Odoo Terminology Glossary
This comprehensive glossary provides definitions for terms commonly used within the Odoo ecosystem. Whether you're new to Odoo or looking to deepen your understanding, this resource explains the terminology you'll encounter when working with Odoo applications, development, and implementation.
A comprehensive Odoo terminology glossary that covers over 200 terms organized alphabetically. The glossary includes:
- General Odoo Terms - Covering the basic concepts and features users encounter daily
- Module-Specific Terminology - Terms related to specific functional areas like Accounting, Sales, Manufacturing, etc.
- Technical Terminology - Developer-focused terms about Odoo's architecture and programming concepts
- Implementation Terminology - Project-related terms for planning and executing Odoo deployments
Each term includes a clear, concise definition that explains both what it is and its relevance in the Odoo ecosystem. The glossary is formatted in Markdown with proper headings and organization to make it easy to navigate when published on your website.
This resource should be valuable for:
- New Odoo users learning the platform's terminology
- Implementation teams ensuring consistent communication
- Customers evaluating Odoo who need to understand the vocabulary
- Developers transitioning to Odoo from other platforms
A
Access Rights
Controls that determine what actions users can perform and what data they can access within Odoo, typically managed through security groups.
Accounting Journal
A record where financial transactions of a specific type are recorded, such as sales, purchases, or bank statements.
Actions
Elements that define behavior in Odoo's interface, such as opening a form view, running a wizard, or executing code.
Activity
A scheduled task or action in Odoo that can be assigned to users with deadlines, commonly used in CRM and other apps to track pending actions.
Add-on
See Module.
API (Application Programming Interface)
A set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with Odoo, including XML-RPC, JSON-RPC, and REST APIs.
App
A major functional area in Odoo (such as Sales, Inventory, Accounting) that provides a complete set of business features, typically consisting of multiple modules.
Analytic Account
A dimension used to track and analyze costs or revenues by departments, projects, or other business segments.
Assets
Resources owned by a company that have economic value, tracked in Odoo's accounting module with options for depreciation.
Attachment
A file (document, image, etc.) attached to a record in Odoo, stored either in the database or the file system.
Attribute (Product)
A characteristic that defines variants of a product, such as size, color, or material.
B
Backorder
A partial shipment created when only a portion of the ordered items can be delivered, with the remaining items to be shipped later.
Backend
The administrative interface of Odoo where users manage data and configurations, as opposed to the frontend/website interface visible to customers.
Base Module
The core module (base) in Odoo that provides fundamental functionality upon which other modules depend.
BOM (Bill of Materials)
A list of raw materials, components, and instructions required to manufacture a product.
Business Requirement
A formal statement of a business need that Odoo should fulfill, often used during implementation projects.
Branch
In Odoo.sh, a version of your codebase representing a specific development stream, derived from Git version control.
C
Chart of Accounts
The organizational structure of accounts used by a company to record financial transactions.
Chatter
The communication thread attached to Odoo records that displays messages, notes, and activity history.
Client Action
A frontend JavaScript component that can be triggered from the Odoo interface, often providing custom functionality.
Cloud Platform
The hosted infrastructure where Odoo Online and Odoo.sh operate, as opposed to on-premise installations.
Community Edition
The open-source version of Odoo that's freely available, containing fewer features than Enterprise Edition.
Company
A legal entity in Odoo that serves as a data separation boundary; multi-company setups allow managing multiple legal entities in a single database.
Computed Field
A field whose value is calculated automatically based on a Python function rather than being directly stored in the database.
Connector
A specialized module that integrates Odoo with external systems such as e-commerce platforms, shipping carriers, or payment processors.
Contact
A person or organization stored in Odoo's address book, which can be a customer, vendor, employee, or other entity.
Cost Center
See Analytic Account.
CRON Job
A scheduled task in Odoo that runs automatically at defined intervals to perform background operations.
Custom Module
A module developed specifically for a particular implementation that isn't part of standard Odoo.
D
Dashboard
A visual interface displaying key metrics and information, often customized for specific roles or functions.
Database
The storage system containing all of an Odoo instance's data, typically PostgreSQL.
Data Migration
The process of transferring data from other systems into Odoo, or from one Odoo version to another during upgrades.
Delivery Order
A document that authorizes and tracks the shipment of products to customers.
Demo Data
Sample records included in Odoo modules to demonstrate functionality and provide testing examples.
Dependency
A relationship where one module requires another module to be installed for proper functioning.
Depreciation
The systematic allocation of an asset's cost over its useful life, managed through Odoo's asset management features.
