An open-source ERP platform offers powerful reporting capabilities that allow businesses to generate and customise various types of reports. By leveraging the built-in report templates and Odoo’s flexibility, you can tailor your reports to meet your specific business needs.
In Odoo 19, reporting is flexible and supports different business needs, such as printing invoices, analysing sales, and managing multi-company data. This blog explains the main types of reports in Odoo 19 in a simple and easy-to-understand way.
PDF Report
PDF reports are printable, professional-looking documents generated directly from Odoo. Common examples include invoices, quotations, delivery slips, sales orders, purchase orders, and tax sheets.
Odoo uses QWeb as its primary templating engine. QWeb converts XML-structured data into clean HTML, which is then rendered into PDF using wkhtmltopdf. It supports conditional logic, loops, dynamic content, styling, and template inheritance.
Key Features:
- Highly customizable via XML.
- Professional layouts with headers, footers, tables, and barcodes.
- Multi-language and multi-company support.
- Easy editing through Odoo Studio (drag-and-drop for many standard reports).
How to Create/Customize:
- Developers create a QWeb template (report_name.xml) and a report action (report_action.xml).
- Set report type to qweb-pdf.
- Place files in the report/ directory of your custom module.
Uses:
- Official external documents (invoices, POs, delivery notes).
- Internal documents (pick lists, manufacturing orders).
- Compliance reports (tax invoices, certificates).
Excel Report
Excel reports (XLSX) allow exporting structured data for further analysis in spreadsheets. They are perfect when you need raw or aggregated data outside Odoo for calculations, charts, or sharing.
Key Features:
- Direct export from any list, pivot, or report view.
- Custom XLSX generation using Python (xlsxwriter or Odoo controllers).
- Integration with Odoo Spreadsheet for live or static exports.
Uses:
- Sales analysis exports.
- Inventory valuation and stock movement reports.
- Financial data for external accountants.
- Budget vs Actual comparisons.
How to Generate:
- From any view > Click Export > Choose XLSX.
- For advanced reports, create a custom controller or wizard.
- Insert Odoo data directly into Odoo Spreadsheet and export.
Pivot Reports / Pivot View
The Pivot view is one of Odoo’s most powerful interactive reporting tools. It aggregates large datasets into a dynamic table where you can group, summarize, and drill down.
Key Features in Odoo 19:
- Multiple measures (sum, count, average, min, max).
- Row and column grouping with unlimited drill-down.
- Easy export to XLSX.
- Insert directly into Odoo Spreadsheet for further analysis.
How to Use:
- Go to any module’s Reporting menu (e.g., Sales > Reporting > Sales Analysis).
- Switch to Pivot view.
- Drag dimensions to rows/columns and select measures.
- Click on cells to drill down.
Uses:
- Sales performance by product, salesperson, or region.
- Inventory turnover and stock analysis.
- HR metrics (attendance, leaves).
- Profitability by customer or project.
Graph Reports / Graph View
Graph views provide visual insights to quickly identify trends, comparisons, and distributions.
Supported Chart Types:
- Bar Chart — Comparisons across categories.
- Line Chart — Time-based trends (supports stacked and cumulative).
- Pie Chart — Proportions and distributions.
Key Features:
- Switch between chart types easily.
- Combine with filters and groupings.
- Insert charts into spreadsheets.
Uses:
- Monthly revenue trends.
- Top-selling products or customers.
- Team performance comparison.
- Expense distribution.
Example: A line chart showing revenue growth over 12 months, grouped by product category, or a bar chart comparing sales targets vs achievement by salesperson.
Spreadsheet Reports (Odoo Spreadsheet)
Odoo 19 significantly enhances the Spreadsheet module (formerly Odoo Sheets). It brings Excel-like functionality with live connection to your Odoo database.
Key Features:
- Insert live Lists, Pivots, and Charts from any Odoo module.
- Global filters, multiple sheets, templates.
- Real-time data updates.
- Conditional formatting, charts, and dashboards.
- Export to XLSX or share internally.
Uses:
- Executive dashboards.
- Financial modeling and forecasting.
- Cross-department consolidated reports.
- KPI tracking.
Odoo 19 provides a comprehensive reporting system that includes PDF, Excel, Pivot, Graph, and Spreadsheet reports. Each type serves a specific purpose, from generating professional documents to performing advanced data analysis.
By effectively using these reporting tools, businesses can gain real-time insights, improve decision-making, and enhance overall efficiency.
To read more about How to Create and Manage PDF Reports in Odoo 19, refer to our blog How to Create and Manage PDF Reports in Odoo 19.