The annual Odoo Experience event has come and gone and with it the official launch of the latest version of the Odoo platform – Odoo 17. There are many new features, lots of app enhancements and here are my top six updates most applicable for businesses in Australia.
1. Improved UX/UI
This might seem little but I really like that you can now rearrange the apps on the screen to suit your personal preference. Previously, I had to rely on a user interface menu manager tool (with limitations) but this functionality is now enabled automatically with the latest update. You can have your most used apps lined up on the top row and this makes the user experience much more intuitive.
2. Sticky headers in kanban and list view
Keeping column headings frozen when scrolling down the kanban board or a list is another well-overdue enhancement. This saves a lot of time scrolling back up to find out what a particular column is your data referencing. There were several third partly paid modules designed to achieve this previously but it is great that Odoo has now build this functionality into their platform.
3. Payroll app for Australia
The inclusion of an Australian payroll app is a big step as this means businesses will no longer have to rely on third-party softwares to process employee salaries. Say goodbye to API integrations and extra costs associated with running additional programs. In addition with Single Touch Payroll (STP) functionality becoming available shortly, this would make the app more powerful in the coming months.
4. Starshipit integration
This freight carrier integration is another welcome addition as this has been an often-requested feature among our clients. Although available as a third-party addon previously, it is always easier to support as a native Odoo connector. Users can look forward to performing various operations such as getting live shipping rates, generating shipping labels and tracking shipments more easily and securely.
5. Personalise your PDF quotes
The ability to add your own header and footer pages (i.e. cover and last pages) and include product images into your PDF sales quotes is a much-needed improvement. This will significantly add to the presentation of your sales pitch and enable you to provide more information to your clients in a single document rather than having to send multiple messages. We can see efficiency levels rising.
6. New Shop Floor module
Several improvements have been made to the Manufacturing app, including the introduction of a Shop Floor module that improves the visual interface for processing manufacturing orders (MOs) and work orders. It also allows manufacturing employees to track the amount of time spent working on manufacturing and work orders, making the whole process much more transparent and increases accountability.
However, I wish Odoo would spend some time improving the Master Production Schedule report so it allowed importing or templating a list of products rather than adding products manually multiple times (maybe in V18?).
If you wish to learn more about how these enhancements and new features can further benefit your business, feel free reach out for a free discussion.
For the complete list of new/enhanced features, please see Odoo’s official Odoo 17 Release Notes document.