On 30 September 2026, Odoo and itsme® announced a partnership to integrate qualified electronic signatures (QES) directly into Odoo Sign — eliminating the need for third-party tools such as Adobe Sign or DocuSign for businesses operating in Belgium and the Netherlands. QES is the only signature tier that carries the same legal weight as a handwritten signature under the EU eIDAS regulation. The integration will be available with Odoo 20 (Odoo Blog, 30 September 2026).
Background: itsme, the Dominant Digital Identity Service in Benelux
itsme® is the leading digital identity solution in Belgium and the Netherlands, with more than 8 million active users and approximately 50 million actions per month (ibid.). Founded in 2017 by a consortium of seven Belgian banks and telecoms operators — with the Belgian state holding a 20% stake since mid-2021 — itsme now operates across 32 European countries and holds ISO 27001 certification, with compliance with PSD2, FATF, and GDPR.
Until this announcement, a company wishing to execute a supplier contract or an HR amendment at the highest level of legal validity had to leave Odoo, switch to a third-party signing tool, and then reimport the signed document back into the ERP. This document workflow break is precisely what the partnership removes.
Business Impact: Three Processes Directly Affected
Supplier contracts and purchase orders. QES enables contractual commitments to be made with suppliers without printing or postal delivery, backed by strong identity verification. For procurement teams working under framework agreements, the operational gain is immediate: approval, signing, and archiving all remain within the same ERP environment.
HR documents. Employment contract amendments, remote work agreements, certificates of various kinds — the itsme app is already installed on the smartphones of nearly all working adults in Belgium and the Netherlands for online banking. Signatory adoption will therefore be naturally high, requiring no additional training.
Peppol e-invoicing compliance. With the mandatory B2B e-invoicing requirement already enforced in Belgium since 1 April 2026 (with sanctions in force since that date), embedding QES into the ERP closes the documentary cycle: from a signed purchase order to a Peppol-compliant invoice, without any workflow break.
The signing experience is designed to be fast: under one minute, via the existing itsme app (NFC, facial recognition, or personal code). Identity is validated by a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) — a mandatory condition for QES status under eIDAS.
Compared to Adobe Sign or DocuSign deployed as Odoo add-ons, the native approach offers a structural advantage: the signature is embedded in the ERP workflow, access rights are managed within the same user directory, and there is no per-envelope cost from a third-party vendor.
What to Watch
Odoo 20 does not yet have a general availability date, although its world premiere took place in Brussels on 24–26 September 2026. The availability of the itsme integration therefore depends on the Odoo 20 release schedule and its rollout by local implementation partners. Belgian and Dutch businesses currently running an Odoo project — or evaluating an upgrade to Odoo 20 — should qualify this capability now within their contracting and HR roadmap, rather than treating it as a post-go-live workstream.
For further context: our article on Odoo 20 unveiled at its world premiere in Brussels, our analysis of Belgian mandatory e-invoicing and the Peppol sanctions in force since April 2026, and our article on AFAS Profit 8 as a Peppol Service Provider for Belgium.
