One of the biggest challenges for any company isn't selling, it's getting paid on time. It doesn't matter how many invoices you issue: if the money doesn't come in, the business stalls.
The good news is that Odoo 18 has everything you need to automate your collections process. And in this blog post we explain it simply, step by step.
Why do you need a collections process?
Because payments don't collect themselves. A well-defined collections process lets you:
- Easily see which customers owe you.
- Send automatic reminders by email, SMS or letter.
- Follow up without having to call customers one by one.
- Have a clear owner for every follow-up.
- Reduce late payments and improve your cash flow.
And you can do all of that with the tools that already come with your Odoo 18.
What do you need to turn on?
First, you need to set up the follow-up levels. To do that, go to:
Accounting → Configuration → Follow-up Levels
This is where you define what happens when an invoice is overdue, for example:
- After 7 days: an automatic email is sent.
- After 14 days: another email is sent and a call is scheduled.
- After 21 days: a letter is printed and an activity is assigned to the person in charge of collections.
Each level can have its own message, template and action. You can also add options such as:
- Attach the overdue invoice.
- Schedule automatic activities.
- Add followers to the customer to see the response.
- Send SMS (if you have credits in Odoo IAP).
Useful tip: you can enter negative days to send a reminder before the invoice's due date.
How is the follow-up done?
Once it's set up, follow-up can be automatic or manual.
Automatic:
Odoo takes care of sending reminders based on the number of days overdue.
Manual:
From the customer or the invoice, you click “Send reminder” and choose how to send it: email, print, SMS or letter.
Where do you see overdue invoices?
Go to Accounting → Customers → Invoices and filter by “Overdue.” That's where you'll see everything that needs attention.
You can also go to Accounting → Customers → Customers, and from there see:
- Which customers have overdue invoices.
- What follow-up has been done.
- When the next reminder will be sent.
And if you want to follow up with several customers at once, select all the ones you want and click “Actions → Process follow-ups.”
What if you want to see a customer's account statement?
From the customer form, click “Customer Statement” and you'll see everything they owe, what they paid and what's about to come due.
You can also send it directly to the customer as a PDF or Excel file.
A simple (and effective) collections flow
Here's an example of how you can set up your process:
- Day -3: Friendly payment reminder (Email)
- Day 0: The invoice comes due (No action)
- Day 7: First reminder (Email + Activity)
- Day 14: Second reminder (Email + SMS)
- Day 21: Formal letter + collections call (Printed + Activity)
- Day 30: Internal or external escalation (Activity)
You can adapt this flow to your situation, and in Odoo 18 all of it can be automated.
What if you don't know how to get started?
If your collections process isn't clear or you don't know how to configure it in Odoo, that's where we come in.
At Valtriom, we help our clients:
- Design their ideal collections flow.
- Configure it fully inside Odoo 18.
- Train the collections team to use it well.
- Automate as much as possible and keep a record of everything.
That way you make sure the money comes in on time, without losing your calm or your control.
Ready to structure your collections process like a serious company?
Contact us.
At Valtriom, we design systems that don't just work… they collect.