in the Consistency of the Statement of Expenditures
Work has been done to improve consistency and clarity throughout the expense flow. The terminology used in expense forms, reports and dashboards has been standardized, making the process more intuitive for all users. In addition, visually distinctive status indicators have been introduced, allowing users to quickly understand the status of their expense reports, from creation through approval and reimbursement.
ODOO APPS: MARKETING
Web Site
Improved Design and Visualization
- Advanced Adaptability on Mobile Devices: Odoo 17 introduces a 'Mobile-First' design approach, ensuring that all web pages and applications display perfectly on a wide range of mobile devices. This includes optimized drop-down menus, easy-to-access touch buttons and accelerated page loads for effortless navigation.
- Enhanced Interactive Image Effects: State-of-the-art technologies have been implemented for image effects, such as parallax, mouse-over zoom and input animations. These effects not only capture the user's attention but also provide a dynamic and immersive browsing experience.
- Dynamic Overlay Grid Layout: The new design functionality allows users to create overlay grid layouts, offering a modern and attractive aesthetic. This feature is ideal for portfolios, image galleries and product presentations, allowing for a more creative and engaging display of content.
Advanced Blocks and Elements
- Intuitive Banner and Button Creation: Odoo 17 makes it easy to create banners and buttons with a drag-and-drop visual editor, allowing users to design eye-catching elements without coding expertise. New options include animation effects, countdown timers for events or promotions, and the ability to integrate calls-to-action directly into banners.
- New Header and Page Templates: With Odoo 17, the library of pre-designed templates is extended, offering a variety of headers and page structures for different purposes and styles. These templates are fully customizable and adapt to any type of business, from online stores to corporate blogs, facilitating the creation of unique and professional websites.
Interactivity and Personalization
- Advanced Interactive Experiences: Odoo 17 introduces advanced tools for creating interactive web experiences, including dynamic forms for capturing user information, interactive surveys and quizzes that can be embedded directly into the page. These tools enhance user engagement and facilitate the collection of valuable data.
- Smart Pop-Up Windows: Pop-up windows can now be fully customized and programmed to trigger under specific conditions, such as time spent on page or exit intent, improving conversion rate and user retention.
- Navigation Bar and Dynamic Color System: Navigation bar customization has been expanded to include dynamic, adaptive styles that change depending on the section of the website visited. The enhanced color system allows for greater visual consistency across the site, with customizable color palettes that reflect brand identity.
Dynamic Content Management
- Enhanced Button and Label Editor: Odoo 17 makes it easy to customize button labels and other interactive elements with an intuitive visual editor, allowing users to modify text, colors and behaviors without writing code.
- Flexible Image Carousels: Image carousel management has been made more intuitive, allowing users to rearrange, add or remove images with ease. Advanced animation and transition options are also introduced to create more attractive and dynamic image slideshows.
Optimization and Modern Tools
- Advanced WebP Image Support: Odoo 17 introduces full support for the WebP image format, known for its superior compression without loss of visual quality, compared to traditional formats such as JPEG or PNG. This update not only significantly reduces web page load times, improving user experience, but also contributes positively to SEO. In addition, the platform automates the conversion of images to WebP, simplifying the process of optimizing graphic resources.
- ChatGPT Integration for Content Generation: The integration of artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT transforms content creation in Odoo 17, allowing users to generate high quality text for blogs, product descriptions, FAQs, and more, with just a few clicks. This tool relies on simple user-supplied instructions, generating relevant and personalized content that can be edited and adjusted as needed. ChatGPT integration streamlines content production, making it easy to constantly update the website and maintain visitor interest.
- Automatic CSS and JavaScript Minification: To further improve website speed and efficiency, Odoo 17 automatically performs CSS and JavaScript file minification. This process reduces file size by removing unnecessary spaces, comments and other elements that do not affect code execution. As a result, page loading is accelerated and the overall user experience is improved.
Email Marketing
New Mailing Templates
Odoo 17 enriches business communication by introducing five new email templates, diversifying the options available for marketing campaigns, customer service notifications and more.
