Part A: SaaS / recurring services
Profile: "CloudBooks" (fictional): accounting SaaS with monthly/yearly plans, per-user pricing, add-ons, a free trial, and partner resellers.
| Need | Odoo solution |
|---|---|
| Plans monthly/yearly | Subscriptions > Recurring plans (1 month, 1 year) with prices per plan on the product (Prices tab; v20 unified Prices tab for Sales/Subscription/Rental) |
| Per-user quantity | Quantity on the subscription line; upsell orders when users are added (prorated) |
| Trial | Quotation template with a 0-price first period or start date in the future |
| Auto-renew & card payment | Payment provider with tokenisation; automatic payment on renewal |
| Churn tracking | Close reasons; MRR, churn, retention reports |
| Health score | Kanban colours / KPIs on subscriptions; activities for at-risk accounts |
| Upsell from CRM | v20: upsells from leads to existing subscriptions |
| Loyalty | v20: loyalty programmes on subscriptions |
Configuration steps: install Subscriptions → create recurring plans → subscription products (Recurring ✔) → quotation templates (Starter/Pro/Enterprise) → payment provider (Stripe/Razorpay) with tokens → email templates for renewal/failed payment → dashboards (MRR, ARR, churn %, net retention).
Accounting: revenue recognised per invoice period; for annual upfront billing use deferred revenue (start/end dates on invoice lines → automatic monthly recognition).
Part B: Equipment rental
Profile: "RentPro Equipment" (fictional): scaffolding, generators and event equipment rented by the hour/day/week; deposits; damage charges; delivery and pickup.
| Need | Odoo solution |
|---|---|
| Hourly/daily/weekly prices | Rental product with rental pricing periods (v19: hourly booking for overnight products) |
| Availability calendar | Rental Gantt (drag & drop reservations in v19) |
| Serial-tracked assets | Products tracked by serial; pickup/return scanned |
| Deposit | Deposit product on the order; refunded via credit note |
| Late return / damage | Extra charges (late fee rule; damage product) |
| Delivery & pickup | Delivery routes; v20 field-service-style routing in Planning |
| Maintenance between rentals | Padding time between rentals; Maintenance requests |
| Working schedule | v20: rental working schedules replace unavailability days |
KPIs: utilisation % per asset, revenue per asset, late returns, damage cost recovery.
Pitfalls
- Decide early whether rental assets are also fixed assets in accounting (usually yes → Assets module) and keep the two linked by serial number.
- Prorating rules for mid-period upgrades must be explained to the finance team.