Losing $194K Annually? Automate with Odoo 18 Subscription Module

SaaS company, 847 subscribers. Renewals tracked in Excel spreadsheet. Customer credit card expires. No automated reminder. Subscription lapses. You notice 3 weeks later when reviewing financials. Lost $197 monthly revenue × 3 weeks = $148 gone. Email customer: "Hey, your subscription lapsed." Customer moved to competitor. Lost customer lifetime value: $2,364.

Your subscription chaos: 847 subscribers across 3 pricing tiers (Basic $49, Pro $99, Enterprise $299). Manual renewal tracking. No automated invoicing. Billing assistant spends 37 hours monthly creating invoices, sending emails, following up on failed payments. Missed renewals: 23 last quarter = $8,741 lost. Upsell opportunities ignored (no system to track who should upgrade). Churn reason unknown (customers cancel, you never know why).

Cost: Billing assistant 37 hours monthly × $25/hour = $11,100/year on manual work. Missed renewals: 23/quarter × $1,267 avg × 4 = $116,668 annual revenue lost. Failed payment recovery: 0% (no tracking) = $28,400 additional loss. No upselling = $47K potential revenue never captured. Plus unpredictability: Can't forecast MRR accurately, investors concerned.

Odoo 18 Subscription Module fixes this: Automated invoicing (no manual work), renewal reminders (prevent lapses), failed payment tracking (recover revenue), upsell workflows (increase ARPU), cancellation reasons (reduce churn), MRR reporting (accurate forecasts). Here's how to configure subscription automation so you stop losing $203,168/year to manual chaos.

What Odoo 18 Subscription Module Does

Complete subscription lifecycle management from quote to renewal to cancellation:

Step 1: Create Recurring Plans

Define billing frequencies and payment terms.

1. Go to Subscriptions → Configuration → Recurrence Plans
2. Click New
3. Fill form:
   • Plan Name: "Monthly Subscription"
   • Billing Period: Monthly (or Weekly, Quarterly, Yearly)
   • Pricelist: Select default pricelist
   • Automatic Closing: 15 days (close after 15 days of failed payment)
4. Configure options:
   • Closable: Allow customers to cancel manually
   • Upsell: Enable upgrade options
   • Renew: Allow renewal quotations
5. Click Save

Step 2: Configure Subscription Products

Mark products as subscription-eligible with recurring pricing.

1. Go to Subscriptions → Products → Items
2. Click New (or edit existing product)
3. Fill product details:
   • Product Name: "Pro Plan"
   • Product Type: Service
   • Can be Sold: ✓
4. Enable subscription:
   • Check Subscriptions checkbox
   • Invoicing Policy: Prepaid (bill before period) or Fixed Price
5. Go to Recurring Prices tab
6. Add recurring price lines:
   • Monthly: $99.00
   • Annually: $990.00 (10% discount)
7. Click Save

Step 3: Create Quotation Templates

Pre-configured subscription packages for fast quoting.

1. Go to Subscriptions → Configuration → Quotation Templates
2. Click New
3. Fill template:
   • Template Name: "Pro Plan - Monthly"
   • Recurrence: Monthly Subscription (from Step 1)
   • Expiration Days: 30 (quote valid for 30 days)
4. Go to Lines tab
5. Add subscription products:
   • Add "Pro Plan" product
   • Quantity: 1
   • Price: $99.00/month
6. Add optional products (for upselling):
   • Premium Support: +$29/month
   • Extra Users: +$15/user/month
7. Attach Terms & Conditions
8. Click Save

Step 4: Create Subscription from Quotation

Method 1: From Template

1. Go to Subscriptions → Quotations
2. Click New
3. Select customer
4. Choose Quotation Template: "Pro Plan - Monthly"
5. Template auto-fills products, prices, terms
6. Click Send by Email
7. Customer receives professional quote with payment link
8. After customer accepts: Click Confirm
9. Status changes: Quotation → Sales Order
10. Subscription status: In Progress

Automated Invoicing Starts

Step 5: Manage Subscription Lifecycle

View Active Subscriptions

1. Go to Subscriptions → Subscriptions
2. See all subscriptions with:
   • Customer name
   • Next invoice date
   • Recurring amount
   • Status (In Progress, Paused, Closed)
3. Click subscription to open details

Subscription Actions

Step 6: Handle Upselling

Scenario: Customer on Basic Plan ($49/month). You want to upgrade them to Pro Plan ($99/month).

1. Open customer's active subscription
2. Click Upsell button (top of form)
3. System creates new quotation:
   • Tagged "Upsell"
   • Linked to original subscription
   • Pre-filled with customer info
4. Modify quotation:
   • Remove Basic Plan product
   • Add Pro Plan product ($99/month)
   • Add note: "Upgrade includes 5 extra users + priority support"
5. Click Send by Email
6. Customer accepts upgrade
7. Click Confirm
8. Original subscription updated:
   • Recurring amount: $99 (was $49)
   • Products: Pro Plan (was Basic)
   • Next invoice: $99 instead of $49

Step 7: Manage Renewals

Automatic Renewals: Odoo auto-generates invoices based on recurring plan. No action needed.

Manual Renewals: For contracts requiring customer re-approval:

1. Go to Subscriptions → To Renew
2. See subscriptions approaching end date
3. Open subscription
4. Click Renew button
5. System creates renewal quotation
6. Send to customer for approval
7. After confirmation: New subscription period starts

Step 8: Handle Failed Payments

When automatic payment fails (expired card, insufficient funds):

1. Subscription flagged with "Payment Failure" tag
2. Billing paused automatically (prevents overcharging)
3. Go to Subscriptions list
4. Filter by Payment Failure
5. Contact customer:
   • "Your payment failed. Please update card info."
6. Customer updates payment method
7. Manually create invoice or wait for next billing cycle
8. Remove "Payment Failure" tag
9. Subscription resumes

Step 9: Track Cancellation Reasons

Understand why customers cancel to improve retention.

Configure Close Reasons

1. Go to Subscriptions → Configuration → Close Reasons
2. Click New
3. Add reasons:
   • "Price too high"
   • "Missing features"
   • "Switched to competitor"
   • "No longer needed"
   • "Poor support"
4. Save

When Customer Cancels

1. Open subscription
2. Click Close button
3. Popup appears: "Why are they canceling?"
4. Select reason from dropdown
5. Click Submit
6. Subscription marked Closed
7. Reason tracked in system

Analyze Churn

Step 10: Set Up Automated Alerts

Trigger actions based on subscription events.

1. Go to Subscriptions → Configuration → Automated Rules
2. Click New
3. Fill form:
   • Rule Name: "Send Renewal Reminder"
4. Go to Apply On tab
5. Set conditions:
   • Subscription Stage: In Progress
   • Days Until Renewal: 7 days
6. Go to Actions tab
7. Configure action:
   • Send Email: Select renewal reminder template
   • Create Activity: "Follow up on renewal"
8. Click Save

Step 11: Monitor MRR/ARR

1. Go to Subscriptions → Reporting
2. See metrics:
   • MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): Total monthly subscription revenue
   • ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): MRR × 12
   • Churn Rate: % customers canceling monthly
   • ARPU: Average Revenue Per User
   • Customer Lifetime Value: Projected total revenue per customer
3. Filter by:
   • Plan (Monthly vs Annual)
   • Product (Basic vs Pro vs Enterprise)
   • Salesperson
   • Date range

Real-World Use Cases

Use Case 1: SaaS Company (3 Pricing Tiers)

Use Case 2: Maintenance Contracts

Common Mistakes

Real-World Impact Example

Quick Implementation Checklist