Odoo Implementation FAQ
Oakland is an Odoo Gold Partner implementing Odoo for mid-market companies in Saudi Arabia (and the wider Gulf). These are the questions buyers actually ask us before signing — including the ZATCA and VAT questions that matter here. Every engagement starts with a scoping call, so if your question is not here, ask it directly.
General
The honest answer: it depends on scope. Implementation services are quoted per scope, and the Odoo software subscription is paid separately to Odoo. A fixed-scope discovery phase produces the real number before you commit to the build; see our pricing page for the full cost framework and licensing split.
For a typical mid-market deployment on Odoo Enterprise, expect 8–16 weeks across our six phases (Discover → Design → Configure → Migrate → Go-live → Optimize) — a core finance-and-operations rollout lands at the lower end, multi-company or manufacturing projects at the upper end. The discovery phase locks the timeline with a phase-by-phase plan before configuration starts.
They are two separate payments to two separate parties: the software subscription is paid to Odoo S.A. (based on users and plan — see the licensing explainer on our pricing page), while implementation, customization, migration, and support services are paid to Oakland. Confusing the two is the most common cause of "Odoo is cheap but my project cost a fortune" stories — we quote both lines separately and up front.
It is an official partnership level granted by Odoo to partners who meet its requirements for certified staff, customer references, and delivered projects — and it means you can verify us independently in the official Odoo partner directory. It does not mean we are Odoo: we are an independent company, and all services on this site are provided by Oakland, not by Odoo S.A.
Yes — Odoo Enterprise includes ZATCA-compliant e-invoicing capability covering the mandated phases (integration with the ZATCA Fatoora platform for generation, digital signatures, and reporting/clearance as required for your phase). We configure, test, and validate e-invoicing as part of every Saudi implementation — including QR codes, Arabic invoice layouts, and credit/debit notes — and we keep deployments aligned with ZATCA waves and updates.
Yes — Odoo's interface is fully bilingual (Arabic/English) with RTL support, and invoices, reports, and workflows can run in Arabic while your team works in either language. Our Saudi delivery team works with you in Arabic or English, and documentation and training are delivered in the language your users actually use.
Yes — data migration is a core service and a dedicated phase in our method: we extract, clean, map, and load your master data (customers, vendors, products, chart of accounts, open balances) into Odoo, then reconcile and validate it with your team during UAT before go-live. We regularly migrate from legacy ERPs, Tally, QuickBooks, Sage, and Excel-based processes; complex migrations get a trial load so there are no surprises on go-live day.
For most of our clients we recommend Odoo.sh, Odoo's own cloud platform, because it includes managed upgrades, staging environments, and the closest vendor support; Odoo also offers Odoo Online (SaaS) and on-premise/self-hosted options for organizations with data residency or infrastructure policies. We advise on the trade-offs (control, upgrades, compliance, cost) during scoping and handle the setup either way.
Post-go-live we offer retainer support packages with defined response times and a monthly pool of improvement hours — see the support tiers on our pricing page. Coverage typically includes bug fixes, user questions, small enhancements, and periodic health checks, with an option to scale up around close periods, VAT filing, and peak seasons like Riyadh Season or Ramadan retail peaks.
Odoo supports Saudi VAT at 15% out of the box — tax rules per branch, Arabic tax invoices, and VAT return reporting — while Zakat and income tax treatment is configured per your chart of accounts with your auditor's methodology. We configure the tax framework, invoice formats, and ZATCA reporting as part of implementation, but tax positions and filing decisions remain between you and your tax advisor.
Two documents: a master services agreement (legal terms — liability, confidentiality, IP) and a statement of work per phase (scope, deliverables, price, timeline, assumptions). Discovery is fixed-price; implementation is fixed-scope with milestone payments; support is a monthly retainer. Quotes are in SAR and exclude VAT. No open-ended hourly billing unless you explicitly ask for time-and-materials.
Yes — our implementation team holds Odoo certifications across functional and technical tracks. Certification matters for you in a practical way: certified consultants are trained on the official method and are the ones Odoo's own partnership requirements are built around.