These templates have been designed with a focus on responsiveness and visual aesthetics, ensuring optimal viewing on any device. They offer great flexibility and ease of use, allowing users to customize elements such as content, colors and images without requiring coding skills. Seamlessly integrated with Odoo marketing campaigns, these templates facilitate the creation and delivery of consistent and professional communications, reflecting brand identity and fostering a deeper connection with customers.
Improved Subscription Cancellation Process
Odoo 17 significantly improves the unsubscribe experience by offering advanced customization options for the unsubscribe page. This allows companies to maintain their brand identity and present messages or incentives that could deter cancellation. Detailed analysis of unsubscribes provides valuable insights into the reasons behind these decisions and helps identify areas of improvement for retention strategies. In addition, the cancellation process has been made more transparent and efficient, improving the user experience and complying with privacy regulations such as GDPR. These improvements are aimed at optimizing customer retention and strengthening the relationship between the brand and its audience through responsible, user-centric marketing practices..
Marketing Automation
Prefabricated Campaign Templates
Odoo 17 introduces pre-built campaign templates that transform marketing automation, allowing companies to quickly launch effective and personalized campaigns. Covering a wide range of marketing objectives, these templates are fully customizable and integrate seamlessly with Odoo's customer database for advanced segmentation and personalization. Thanks to optimization for automated workflows and integrated analytics tools, companies can now fine-tune their strategies in real time for maximum impact. Odoo 17 simplifies and empowers digital marketing campaigns, making connecting with audiences and building lasting relationships more accessible than ever before.
ODOO APPS: OPERATIONS
Inventory
Improved product management and costing
The new version of Odoo introduces significant improvements in inventory management, highlighting the automatic grouping of completed operations for a more efficient review. Upgraded FIFO costing ensures accurate, real-time inventory valuation, while new functionality enables more flexible editing and quantity reserve management, optimizing stock accuracy and planning.
Batch and Series Management Optimization
The platform improves batch and serial management, facilitating data entry with the incorporation of expiration dates and tracking of specific quantities. This upgrade simplifies traceability, improves stock management and reduces the risk of errors, ensuring more efficient and compliant inventory management.
Advanced Removal and Replenishment Strategies
Odoo 17 significantly improves inventory logistics with the introduction of the "Fewer packages" removal strategy, optimizing space and reducing costs by minimizing the number of packages during shipment. In addition, advanced filters for replenishment by supplier streamline supplier selection based on criteria such as price, lead time and quality, facilitating more informed and efficient purchasing decisions.
Improvements in Documentation and Reporting
The Odoo 17 update brings with it important improvements in inventory documentation and reporting. Packages are now included directly in the relevant documents, providing a clear overview of shipping and receiving contents. Automatic printing on specific transaction types and the inclusion of barcodes in receiving reports optimize inventory management and improve accuracy in product tracking.
New Functionalities and Efficiencies in Transfers and Routing
With Odoo 17, companies will experience a revamp in inventory routing and transfer management. The platform introduces improvements in picking, adapting routes based on shipping methods to maximize logistics efficiency. In addition, the new stock aging report offers valuable insights for better inventory control, helping companies make informed decisions on replenishment and stock management.
Manufacturing
Bill of Materials Flexibility
Odoo 17 introduces remarkable flexibility in Bill of Materials (BOM) management, allowing users to update and create new BOMs directly from manufacturing orders. This enhancement significantly simplifies the process of adapting to changes in production requirements, facilitating the rapid modification of components and quantities without leaving the manufacturing workflow.
Advanced Component Demand Management
Odoo version 17 improves inventory management with automatic propagation of changes in component demand throughout the production chain. This intelligent system automatically adjusts stock levels and purchase orders in response to fluctuations in demand, ensuring more efficient inventory management and reducing the risk of overproduction or shortages.
Integral Report of Manufacturing Orders
Odoo 17 offers comprehensive manufacturing order reporting, providing a complete view of each order. This functionality includes detailed cost tracking and efficient replenishment management, offering users a powerful tool to monitor production profitability and optimize material purchasing processes.
