Short answer: every process in Odoo ends up in your financial figures: sales, purchasing, inventory and projects. If nobody with a finance background is involved in the implementation, you only discover after go-live that the inventory valuation or the work in progress is wrong. That is why FID joins from the start, alongside the implementation partner. We set up the accounting and the controls that run on it.
Working with the implementation partner
The implementation partner sets up Odoo. We make sure the setup is financially sound. We usually join from the start, because every process touches finance. It is not just about posting invoices. It is also about questions such as:
- How is the inventory valued, and how do we report on it?
- How do we handle work in progress?
- Which controls need to run after go-live?
Usually the client engages us. In practice, we work closely with the implementation partner.
What goes wrong without finance at the table
Without someone from finance, problems follow. The implementation partner knows the technology, but usually not the financial process. A traditional bookkeeper knows the process, but often not Odoo. The result shows quickly: after go-live, all sorts of things still have to be added and corrected. With a finance partner involved, those decisions are made properly at the outset.
An example: work in progress
"Testing every process against Odoo" sounds abstract. For work in progress, it means asking:
- What exactly counts as work in progress in this business?
- Where does the source data sit in Odoo: in projects, timesheets, purchasing or manufacturing?
- What is needed to calculate the valuation?
- Can the spreadsheet go? A custom report in Odoo often replaces the Excel file someone updates by hand every month.
Training and aftercare
We train the team before and after go-live. Aftercare covers a lot: the first month-end closes, the controls, and the questions that only come up in practice. We have no fixed blueprint, because every business is different. We do keep as much as possible to the standard configuration, and customise only where it genuinely makes the organisation more efficient.
Always on the latest version
Odoo changes quickly. Odoo 20 works differently from Odoo 19 in places, and new features keep arriving. Keeping up takes time. That is why we deliberately work with Odoo alone: it means we know not only the accounting inside out, but the other apps as well.
Our main piece of advice
Is your business about to start an Odoo implementation? Map out your own processes first. How does an order really travel from quote to payment? Who does what? The clearer that picture is up front, the better Odoo will fit.
Frequently asked questions
Does FID replace the implementation partner?
Not on a larger implementation. There, the implementation partner sets up Odoo and we act as the finance sounding board alongside them. A small implementation on Odoo Online, with a few users and a simple configuration, we handle ourselves, accounting included.
When should a finance partner get involved?
Ideally from the start. Decisions about inventory, projects and work in progress determine the quality of your figures later on.
Can you replace our Excel reports?
Often, yes. We find where the source data sits in Odoo and build custom reports, so the manual calculations are no longer needed.
Do you also work with software other than Odoo?
No, and that is deliberate. Odoo changes quickly. Because we focus on Odoo alone, we keep up with every new version.
See also: Odoo implementation.