Balance Sheet Report in Odoo 18
By Braincuber Team
Published on December 28, 2025
CFOs presenting financial position to investors create accuracy crisis: manually exports data from multiple accounting systems into Excel, spends 2 days consolidating assets ($450K equipment + $125K inventory + $87K receivables), liabilities ($230K payables + $95K loans), and equity ($337K retained earnings), discovers calculation error 3 formulas deep showing $22K discrepancy requiring full recalculation, investor asks "what changed from last quarter?" but no comparison data available forcing another day building comparative analysis—losing credibility and decision-making speed from manual balance sheet preparation without real-time automated reporting.
Odoo 18 Balance Sheet Reports provide automated financial position snapshots with real-time asset/liability/equity categorization (current vs non-current), customizable date filtering (specific date/month/quarter/year), period comparison (previous period/same period last year/custom date), journal-specific filtering, posted vs draft entry options, currency format selection (.$/$/K$/M$), export to PDF/XLSX, drill-down to General Ledger, and automatic current year earnings calculation—enabling instant financial position visibility reducing report preparation time 95% while ensuring accuracy through systematic account aggregation.
Balance Sheet Features: Real-time data, Asset/Liability/Equity breakdown, Current vs non-current split, Period comparison, Journal filtering, Currency formats, PDF/XLSX export, Drill-down capability, Zero-balance hiding
What is Balance Sheet?
Snapshot of company financial position at specific point in time showing:
- Assets: What company owns (cash, inventory, equipment)
- Liabilities: What company owes (payables, loans)
- Equity: Owner's residual interest (retained earnings, capital)
Fundamental Equation:
Assets = Liabilities + Equity
This equation must always balance. If assets = $697K, then liabilities + equity must = $697K.
Accessing Balance Sheet
- Go to Accounting → Reporting → Balance Sheet
- Report displays current financial position
Report Customization Options
1. Date Filtering:
Filter by specific time period:
- Specific Date: Balance as of Dec 31, 2024
- Month: December 2024
- Quarter: Q4 2024
- Year: 2024
2. Period Comparison:
Compare current period against:
Previous Period
Dec 2024 vs Nov 2024
Same Period Last Year
Dec 2024 vs Dec 2023
Custom Date
Dec 2024 vs Jun 2024
Sort Order: Display comparisons in ascending or descending order.
3. Journal Selection:
- Filter by specific journal (Sales/Purchase/Bank/etc.)
- See accounts impacted by that journal only
- Default: All journals shown
4. Entry Status Filtering:
Choose which entries to include:
- Posted Entries: Confirmed transactions only
- Draft Entries: Include unconfirmed transactions
- Cash Basis: Entries using cash accounting
5. Currency Format:
| Format | Display | Example |
|---|---|---|
| In .$ | Two decimal points | $52,900.00 |
| In $ | Integer (no decimals) | $52,900 |
| In K$ | Thousands | $52.9K |
| In M$ | Millions | $0.05M |
6. Display Options:
- Horizontal Split: Side-by-side comparison
- Fold/Unfold Items: Collapse/expand account groups
- Hide Zero Balances: Clean view removing inactive accounts
7. Export Options:
- PDF: Formatted printable report
- XLSX: Excel format for further analysis
- Documents Module: Save to Odoo Documents for sharing
Understanding Report Sections
Assets Section:
Everything company owns with monetary value:
Current Assets:
Assets convertible to cash within 1 year:
- Bank and Cash
- Accounts Receivable
- Current Assets (inventory, prepayments)
Non-Current Assets:
Long-term assets (>1 year):
- Fixed Assets (equipment, buildings)
- Non-Current Assets (long-term investments)
Example - Accounts Receivable:
Current Balance: $52,900.00
- Create customer invoice for $862.50
- Balance Sheet updates automatically
- New Balance: $52,900.00 + $862.50 = $53,762.50
Real-time update - no manual calculation needed
Liabilities Section:
What company owes to others:
Current Liabilities:
Debts payable within 1 year:
- Accounts Payable
- Credit Card balances
- Current Liabilities (short-term loans)
Non-Current Liabilities:
Long-term obligations (>1 year):
- Non-Current Liabilities (long-term loans, bonds)
Example - Accounts Payable:
Current Balance: $622.27
- Create vendor bill for $805.00
- Balance Sheet updates automatically
- New Balance: $622.27 + $805.00 = $1,427.27
Equity Section:
Owner's residual interest after liabilities:
Components:
- Equity Accounts: Capital contributions, owner investments
- Current Year Unallocated Earnings: This year's net profit/loss not yet allocated
- Clicking link → Profit & Loss report
- Shows current year net profit
- Retained Earnings: Cumulative net profits retained over time
- Prior year unallocated earnings
- Allocated when closing fiscal year
Drill-Down Capabilities
Click account line to access detailed information:
Three Vertical Dots Menu:
- View General Ledger: See all transactions for that account
- Annotate: Add explanatory notes to account
Info Icon (i):
Shows metadata:
- Calculation formula used
- Account configuration details
Complete Workflow Example
Scenario: Monthly Financial Review
- Access Report: Accounting → Reporting → Balance Sheet
- Set Date: December 2024
- Enable Comparison: Compare to November 2024
- Select Format: In K$ (thousands) for board presentation
- Review Assets:
- Cash: $125K (↑$15K from Nov)
- Receivables: $53K (↑$12K - new invoices)
- Inventory: $87K (↓$8K - year-end sale)
- Review Liabilities:
- Payables: $1.4K (↑$805 - new vendor bills)
- Loans: $95K (↓$2K - monthly payment)
- Review Equity:
- Retained Earnings: $250K
- Current Year Profit: $87K
- Verify Balance: Assets = Liabilities + Equity
- $265K = $96.4K + $168.6K ✓ (example numbers)
- Export: Save as PDF for board meeting
Best Practices
Review Balance Sheet Monthly Not Annually: Annual review = discovering cash flow crisis 11 months too late. Monthly review catches trends early: receivables growing faster than revenue = collection problem, inventory shrinking while sales flat = supply chain issue, current year earnings trending negative = take corrective action now not December.
Use Period Comparison Always: Single-period balance sheet lacks context. $50K receivables = good or bad? Compare to previous period: $50K now vs $30K last month = 67% increase investigate why. Comparison reveals trends absolute numbers hide.
Hide Zero Balances for Cleaner Reports: Balance sheet showing 150 accounts with 90 having $0 balance = information overload confusing stakeholders. Enable "Hide Zero Balances" = cleaner report focusing on active accounts. Save detailed view for accountant drill-downs.
Conclusion
Odoo 18 Balance Sheet Reports provide automated financial position visibility through real-time asset/liability/equity categorization, period comparison, customizable filtering, and drill-down capabilities. Reduce report preparation time 95% while ensuring accuracy through systematic account aggregation enabling instant financial decision-making for stakeholders and management.