Developer Mode
A special mode in Odoo that exposes technical fields and options, activated by adding ?debug=1 to the URL or through settings.
Domain
A filter expression in Odoo that limits the records displayed or processed, written as a list of tuples in Python.
E
Enterprise Edition
The commercial version of Odoo that includes additional features, functionality, and official support.
Environment
In Odoo development, a collection of datastores (records, cache, etc.) and metadata tied to a specific database, user, and context.
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
A type of business management software that integrates core business processes; Odoo is classified as an ERP system.
Exchange Rate
The value of one currency expressed in terms of another, used in Odoo for multi-currency transactions.
External ID
A unique identifier for a record that remains consistent across different databases, also known as XML ID.
F
Field
A data element in an Odoo model that stores a specific piece of information, such as a name, date, or amount.
Fiscal Position
A set of tax rules applied based on the customer's location or status, used to automatically adjust taxes on transactions.
Fiscal Year
The accounting period used for calculating annual financial statements and tax reporting.
Form View
An interface for viewing and editing a single record in Odoo, displaying all the record's fields organized in tabs and groups.
Functional App
An Odoo application designed to address specific business function needs (Sales, HR, Manufacturing, etc.).
G
Group
A collection of users sharing the same access rights and permissions in Odoo.
Group By
A feature that organizes records in list or kanban views according to the values of a specified field.
GIT
The version control system used by Odoo for source code management, particularly important for Odoo.sh deployments.
H
Hierarchy
A parent-child relationship between records of the same model, such as in chart of accounts, employee organization charts, or product categories.
History Tracking
A feature that logs changes to specific fields on a record over time.
I
Incoterm
International Commercial Terms that define the responsibilities of buyers and sellers in international transactions.
Inherit
In Odoo development, a mechanism to extend or modify existing models, views, or other elements without altering their original definition.
Instance
A specific installation or deployment of Odoo, consisting of the application code and a database.
Integration
A connection between Odoo and another system for data exchange and synchronization.
Inventory Adjustment
A manual correction of stock levels to align the system with physical inventory counts.
Inventory Valuation
The method used to determine the financial value of inventory, such as FIFO, LIFO, or average cost.
Invoice
A commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer, indicating products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services.
J
Journal Entry
A record in the accounting system that documents a financial transaction, consisting of debits and credits across accounts.
Journal Item
An individual line in a journal entry, representing a debit or credit to a specific account.
JSON-RPC
A protocol used for remote procedure calls encoded in JSON, one of the API methods to interact with Odoo.
K
Kanban View
A visual card-based interface for managing records through different stages, inspired by the Japanese manufacturing workflow methodology.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives, often displayed on Odoo dashboards.
L
Lead
A potential sales opportunity before it's qualified into a prospect (or opportunity).
Lead Time
The time between the initiation and execution of a process, often used in manufacturing and procurement planning.
List View
A tabular display of multiple records with columns representing fields, also known as a tree view.
Localization
The adaptation of Odoo to meet the language, cultural, and regulatory requirements of a specific country or region.
Lot
A group of products sharing the same characteristics, used for tracking and quality control purposes.
M
Manufacturing Order
A document that authorizes and tracks the production of a product according to its bill of materials.
Master Data
Core reference information used across the organization, such as products, customers, vendors, and employees.
Menu Item
An element in the Odoo navigation menu that triggers an action when clicked.
MO
Abbreviation for Manufacturing Order.
Model
In Odoo's architecture, a definition of a business object (like customer, product, or invoice) including its fields and behaviors.
Module
A package of code, data, and configurations that adds specific functionality to Odoo; the basic unit of extension in Odoo.
MRP (Material Requirements Planning)
A production planning and inventory control system in Odoo that manages manufacturing processes.
Multi-Company
A feature allowing management of multiple legal entities within a single Odoo database, with appropriate data separation.
Multi-Currency
Support for transactions in different currencies with automatic exchange rate calculations.
Multi-Website
The ability to manage multiple websites with different domains, themes, and content from a single Odoo backend.
N
Native App
A core application that comes standard with Odoo, developed and maintained by Odoo SA.
Note
A text message added to the chatter of a record, visible to all users with access to that record.
O
Odoo Apps Store
An online marketplace where you can find and purchase official and third-party modules to extend Odoo's functionality.
Odoo Online
The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering of Odoo hosted and maintained by Odoo SA, with automatic updates and standard configurations.
Odoo.sh
A Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering that provides a development and hosting environment for Odoo with Git integration, staging branches, and production deployment tools.
OdooBot
The automated assistant in Odoo that provides help, tips, and initiates certain workflows.
