Losing $99K Annually? Track Margins with Odoo 18 Margin Analysis

Sales team celebrates: "We sold $847K this quarter!" CFO asks: "What's our profit?" Silence. Sales: "Revenue is $847K." CFO: "I didn't ask revenue. I asked profit. What are the margins?" Sales rep pulls up spreadsheet. Product A: Sold for $100, cost $95 = $5 margin (5%). Product B: Sold for $200, cost $180 = $20 margin (10%). Product C: Sold for $50, cost $60 = -$10 margin (LOSING MONEY). Nobody noticed Product C losing $10 per sale because tracking revenue, not profit.

Your margin blindness: Sales reps chase revenue targets, not profit. Result: Sell 1,000 units of Product C at loss. Total loss: $10,000. Sales team gets bonus for hitting revenue target. Company loses money. No visibility into which products profitable, which losing. Pricing decisions based on guesses ("competitor charges $50, so we charge $49"), not margin analysis.

Cost: Sold 1,000 units Product C at $10 loss each = -$10,000. Sold 500 units low-margin Product A (5% margin) instead of pushing high-margin Product B (10% margin) = $2,500 opportunity cost. Pricing Product D wrong: Set price at $75, cost is $74 = 1.3% margin (should be minimum 20%). Annual impact: $287K revenue generated only $14,350 profit (5% margin, should be 25% = $71,750 lost profit). Plus time waste: 6.7 hours weekly calculating margins in Excel = $17,420/year.

Odoo 18 Margin Analysis fixes this: Automatic margin calculation on every sale order (see profit instantly), product-level margin reports (identify losers), customer margin analysis (which clients most profitable), margin % visible on order lines (sales reps see profit impact), historical margin trends (track improvement). Here's how to enable margin tracking so you stop losing $99,170/year selling wrong products at wrong prices.

What Margin Analysis Shows

Step 1: Enable Margins on Sale Orders

1. Go to Sales → Configuration → Settings
2. Scroll to Quotations & Orders section
3. Enable Margins checkbox
4. Click Save

Step 2: View Margins on Sale Orders

Once enabled, every sale order shows margin information.

Create Sale Order

1. Go to Sales → Orders → Quotations
2. Click New
3. Select customer
4. Add products to order lines

Margin Columns Appear

Example Calculation

Step 3: Analyze Sales Order Margins

Graph View

1. Go to Sales → Orders → Orders
2. Click Graph view icon (bar chart)
3. Click Measures dropdown
4. Select Margin
5. Group by Customer or Product
6. See visual representation of margins

Pivot View

1. Click Pivot view icon
2. Add Margin to measures
3. Rows: Customers
4. Columns: Time periods (Month, Quarter)
5. See margin trends over time per customer

Step 4: Product Margin Analysis

Deep dive into individual product profitability.

1. Go to Accounting → Reporting → Management → Product Margins
2. Set filters:
   • From Date: Start of analysis period
   • To Date: End of analysis period
   • Invoice State: Draft, Open, Paid, or All
3. Click Open Margins
4. Report displays for each product:
   • Average Sale Unit Price
   • Invoiced Quantity (units sold)
   • Turnover (total revenue)
   • Total Cost
   • Purchased Quantity
   • Total Margin (Turnover - Total Cost)
   • Margin %

Example Product Margin Report

Step 5: Customer Margin Analysis

Identify which customers are most profitable.

1. Go to Sales → Orders → Orders
2. Click Pivot view
3. Measures: Select Margin
4. Rows: Customer
5. See total margin per customer
6. Sort by Margin (descending) to find top customers

Real-World Use Cases

Use Case 1: Identified Loss-Making Product

Use Case 2: Optimized Sales Team Focus

Use Case 3: Renegotiated Customer Contract

Common Mistakes

Real-World Impact Example

Quick Implementation Checklist