Duration: 51:09
PART 1 — Analytical Summary 🚀
Context 💼
This session introduces the new Odoo ESG app, presented by Jed Vandenid, Product Owner at Odoo. The talk explains what ESG means, why it matters now (especially for EU companies), and how Odoo’s new tools help organizations measure carbon emissions, track social and governance data, and generate compliant sustainability reports. The roadmap distinguishes what ships in Odoo 19 versus what’s coming in 19.1, with live demos for both the Carbon Footprint tool and a sneak peek of CSRD reporting.
The urgency is clear: EU regulation (notably CSRD) is rolling out in phases, investors and customers are raising expectations, and operational efficiencies can reduce costs while strengthening trust. Odoo’s pitch centers on integration: much of the data needed for ESG reporting already lives across your Odoo database, so the ESG app consolidates, automates, and continuously updates it.
Core ideas & innovations 🧠
At its core, Odoo ESG turns scattered operational records into a real-time sustainability ledger. The app calculates greenhouse gas emissions across Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (purchased energy), and Scope 3 (value chain) by linking activities to standardized emission factors. Odoo ships one-click imports of major emission-factor databases—highlighted in the talk as ADEME (France) and IPCC (international)—and lets you build “assignment rules” that map factors to purchases by product, partner, or account. Once mapped, emissions compute automatically whenever bills, expenses, or other records arrive.
Because not everything can be automated, the app supports manual entries (e.g., operational waste), plus direct integration with Accounting, Employees, Payroll, and Fleet. A standout example: employee commuting is estimated using home–work distance, attendance frequency, vehicle model emissions (g/km), and policy settings. The resulting footprint updates in real time and supports a multi-gas breakdown (CO2e across the Kyoto gases), base-year comparison, and export-ready reporting aligned with the GHG Protocol and the French Bilan Carbone methodology.
Beyond environmental metrics, Odoo ESG consolidates social and governance KPIs by pulling data from HR apps. You can analyze gender parity across leadership levels, departments, and job roles, and monitor the pay gap by position and companywide. For operational improvement, the app embeds Projects to manage sustainability initiatives, log expected emission reductions, and turn insights into action—without claiming to replace expert guidance.
Looking ahead, Odoo 19.1 adds two big pieces. First, an AI-assisted mapper proposes relevant emission factors and can create persistent rules—accelerating initial setup and annual rollovers. Second, full CSRD support: a guided workflow to define scope (countries, operations, stakeholders, critical materials), select applicable ESRS topics, conduct a double materiality assessment, involve stakeholders via Survey, collect quantitative metrics (including those already captured in the ESG app), and generate a digitally structured report, with XBRL targeted for auditor-ready submission. There’s also a lighter VSME path for SMEs needing to respond to large customers’ requests without the full CSRD burden.
Impact & takeaways ⚙️
- Compliance readiness made practical: Odoo converts regulatory complexity into a structured, guided process. Companies can start with live carbon accounting in v19 and add CSRD workflows in v19.1.
- Integration = automation: Because data flows in from Accounting, HR/Payroll, Fleet, and Expenses, carbon footprint and social metrics update continuously, not in year-end crunches.
- Repeatable and scalable: Once emission-factor rules are set, they’re reused each year; AI in v19.1 speeds factor mapping and reduces manual effort.
- Transparent, auditable outputs: Carbon footprints align with GHG Protocol and Bilan Carbone; CSRD reports follow ESRS and aim for XBRL to streamline external audits.
- Practical governance: Real-time analytics, base-year benchmarking, and multi-gas breakdowns surface hotspots early; embedded initiatives turn insights into measurable change.
- Cost and time reductions: The session cites typical ESG reporting costs of ~€500/month and positions Odoo ESG at €20/month, while compressing reporting cycles from months to weeks through automation and reuse.
Key availability notes:
- In Odoo 19: Carbon Footprint, social data (e.g., parity, pay gap), emission-factor databases and assignment rules, real-time dashboards and exports.
- In Odoo 19.1: CSRD workflow (ESRS alignment, double materiality, stakeholder surveys, report generation with XBRL), and AI-assisted emission-factor mapping.
Q&A highlights 💬
- Availability: ESG is an Enterprise feature (it depends on Accounting integration).
- Auditor export: Carbon footprint PDFs now; XBRL planned for CSRD.
- Supply-chain social data: Pay gap currently covers your own workforce; broader value-chain data can be documented in the CSRD scope and VSME flow.
- Emission factors: You can adjust factors going forward; history isn’t retroactively changed. Manual entries are supported for hard-to-automate items.
- Report templating: Carbon report template customization isn’t available yet.
- Databases: ADEME/IPCC highlighted; more regional/sector datasets may be added over time.
- Initiatives: Odoo won’t auto-suggest actions; the goal is to empower experts with data and execution tools rather than replace them.
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo’s vision.
ESG isn’t a side project anymore; it’s part of how companies operate. Our responsibility is to make sustainability as simple and integrated as accounting or CRM. If the data already lives in Odoo, then reporting shouldn’t be a separate, painful process. It should be automatic, transparent, and useful every day—not just once a year.
With CSRD, small and large organizations need clarity and repeatability. We focus on two things: removing friction through integration and helping teams collaborate around a single source of truth. When we make sustainability workflows intuitive, we enable the community—partners, experts, and customers—to focus on real improvements, not spreadsheet gymnastics.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
Odoo’s approach is pragmatic. Tight in-app integration and AI-assisted mapping reduce the heavy lift many firms face when assembling ESG data. For SMBs and midmarket companies, this can be a compelling on-ramp—especially for Scope 3 data, social metrics from HR, and CSRD structuring.
The challenges will be in enterprise depth: governance at scale, complex multi-entity consolidation, stringent internal controls, and sector-specific methodologies. As CSRD audits mature, traceability, data lineage, and harmonization with broader data estates (data lakes, BI, risk platforms) will matter. UX is a clear Odoo strength; sustained success will hinge on expanding compliance breadth, regional datasets, and integration with enterprise assurance workflows.
PART 4 — Blog Footer Disclaimer
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.