Odoo Community Association (OCA)
A nonprofit organization whose mission is to support collaborative development of Odoo features and promote widespread use of Odoo.
One2many Field
A field representing a one-to-many relationship between models, displaying multiple related records.
Opportunity
A qualified prospect with a defined sales process in the CRM application.
ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)
The layer in Odoo that translates between Python objects (models) and database tables, allowing developers to work with records as objects.
P
Package
A physical container that holds products for shipping purposes.
Partner
An entity in Odoo that represents a customer, vendor, or any other business relationship.
PDF Report
A formatted document generated by Odoo that can be printed or shared electronically.
Picking
The process of collecting items from inventory, also refers to the document that authorizes this process.
Pivot View
An interactive data analysis view that allows users to summarize and reorganize data in a spreadsheet-like grid.
PO
Abbreviation for Purchase Order.
Point of Sale (POS)
A checkout system where retail transactions are completed, with Odoo's POS module offering both online and offline functionality.
PostgreSQL
The relational database management system used by Odoo to store all application data.
Procurement
The process of obtaining goods or services, including both purchasing and manufacturing.
Product Attribute
A characteristic like color, size, or material that defines variants of a product.
Product Category
A classification for products that can determine accounting, location, or other properties.
Product Template
The base definition of a product, which can have multiple variants defined by attributes.
Product Variant
A specific version of a product with particular attributes (e.g., a blue, large T-shirt).
Project
A planned set of activities in Odoo's Project Management application, containing tasks and potentially linked to analytic accounts.
Purchase Order
A commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services.
Python
The programming language used to develop Odoo's backend functionality.
Q
QWeb
Odoo's templating engine used for generating reports and website pages, blending XML with HTML and other web technologies.
Quotation
A document sent to customers with proposed prices for products or services, which can be converted to a sales order when confirmed.
QwEB Report
A report designed using the QWeb templating engine.
R
Record
A single instance of a model in Odoo, similar to a row in a database table.
Record Rule
A security mechanism that restricts which records a user can access based on defined conditions.
Reordering Rule
An automated inventory control setting that triggers purchase orders or manufacturing orders when stock levels reach a defined minimum.
Report
A formatted view of data in Odoo, often printable as PDF documents.
REST API
A web API in Odoo that follows the principles of Representational State Transfer, available in recent versions for external integrations.
RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization)
A process for handling product returns from customers.
Route
A defined path that products follow through the supply chain, potentially involving procurement, manufacturing, and delivery steps.
S
Sales Order
A confirmed order from a customer that has been accepted by the seller and is ready for processing.
Scheduled Action
See CRON Job.
Security Group
A collection of access rights that can be assigned to users, controlling what they can view and modify.
Sequence
A numbering system for automatically generating reference numbers for documents (invoices, orders, etc.).
Server Action
A configured action performed on the server in response to triggers, such as button clicks or record changes.
Smart Button
A button displayed on a form view that shows related information and allows quick navigation to associated records.
SO
Abbreviation for Sales Order.
Stage
A status or phase in a process, commonly used in CRM, project management, and other workflow-based applications.
Stock Move
The record of a product quantity moving from one location to another.
Studio
An Enterprise Edition tool that allows non-technical users to customize Odoo's interface and functionality without coding.
Subcontracting
The process of outsourcing part of the manufacturing process to external vendors.
T
Tag
A label that can be attached to records for categorization and filtering purposes.
Task
A unit of work in Project Management with assignees, deadlines, and progress tracking.
Tax
A financial charge added to products or services, with Odoo supporting various tax types and calculation methods.
Technical Name
The internal identifier for Odoo objects (fields, models, etc.) used in development, as opposed to the display name shown to users.
Template
A pattern used to create new records with predefined values, or for generating documents with consistent formatting.
Test
An automated verification procedure to ensure functionality works as expected, part of Odoo's quality assurance framework.
Transfer
The movement of products between locations, documented by a stock picking.
Tree View
See List View.
U
Unit of Measure (UoM)
The standard for quantifying products, with Odoo supporting conversions between related units (e.g., kg to g, dozen to unit).
Upsell
A sales technique for encouraging customers to purchase a higher-end product or additional features, supported by Odoo's product recommendation features.
User
An individual with credentials to access and use the Odoo system, with specific permissions defined by security groups.
V
Valuation Layer
A record that tracks changes in inventory value, created when products move in or out or when their cost changes.
Variant
See Product Variant.
VAT (Value Added Tax)
A consumption tax placed on products and services, with Odoo providing specialized handling for different countries' VAT requirements.
