How to Create Customer Invoices from Sales Orders in Odoo

Table of Contents

• Why Invoice from Sales Orders
• Understanding Invoicing Policies
• Step-by-Step: Create an Invoice from a Sales Order
• Down Payment Options
• What Happens When No Lines Are Invoiceable
• Bulk Invoice Creation
• Key Takeaways

If your business still creates invoices from scratch every time a customer places an order, you are spending time on work that Odoo can handle automatically. This guide walks you through creating customer invoices directly from confirmed sales orders in Odoo Accounting.

By the end, you will know how invoicing policies work, when lines become invoiceable, and how to generate invoices in bulk.

Why Invoice from Sales Orders

Odoo links your sales workflow directly to accounting. When you confirm a sales order, the system tracks which lines are ready to invoice based on your invoicing policy. This means:

• No duplicate data entry between sales and accounting
• Invoice line items inherit the structure and sections from the sales order
• You always invoice for the correct quantities

Understanding Invoicing Policies

Odoo uses two invoicing policies that determine when a sales order line becomes invoiceable:

Policy	When the Line Becomes Invoiceable	Best For
Ordered Quantities	Immediately after the sales order is confirmed	Services, prepaid goods
Delivered Quantities	Only after the delivery is validated	Physical products, wholesale

You set the invoicing policy on each product. In a single sales order, different products can have different policies. Odoo colour-codes the lines to help you see which are ready:

• Blue lines — ready to invoice
• Black lines — not yet invoiceable

Step-by-Step: Create an Invoice from a Sales Order

1. Create and Confirm a Sales Order

Go to the Sales app and create a new quotation. Add your customer, then add order lines. You can use sections to organize items (e.g., "Plants" and "Supplies") for a cleaner layout.

Once your quotation is ready, click Confirm to turn it into a sales order.

2. Check Invoiceable Lines

After confirmation, look at the line colours:

• Products with the Ordered Quantities policy turn blue immediately
• Products with the Delivered Quantities policy remain black until delivery is complete

3. Deliver Products (If Required)

For lines using the Delivered Quantities policy, click the Delivery smart button on the sales order. Validate the delivery order by confirming the quantities shipped. Once validated, go back to the sales order — those lines now appear in blue.

4. Create the Invoice

Click Create Invoice on the sales order. Select Regular Invoice to invoice all currently invoiceable lines. Click Create Draft Invoice.

The draft invoice inherits the same section structure from your sales order, keeping everything organized.

5. Confirm the Invoice

Review the draft invoice and click Confirm to finalize it.

Down Payment Options

When creating an invoice, Odoo offers three choices:

1. Regular Invoice — invoices all invoiceable lines at their full amounts
2. Down Payment (Percentage) — creates an invoice for a percentage of the total order
3. Down Payment (Fixed Amount) — creates an invoice for a specific dollar amount

Down payments are available even when no lines are invoiceable yet, making them useful for collecting deposits before delivery.

What Happens When No Lines Are Invoiceable

If you try to create a regular invoice when no lines are invoiceable, Odoo returns a clear error message explaining the issue. This is by design — Odoo's error messages tell you exactly what went wrong and how to fix it.

After invoicing all currently invoiceable lines, the remaining option on the sales order is limited to down payments only, until more lines become invoiceable through delivery.

Bulk Invoice Creation

You do not need to invoice sales orders one at a time. To create invoices in bulk:

1. Go to the Sales app list view
2. Select multiple sales orders using the checkboxes
3. Click Action > Create Invoices

Odoo provides a Consolidated Billing option during bulk creation:

• Enabled — sales orders for the same customer are grouped into a single invoice
• Disabled — each sales order generates its own separate invoice

This saves significant time compared to creating invoices individually.

Key Takeaways

• Set the correct invoicing policy on each product to control when invoicing becomes available
• Use sections in sales orders to keep invoices organized — the structure carries over automatically
• Use down payments to collect deposits before delivery
• Use bulk invoice creation from the sales order list to save time
• Read Odoo's error messages — they guide you toward the correct next step

---

References

• Customer invoice from sales order | Odoo Accounting — Odoo