Accounting Reports in Odoo 18
By Braincuber Team
Published on December 26, 2025
Finance teams exporting data to Excel for every stakeholder question create bottlenecks: CFOs waiting days for cash flow projections, auditors requesting transaction details buried in GL dumps, department heads manually reconciling budget vs actuals in spreadsheets, and tax filing scrambles extracting data from disconnected systems. Static PDF reports generated monthly become outdated immediately, offering no drill-down into transactions causing variances.
Odoo 18's Accounting Reports system transforms financial reporting from manual extraction to self-service analytics. Standard reports (Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Aged Receivables) generate real-time from live transaction data with drill-down capability—click any line item to view underlying journal entries. Dynamic Reports enable custom filtering, period comparisons, analytic dimensions, and multi-currency consolidation without IT intervention. Customizable report structures let you add columns, modify formulas, and configure groupings to match your chart of accounts.
Accounting Reports Key Features:
- Real-time report generation from live data
- Drill-down to transaction detail from summary lines
- Custom report builder with formulas and groupings
- Period comparison (YoY, QoQ, budget vs actual)
- Multi-currency and multi-company consolidation
- Export to PDF, Excel, and printable formats
- Analytic filtering (cost centers, projects, departments)
- Dynamic Reports with interactive filters
Understanding Accounting Reports
Odoo 18 provides two reporting paradigms: standard accounting reports and dynamic reports.
Report Types Comparison
| Aspect | Standard Reports | Dynamic Reports |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Compliance, audit, external reporting | Analysis, decision-making, ad-hoc queries |
| Structure | Fixed format (Balance Sheet, P&L, etc.) | Flexible, user-configurable |
| Customization | Report builder for structural changes | Live filtering, grouping, pivoting |
| Users | CFO, Controllers, Auditors | Department heads, Analysts, Managers |
| Examples | Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Tax Returns | Partner Ledger, Aged Payables, Custom GL |
Standard Accounting Reports
Pre-configured reports for compliance and external reporting, accessible from Accounting → Reporting.
Core Financial Reports
Balance Sheet
Purpose: Snapshot of financial position
Shows: Assets, Liabilities, Equity
Point-in-time view of what company owns vs owes
Profit & Loss
Purpose: Performance over period
Shows: Revenue, Expenses, Net Income
Period-based profitability analysis
Cash Flow Statement
Purpose: Track cash movements
Shows: Operating, Investing, Financing cash
Liquidity and cash generation analysis
General Ledger
Purpose: Complete transaction record
Shows: All journal entries by account
Audit trail and transaction detail
Partner Reports
Aged Receivables
Customer invoices by aging buckets (0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 90+ days)
Aged Payables
Vendor bills by aging buckets for cash planning
Partner Ledger
Transaction history per customer/vendor
Follow-up Report
Overdue invoices for collection management
Customizing Accounting Reports
Modify report structure, add columns, change formulas to match your chart of accounts and reporting needs.
Accessing Report Customization
- Navigate to
Accounting→Configuration→Accounting Reports - Select report to customize (e.g., "Aged Receivable")
- Opens report configuration form
Report Configuration Tabs
Lines Tab - Report Structure:
Add a Line
Click to create new report line with configuration popup:
- Label: Line name displayed in report
- Partner Line: Link to partner for drill-down
- Group By: Grouping dimension (account, partner, analytic)
- Action: Click behavior (drill-down, link to records)
- Level: Hierarchical indentation level
- Code: Unique identifier for formula references
- Foldable: Enable expand/collapse button
- Print on New Page: Page break before this line
- Hide if Zero: Auto-hide when all columns are 0
- Formula: Calculation logic (sum, balance, custom)
Columns Tab - Add Data Columns:
Column Configuration
- Name: Column header text
- Expression Label: Short code for column
- Figure Type: Monetary, Integer, Percentage, Date
- Sortable: Enable column sorting
- Blank if Zero: Hide zero values
Example: Add "Currency" column showing transaction currency
Options Tab - Report Behavior:
General Options
- Load More Limit
- Account Groups (Always/Optional/Default)
- Multi-Company Selector
- Default Viewing Period
Advanced Features
- Date Range selector
- Unfold All toggle
- Growth Comparison
- Period Comparison
- Cash Basis mode
Filters
- Account Types
- Journals
- Partners
- Draft Entries
- Unreconciled Entries
Analytics
- Analytic Filter
- Analytic Group By
- Horizontal Groups
Example: Customizing Aged Receivable
Customization Steps:
- Add Currency Column:
- Columns tab → Add a Line
- Name: "Currency"
- Figure Type: String
- Sortable: Yes
- Add Horizontal Group Filter:
- Options tab → Horizontal Groups
- Add group: "Currency Contains INR"
- Filters receivables to Indian Rupee only
- Enable Advanced Options:
- Period Comparison: Compare current vs previous periods
- Growth Comparison: Show percentage change
- Partner Filter: Filter by specific customers
- Save Configuration:
- Changes apply immediately to report
- View modified report under Reporting menu
Dynamic Reports
Interactive, real-time reports with live filtering, grouping, and drill-down—no configuration required.
Enabling Dynamic Reports
- Navigate to
Accounting→Configuration→Settings - Enable "Dynamic Reports" checkbox
- Save settings
- Reports menu now shows dynamic report options
Using Dynamic Reports
Interactive Features:
Live Filtering
Click any value to filter report instantly (e.g., click specific account, partner, or period)
Drill-Down
Click report line to view underlying journal entries causing that balance
Grouping
Drag dimensions to rows/columns to pivot data (by account, partner, analytic tag)
Export
Export current view to Excel, PDF, or CSV with one click
Measures
Switch between Debit, Credit, Balance, Count metrics
Chart Views
Toggle between table, bar chart, line graph, pie chart visualizations
Example: Dynamic Aged Receivable Analysis
- Go to
Accounting→Reporting→Aged Receivable (Dynamic) - Click column header value (e.g., "60-90 days" bucket) to filter to only those invoices
- Click specific partner name to drill down to their invoice detail
- View journal entries showing exact transactions
- Export filtered view to Excel for follow-up with collections team
Report Integration Benefits
Real-Time Accuracy
Reports pull from live transaction data. Post an invoice, see it immediately in Aged Receivables—no batch processing delays.
Module Integration
Sales orders, purchase orders, inventory moves automatically flow to financial reports via integrated journal entries.
Audit Trail
Every report line drills down to journal entries with user, timestamp, and source document—complete traceability.
Multi-Currency
Consolidated reports convert foreign transactions to reporting currency with exchange rate transparency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
Odoo 18's Accounting Reports system transforms financial data from static spreadsheets into interactive decision-making tools. Standard reports provide audit-ready compliance documents that drill down to transaction detail, while Dynamic Reports empower business users to explore financial data with live filtering, custom groupings, and one-click exports—all without waiting for IT to build custom queries.
The customizable report builder lets you tailor structure, formulas, and columns to match your unique chart of accounts and reporting requirements, while real-time integration with Sales, Purchases, Inventory, and other modules ensures data accuracy without manual reconciliation. Whether you need monthly board reports, daily cash position monitoring, or ad-hoc customer aging analysis, Odoo's reporting infrastructure delivers the flexibility, speed, and accuracy modern finance teams demand.
Need Help with Financial Reporting?
Our accounting system experts can help you design custom report structures, configure analytic dimensions, set up multi-company consolidation, create automated report distribution, implement budget tracking, train finance teams, and build complete financial reporting frameworks tailored to your industry and compliance requirements.