Improved Interface for Greater Efficiency
The upgrade improves the manufacturing application's user interface, making the management of the manufacturing process more intuitive and efficient. With simplified navigation and a clearer presentation of relevant information, users can access critical functionality more quickly, improving productivity and reducing the amount of training time required.
Optimization in Planning and Production
Odoo 17 introduces advanced tools for planning and visualizing production dependencies, allowing users to anticipate needs and adjust resources proactively. This optimized planning ensures that manufacturing projects run smoothly and efficiently, minimizing bottlenecks and maximizing the use of available resources.
Projects
Additional States for Tasks
This new feature expands the ability to track tasks by introducing detailed options to mark the status of each task, including completed, cancelled, in progress, changes requested or approved. This update provides a clearer understanding of work progress, enabling more effective management of time and resources..
Creation of Projects from Sales Orders
The new version allows projects to be generated directly from sales orders, simplifying the workflow from the conception of a commercial agreement to its execution. This direct connection between sales and projects facilitates a seamless transition, allowing for more agile planning and resource allocation..
Profitability Evaluation with Advances
Odoo 17 improves the financial evaluation of projects by incorporating advance payment management. This feature gives companies the ability to perform more accurate profitability analyses, taking into account revenues received in advance, and helps manage cash flow more efficiently.
Multi-company Access to Projects
Strengthening collaboration capabilities, Odoo 17 facilitates access to projects and tasks in multi-company configurations, allowing teams from different business units to work together on shared projects. This improves synergy between sister companies and maximizes the leverage of shared resources.
Task Management Optimization
With the introduction of recurring tasks and simplified scheduling, Odoo 17 significantly improves the management of repetitive and long-term tasks. The automation of recurring tasks ensures that critical processes are maintained without constant manual intervention, improving operational efficiency.
Purchase
Enhanced Discount Management
Odoo 17 takes discount management to a new level, allowing users to configure and adjust discounts directly from price lists and purchase orders. This enhancement provides flexibility to apply specific discounts to products or orders, making it easier to negotiate and adapt to market conditions in real time. The upgrade enables companies to respond dynamically to competitive pricing strategies, improve customer relationships by offering customized discounts, and optimize profit margins..
Integration of Supplier Catalog in Kanban View
With Odoo 17, product selection when creating RFQs is simplified thanks to the integration of supplier catalogs directly in the Kanban view. This feature allows users to visualize and select products in a more intuitive way, facilitating the process of comparing and choosing the best items for their needs. The integration improves the efficiency of the purchasing process, reducing the time spent searching among different suppliers and ensuring that the best available prices and conditions are obtained..
Sales
Ease of Product Aggregation and Upgrading with Amazon
Odoo 17 simplifies adding products to the platform and significantly improves integration with Amazon, enabling efficient synchronization of orders and products between both systems. This feature facilitates inventory management and sales across multiple channels, improving the user experience for merchants operating on both Odoo and Amazon.
Advances and Enhanced Discounts
The sales application now offers clearer and more flexible options for managing advances and applying global discounts. Users can configure and apply discounts more intuitively, and manage customer advances to confirm orders, improving cash flow and customer satisfaction.
Customized Loyalty Programs
With Odoo 17, companies can design and execute customer-specific loyalty programs, enabling the creation of customized promotions and rewards that encourage long-term loyalty and engagement. Planning these promotions in advance ensures that companies can keep their customers engaged and motivated.
Optimization of Quotation Management
The generation of PDF quotations has been improved to offer a more agile and professional process. In addition, partial payments are facilitated and mass cancellation of quotations is allowed, providing greater flexibility for both the company and the customer in the negotiation and management of sales.
Collaboration and Documentation Enhancements
Odoo 17 integrates the Chatter system into price lists, improving internal communication and collaboration in price management. In addition, automatic document sharing with customers optimizes the sales process, ensuring that all relevant documentation is easily accessible and synchronized between stakeholders.
Here is a summary of what's new in Odoo version 17:
Odoo 17 is not just an upgrade, it is a transformation that takes business management to a new level. At INDAWS, we are ready to help companies take full advantage of these new features, ensuring that they can improve their efficiency and productivity.