Duration: 25:48
PART 1 — Analytical Summary 🚀
Context 💬
This session, led by Benoît (Digital Advisor at Odoo), demonstrates how finance leaders can simplify multi-company, multi-currency reporting using Odoo’s embedded data and Odoo Spreadsheet. The scenario follows a CFO overseeing an IT group operating in Belgium, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The focus: consolidate a group Profit & Loss (P&L), analyze by analytics (departments/teams), and build a global billing report that compares companies in one currency using monthly average FX rates.
The talk addresses common pain points in multi-entity setups: fragmented software, inconsistent charts of accounts, currency harmonization, consolidation complexity, and time-consuming manual exports that delay close and increase error risk. Odoo’s proposition is a single, integrated platform with real-time reporting and cross-company visibility.
Core ideas & innovations 🧠
The demo starts with a consolidated P&L. Even with companies in USD and GBP, totals display in EUR, thanks to configurable translation in the report settings (debug mode): either an average rate aligned with a CTA approach or the most recent rate as of the report date. This gives a CFO a ready-to-use EUR view without post-processing.
To compare entities side-by-side, Benoît switches the P&L to a Horizontal Group by company—instantly producing one column per entity. He then highlights account mapping: while viewing the US entity from the Belgian company, accounts appear using the Belgian chart and codes. In Odoo 19, the P&L mapping can group by account code (not just account ID), merging mapped accounts into single lines for a cleaner, unified view.
Intercompany eliminations are handled with a configurable Multi-Ledger rule. By defining a pattern (e.g., journals containing “ICO”), finance can exclude all intercompany journals in one click. From any report line, users can drill down to account move lines and examine analytic distributions. A new mass edit capability on analytic items lets teams update a specific analytic plan (e.g., Employees) without overwriting other plans—ideal when new analytic structures are added mid-year.
For managerial insight, Benoît builds a P&L by analytic dimensions. Using analytic items in a pivot, he layers time (quarter), then the analytic plan (Department), then subplans (e.g., Finance, Marketing, HR; within Finance: Accounting, Controlling, FP&A, Legal). With a single expand action, he surfaces a cross-dimensional P&L by department and team—no external BI required.
The finale is a from-scratch global billing report in Odoo Spreadsheet. Starting with the Invoice Analysis pivot, the system initially shows amounts converted at today’s rate. The goal is to compare entities in EUR using the monthly average rate. He creates a calculated measure (“Conversion”) to reconstruct the original foreign-currency totals by multiplying the EUR subtotal by the current EUR→foreign rate via Odoo’s built-in currency-rate function. Next, he inserts a pivot on the Currency Rates model to compute the monthly average of the technical rate. A second calculated measure (“Conversion with average”) divides the reconstructed foreign amount by that monthly average rate, using parameterized references to pivot values (currency ID, invoice month). A key enhancement in Odoo 19 is the ability to add row fields (including IDs) directly to pivot parameters—eliminating error-prone VLOOKUP chains. He then swaps the row to show Company instead of currency, hides intermediate measures, and sorts by month. The result: a clean, comparable billing view where, for example, the US entity leads in September—now confidently measured on average FX, not today’s spot.
Impact & takeaways ⚙️
The session shows how Odoo centralizes multi-company finance: one platform, one source of truth, and configurable currency translation that fits real-world consolidation practices. Horizontal Groups, account mapping by code, and one-click intercompany eliminations accelerate board-ready reporting and shorten the close. Embedded Odoo Spreadsheet turns governed, live data into flexible models, keeping analysis inside the system instead of scattered in offline files. Improvements to analytic plans (mass edit by plan, intuitive plan/subplan pivots) elevate accounting data into actionable managerial views. For global groups, the ability to parameterize measures, reference model data directly, and calculate average-rate conversions inside Spreadsheet removes friction and reduces errors—making real-time finance a practical reality. 💼
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo's vision.
What I love here is the continuity: data lives where the work happens. You can consolidate, translate, eliminate, and analyze—then model scenarios—without leaving Odoo. That simplicity is not cosmetic; it’s architectural. When your spreadsheet is native and your models are shared, teams stop copying data and start making decisions.
The evolution in Odoo 19—grouping by account code, parameterized spreadsheet pivots, smarter analytics—comes from listening to accountants who want fewer tools and faster answers. Integration is our strategy. The community keeps pushing us to remove complexity, and that’s how finance becomes real-time, not just real fast.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
Odoo’s embedded spreadsheet and live pivots are compelling, particularly for mid-market groups that struggle with spreadsheet sprawl. The UX is strong, and the parameterized measures reduce reliance on brittle lookups. For organizations with straightforward structures, this is a pragmatic way to align operational data with management reporting in one place.
At larger scale, challenges emerge: enterprise-grade consolidation often requires deep controls for audit, multi-GAAP/IFRS adjustments (e.g., complex CTA policies, hyperinflation handling), segregation of duties, and robust master-data governance. Pattern-based intercompany eliminations are helpful but may need stricter rule frameworks and compliance workflows. That said, Odoo’s direction on integration and usability is clear, and it continues to differentiate on speed-to-value and user experience.
Disclaimer: This article contains AI-generated summaries and fictionalized commentaries for illustrative purposes. Viewpoints labeled as "Odoo Perspective" or "Competitors" are simulated and do not represent any real statements or positions. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.