Step by Step Guide to Create Customer Invoices in Odoo 18

In any business, getting paid on time is just as important as making the sale. A professional and accurate invoice not only strengthens trust with your customers but also keeps your books clean. With Odoo 18, the invoicing process has become more streamlined, automated, and flexible — helping businesses save time and reduce manual errors.

In this blog, I’ll walk you through all the steps to create a customer invoice in Odoo 18, highlight what’s new in this version, and share real-world examples so you can apply this easily in your business.

Step 1: Open the Accounting App

From the Odoo main dashboard, click on Accounting.
This is your central place to manage all Customer Invoices, Vendor Bills, Payments, Credit Notes, and Reports.

Step 2: Create a New Customer Invoice

From the main dashboard click on Customers → Invoices.
Click New.
Fill in the details like customer, date, payment terms, and add invoice lines manually.

This is ideal for service companies, consultants, or ad-hoc charges.

Step 3: Fill Out Invoice Details

In the invoice form, you’ll see these fields:

Customer: Auto-fills details like payment terms and fiscal position.
Invoice Date: By default, today’s date.
Payment Terms: For example, “Net 30 Days” or “Immediate Payment.”
Journal: Usually “Customer Invoices.”
Currency: Auto-selected, but you can issue invoices in foreign currencies.

Invoice Lines Section

Click Add a Line → select a Product/Service.
Enter Quantity, Unit Price, Taxes.
Odoo automatically pulls data from your product catalog (price, tax rules, accounts).

Example: You run a digital agency. You add “Website Design Services – 20 Hours × ₹2000/hr = ₹40,000.” Odoo applies GST automatically based on your customer’s fiscal position.

Step 4: Confirm the Invoice

Once reviewed, click Confirm.
The invoice moves from Draft → Posted and gets a unique invoice number.
Odoo also creates the necessary journal entries in your accounting.

New in Odoo 18: You can now auto-post recurring invoices — perfect for subscription businesses.

Step 5: Send the Invoice to the Customer

Click Send & Print.
Options include:
- Email (directly from Odoo with PDF attached).
- Print (for physical delivery).
- Share via Customer Portal (customers can download and pay online).

Pro Tip: Enable QR codes on invoices so customers can pay via UPI or bank apps instantly.

Step 6: Register Customer Payment

Once the customer pays:

Open the invoice.
Click Register Payment.
Select the payment method (Bank, Cash, UPI, Credit Card).
Enter the amount and date.
Click Validate.

The invoice status changes from Posted → Paid.

With Odoo 18’s improved bank reconciliation widget, payments can also be auto-matched when importing your bank statements.

Final Thoughts

Creating customer invoices in Odoo 18 is faster, smarter, and more automated than ever. Whether you run a small services firm or a large trading business, Odoo gives you the tools to:

Generate invoices from sales orders or manually.
Automate repetitive billing.
Accept payments faster with digital methods.
Stay on top of cash flow with real-time reporting.

If you’re not using Odoo’s invoicing to its full potential, you’re leaving efficiency (and maybe cash) on the table.

Need help setting it up?

Odiware can implement and tailor Odoo Accounts to your exact requirements —forms, automations, vendor management , reports, approvals, you name it.

Contact Odiware
📧 sales@odiware.com
🌐 https://www.odiware.com

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How to Create Customer Invoices in Odoo 18