Tomorrow, Fabien Pinckaers — founder and CEO of Odoo — takes the stage at Brussels Expo to unveil Odoo 20 as a world premiere. Odoo Experience 2026 (24–26 September) brings together more than 45,000 attendees from 150 countries, 400 exhibitors, and 400 sessions — the largest ERP gathering in Europe.
Odoo 20: An LTS Release Built for 2026–2027 Projects
Odoo publishes a new major version every autumn. Even-numbered versions are Long-Term Support (LTS) releases, recommended for production deployments. Odoo 20 is therefore the target version for any implementation project planned in 2026 or 2027.
The modules announced for update include Accounting, Inventory, HR, Manufacturing, CRM, Sales, eCommerce, and Website (Odoo.com, September 2026). This is not a cosmetic update: the two most anticipated features are natively integrated agentic AI in workflows and a new mobile payroll dashboard.
What Agentic AI Changes in Practice
Unlike generative AI, which produces text on demand, agentic AI acts autonomously within business processes: it can follow up with a late supplier, create a purchase order from a low-stock alert, or prioritise support tickets without human intervention.
For CIOs, the implication is twofold. These capabilities will be included natively in Odoo 20 at no additional module cost. But they require upfront configuration of business rules: implementation teams will need to factor in this layer during initial scoping, adding a few days to the project timeline.
For finance teams, the expected gain targets low-value processes: automatic bank reconciliation, recurring invoice generation, compliance checks. SAP and Microsoft charge equivalent capabilities as add-ons (Joule, Copilot). Odoo bundles them into the base licence.
E-Invoicing Compliance and Mobile Payroll: Two Critical Updates
The Accounting module receives a targeted update for Peppol e-invoicing requirements. Belgium was the first EU country to make B2B e-invoicing via Peppol mandatory (since 1 January 2026), with penalties starting at €1,500 per non-compliant document. As similar mandates roll out across France, Germany, and the broader EU, organisations not yet aligned with Peppol frameworks should pay close attention to the keynote announcements. For a detailed compliance breakdown, see our guide to mandatory Peppol e-invoicing in Belgium.
The new mobile payroll dashboard is particularly relevant in the context of Odoo’s largest contract to date: Partena Professional, a leading HR and payroll outsourcing provider in Belgium. This deal, combined with the company’s 70% growth in Belgium in Q1 2026, signals an accelerating adoption curve among mid-market organisations across the Benelux.
What to Watch For
Odoo typically publishes the final release a few weeks after Odoo Experience. For implementation projects targeting 2027, October is the right window to engage certified integration partners and obtain an initial budget estimate — project calendars fill quickly after an LTS release.
With Odoo reporting €619 million in 2025 revenue and a partner network that now includes over 400 exhibitors at Brussels Expo — led by Dynapps, Odoo’s top global Gold Partner — the pool of qualified local integrators is expanding. For organisations in the Benelux and broader EU, this is a favourable window to secure resources before capacity tightens.
For deeper context: our comparison of Odoo vs SAP vs NetSuite for SMEs, our guide to Odoo 18 features and the migration decision from v16/v17, and our guide to mandatory Peppol e-invoicing in Belgium.