View
A definition of how data should be displayed in the user interface, with types including form, list, kanban, graph, etc.
W
Warehouse
A physical or logical location where inventory is stored, with its own operational configuration in Odoo.
Website Builder
A drag-and-drop tool in Odoo for creating and editing website pages without coding knowledge.
Widget
A specialized UI component for displaying or editing field values in specific ways, such as monetary, image, or many2many_tags.
Wizard
A dialog-based interface that guides users through a multi-step process, often used for complex operations.
WIP (Work In Progress)
Partially completed products in the manufacturing process, tracked in Odoo's manufacturing and accounting modules.
Workflow
A sequence of operations or states that a business process follows, implemented in Odoo through models, views, and automation.
Worker
In Odoo.sh and other deployment environments, a unit of processing power allocated to running Odoo processes.
X
XML
Extensible Markup Language used extensively in Odoo development for defining views, data, and reports.
XML-RPC
A remote procedure call protocol that uses XML for encoding and HTTP for transport, one of the API methods to interact with Odoo.
XML-ID
See External ID.
Z
Zero Stock
A condition where inventory of a product reaches zero, potentially triggering reordering rules or affecting availability in sales.
Technical Terminology
Abstract Model
A model that isn't stored in the database but serves as a template for other models to inherit from.
Addon Path
A directory where Odoo looks for modules to load.
Compute Method
A Python function that calculates the value of a computed field.
Context
A dictionary containing session information and parameters that influence the behavior of methods and displayed data.
Decorator
A Python syntax (@something) used in Odoo development to add functionality to methods, such as @api.depends or @api.onchange.
Delegate
An inheritance mechanism where one model embeds another model's fields directly.
Field Widget
A UI component that controls how a field is displayed or edited in the interface.
Inherits vs Inherit
"Inherits" creates a parent-child relationship through delegation, while "inherit" extends functionality of existing models.
Manifest
The __manifest__.py file that defines a module's metadata, dependencies, and loading information.
Many2many Field
A field representing a many-to-many relationship between models.
Many2one Field
A field representing a many-to-one relationship between models (a reference to another record).
Mixin
A model designed to provide reusable features through inheritance.
Monkey Patch
A technique for modifying module behavior at runtime without altering the original source code, generally discouraged in Odoo.
Odoo Registry
A structure that holds references to all models in a database.
Onchange Method
A method triggered when field values change in a form view, allowing dynamic UI updates.
One2many Field
A field representing a one-to-many relationship between models.
ORM Methods
Built-in functions provided by Odoo's ORM layer for operations like create, write, unlink, etc.
Recordset
A collection of records of the same model, the basic object manipulated by Odoo's ORM.
Relational Field
A field that connects one record to another (many2one, one2many, many2many).
Transient Model
A temporary model whose records are automatically deleted periodically, often used for wizards.
Implementation Terminology
Acceptance Testing
Validation of the system against business requirements, typically performed by end users.
Change Management
The process of preparing and supporting users during the transition to a new system or process.
Configuration
The process of setting up Odoo to meet business requirements without coding, using built-in options.
Customization
Modifications to Odoo that require coding, typically through custom modules.
Data Migration
The process of transferring data from legacy systems to Odoo.
Development Instance
An Odoo installation used for building and testing customizations before deploying to production.
Development Methodology
The approach used for implementing Odoo, such as Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid methods.
Gap Analysis
The process of comparing Odoo's standard functionality against business requirements to identify areas needing configuration or customization.
Go-Live
The point at which an Odoo implementation becomes the active production system.
Implementation Partner
A company that specializes in Odoo implementations, providing services like configuration, customization, and training.
Integration Test
Verification that different modules or systems work together correctly.
Milestone
A significant point in the implementation project marking the completion of a major phase.
Production Environment
The live Odoo system used for actual business operations.
Project Plan
A detailed schedule of activities, resources, and milestones for an Odoo implementation.
Sandbox
A test environment where changes can be made without affecting production data.
Scope
The defined boundaries of what will be included in an Odoo implementation project.
Staging Environment
A pre-production environment that mirrors the production setup, used for final testing before deployment.
Support
Ongoing assistance after go-live, addressing issues and providing guidance on system use.
Technical Specification
A detailed document describing how customizations will be implemented.
Test Script
A documented set of steps to verify specific functionality works as expected.
Training
Instruction provided to users on how to operate the Odoo system.
UAT (User Acceptance Testing)
The process where end users test the system to verify it meets business requirements.
Version Control
The management of changes to source code, typically using Git for Odoo implementations.
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