How to Odoo’s Follow-Up Reports

Introduction

Odoo’s follow-up reports are a powerful feature for managing outstanding invoices and ensuring timely payments. However, customizing these reports to fit your specific needs can be a bit challenging. In this guide, we’ll dive into how to optimize and edit Odoo’s follow-up reports. From tweaking email templates to adjusting the table reporting the open invoice amounts, we’ll cover it all. Whether you’re an Odoo user or a developer, this step-by-step guide will help you get the most out of your follow-up reports.

Understanding Follow-Up Reports in Odoo

Follow-up reports in Odoo help businesses keep track of unpaid invoices and automate the process of sending reminders to clients. Additionally, these reports can be customized to include various details such as invoice amounts, dates, and even custom fields. Before we delve into the customization, let’s understand the basic setup and functionality of follow-up reports in Odoo.

Key Features:

• Automated reminders to clients about overdue invoices.
• Customizable email templates and PDF attachments.
• Detailed reporting on outstanding amounts and payment statuses.

Customizing Follow-Up Reports

1. Accessing Follow-Up Reports

To access and manage follow-up reports in Odoo:

1. Navigate to the Accounting module.
2. Select Customers and then Follow-Up Reports.
3. Here, you can view all outstanding invoices and their respective follow-up levels.

2. Editing the Email Template

The email template used for follow-up reports is crucial for effective communication with your clients. To customize this template:

1. Go to Settings > Technical > Email > Templates.
2. Search for the template related to follow-up reports. You can usually find it under names like “Payment Reminder” or “Follow-Up Email.”
3. Click on the template to edit its content. You can modify the subject line, body text, and even include dynamic placeholders to personalize the emails.

Example Customization:

<p>Dear ${object.partner_id.name},</p>
<p>This is a reminder that the following invoices are overdue:</p>
<table>
    <tr>
        <th>Invoice Date</th>
        <th>Invoice Number</th>
        <th>Amount Due</th>
    </tr>
    % for line in object.unreconciled_aml_ids:
    <tr>
        <td>${line.invoice_date}</td>
        <td>${line.invoice_number}</td>
        <td>${line.amount_due}</td>
    </tr>
    % endfor
</table>
<p>Please make the payment at your earliest convenience.</p>

3. Adjusting the Table in Follow-Up Reports

If you want to customize the table reporting open invoice amounts, invoice dates, and custom fields in the PDF attachment:

1. Locate the Template: The template for the follow-up report PDF is usually located in the Odoo backend under the technical settings.
2. Edit the QWeb Template: This involves editing the QWeb template which defines the structure of the PDF.

Steps:

1. Go to Settings > Technical > User Interface > Views.
2. Search for the follow-up report view (e.g., “account_followup_report_view”).
3. Edit the QWeb template to include or modify the fields you need.

Example Code:

<t t-foreach="doc.unreconciled_aml_ids" t-as="line">
    <tr>
        <td>
            <span t-field="line.invoice_date"/>
        </td>
        <td>
            <span t-field="line.invoice_number"/>
        </td>
        <td>
            <span t-field="line.amount_due"/>
        </td>
    </tr>
</t>

4. Adding Custom Fields

To include custom fields in your follow-up reports:

1. Create Custom Fields: First, create custom fields in the model where your invoices are stored.
2. Include in QWeb Template: Edit the QWeb template to display these custom fields.

Example:

<td>
    <span t-field="line.custom_field"/>
</td>

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue: Follow-Up Report Not Displaying All Invoices

• Solution: Ensure that the invoices are properly tagged and linked to the correct partner. Check if there are any filters applied that might be excluding certain invoices.

Issue: Email Template Not Reflecting Changes

• Solution: Clear the server cache and restart Odoo. Sometimes changes in the templates might not reflect immediately due to caching issues.

Conclusion

Customizing and optimizing follow-up reports in Odoo can significantly enhance your invoicing and payment collection processes. Moreover, by tweaking email templates, adjusting report tables, and adding custom fields, you can tailor the reports to better suit your business needs. Should you encounter any challenges, be sure to refer to Odoo’s documentation or seek help from the community to ensure smooth customization.

FAQs

1. How can I add a custom field to the follow-up report?

You need to create the custom field in the invoice model and then include it in the QWeb template of the follow-up report.

2. Can I automate follow-up reports in Odoo?

Yes, follow-up reports can be automated using Odoo’s scheduled actions and automated email reminders.

3. What if the email template changes are not reflecting?

Ensure you clear the server cache and restart Odoo to apply the changes. Also, check for any syntax errors in your template.

4. How do I handle failed imports?

Create an error handling mechanism within your import script to log and retry failed imports.

5. Is it possible to consolidate follow-up reports from multiple Odoo instances?

This would require custom development, potentially using Odoo’s API to pull data from multiple instances into a consolidated report.