Odoo 18 Functional Certification Preparation Guideline

At SOFTEKO, a software development company, our mission has always been to deliver innovative, efficient, and scalable digital solutions tailored to client needs. As a team passionate about technology and process optimization, we recognized the transformative potential of Odoo—a comprehensive suite of open-source business apps.

With Odoo playing an increasingly critical role in streamlining operations across industries, we strategically decided to invest in deepening our expertise. Achieving the Odoo 18 Functional Certification became a natural step forward in our commitment to quality, client confidence, and internal capability building.

We are thrilled to announce that on March 23, 2025, we successfully passed the Odoo 18 Functional Certification exam with an impressive 94.8% score (passing mark: 70%).

In October 2024, SOFTEKO officially became an Odoo Partner, marking a big milestone in our growth journey. From the beginning, our goal was simple—delivering high-quality Odoo implementations that truly add value to our clients’ businesses.

We wanted to build a strong foundation by gaining expert-level knowledge of Odoo’s features and best practices. Getting certified wasn’t just about passing a test—it was about making sure our team had the skills and confidence to deliver outstanding results in every Odoo project we take on.

Team Involvement

Our certification journey was powered by a dedicated 2-member team. From day one, we worked closely together, dividing the modules between us to make the process more efficient.

We followed a simple rule: learn, practice, and support each other. While each of us took responsibility for specific modules, we didn’t stop there—we regularly came together to explain concepts, share insights, and help each other understand the tricky parts.

This collaboration made a big difference. Instead of just studying alone, we created a learning environment where we could ask questions, clear doubts, and stay motivated throughout the journey. It wasn’t just about passing the exam—it was about growing together as a team.

Understanding Odoo 18 Certification Exam

The certification covered a wide range of Odoo modules, including:
Introduction, Website, eCommerce, Survey, Knowledge, Marketing, CRM, Sales, Purchases, Project, Timesheet, Accounting, Inventory, MRP, HR, Spreadsheet, POS, and Studio.

You have to answer 125 questions in just 90 minutes, which gives you less than 40 seconds per question. And to make things more challenging, there’s a -0.5 negative mark for every wrong answer. So every move counts!

These are the percentages of questions from each module:

Preparation Strategy

We officially began our certification journey in December 2024, setting a well-structured plan to cover all exam topics before the big day. To prepare effectively, we followed a phased and time-optimized approach:

• We started by going through all the official video tutorials available on the Odoo website. This helped us get an overall understanding of each module’s capabilities and user flow.
• Then, we studied the complete Odoo 18 documentation, diving deeper into each module’s configuration and real-use scenarios.
• We also participated in two key learning events: the Odoo Business Workshop and a specialized Accounting Workshop. These workshops provided hands-on knowledge and helped us align our understanding with real-world business processes. To find events in your nearest location, click on this link: Odoo Events (Remember to filter according to your needs)

Among all the modules, the ones that required the most attention and hands-on practice were Accounting, HR, Inventory, MRP, and Purchase. These involved more complex configurations and real-world use cases, making them naturally more time-intensive to master.

By giving each module dedicated time and planning our days smartly, we ensured a balanced, well-paced preparation that built both knowledge and confidence.

Time Investment

Overall Timeline

We dedicated four months to complete all 18 modules. This timeline was challenging but achievable with disciplined planning. If you are the only person doing it, we suggest extending the preparation period for better retention and reduced stress.

Daily Spent Time

Each of us dedicated approximately 8-10 hours per day to studying and practicing, sometimes even longer during weekends or when tackling particularly complex modules like Accounting, MRP, and Inventory.

Module Prioritization

We prioritized more complex modules (like Inventory, Purchase, Accounting, and MRP) and allocated more time to them while spending less time on relatively simpler modules.

Tools That We Used to Keep Us Organized and Productive

Redmine: For tracking our progress

To keep our preparation structured, visible, and on schedule, we used Redmine as our main project management tool. It helped us break down the entire Odoo certification syllabus into manageable tasks and track them efficiently.

Here’s how we used Redmine throughout the journey:

• Structured Learning into Tasks & Subtasks:
   We divided the certification modules into smaller topics and subtopics (e.g., Sales → Quotations, Sales Orders, Invoicing Policies) and created individual issues for each. This gave us a clear roadmap and prevented information overload.

• Assigned Ownership with Deadlines:
  Each task was assigned to one of the two team members with a specific deadline, making sure we kept moving forward and stayed on track.
• Set Priorities Based on Complexity:
  Modules like Inventory, MRP, and Accounting were tagged as high priority, allowing us to allocate extra time and review cycles in advance.
• Progress Visibility for Stakeholders:
  Our company stakeholders could easily view progress in real-time, thanks to Redmine’s dashboards and reports. This added a level of accountability and transparency to the process.
• Custom Statuses and Workflows:
  We customized statuses like To Do, In Progress, Under Review, and Completed to reflect exactly where we were with each task, turning Redmine into a live snapshot of our certification preparation.
• Linked Notes & Resources:
  Each task in Redmine included links to related Google Docs notes, official documentation, and even mock test URLs—making it easy to reference everything from one place.

In short, Redmine helped us turn a massive exam syllabus into a trackable project, enabling smart planning, smooth collaboration, and consistent progress—just like we would handle a real client implementation project.

Google Sheets: For Planning, Time tracking & Progress Monitoring

Google Sheets played a key role in helping us organize, plan, and reflect on our progress throughout the certification journey.

Here’s how we used it effectively:

• Module Breakdown & Weeks Planning:
  We created a master sheet where we listed all the modules covered in the exam. Each module was further broken down into learning topics and then grouped into Weeks based on complexity and importance.
• Time Tracking:
  One of the most valuable aspects of the sheet was that we logged the actual time spent learning and practicing each topic. This gave us insights into where we needed more focus and which modules were time-intensive.
• Question Type Breakdown:
  We added a dedicated section in the sheet to log how many questions appeared from each module during our mock tests and practice sessions. This simple tracking helped us identify which modules carried more weight in the actual exam. For example, we noticed that Accounting, Inventory, MRP, and Sales consistently had more questions, so we made sure to prioritize and revisit those topics more frequently during our preparation.

You can see our Google Sheets here: Odoo 18 Functional Certification Planning (Create a copy for yourself and use it)

Google Docs: For Scenario Planning & Documenting Strategies

We used Google Docs mainly as a flexible space for writing out our learning plans and creating real-world scenarios to practice with.

Here’s how it helped us:

• Planning Documents:
  We wrote down our overall study strategy, timelines, and goals in Google Docs before starting. It helped us stay focused and aligned throughout the preparation.
• Scenario Writing & Practice:
  We used Docs to create and write out business scenarios, such as handling returns in POS, setting up inventory routes, or managing project timesheets. These helped us understand how Odoo features work in real-life situations.

Even though we didn’t use Google Docs for deep note-taking, it still played an important role in helping us organize thoughts and simulate real-world use cases, ultimately boosting our confidence for the exam.

You can see our Google Sheets here: Odoo 18 Functional Certification Planning Doc(Create a copy for yourself and use it)

ChatGpt: For Simplified Explanations, Scenarios & Practice Questions

During our certification journey, ChatGPT became an essential part of our learning process. We used it not just for quick answers, but as a full-fledged assistant to simulate real-world scenarios, simplify complex topics, and generate exam-style practice questions. Here’s how we used it effectively:

1. Creating Real-Life Business Scenarios (Multi-Module)

We wanted to test our understanding of how different Odoo modules connect in real-world use cases. ChatGPT helped us by generating business scenarios that involved multiple functional flows—like going from e-commerce to delivery, procurement, and accounting.

Example Prompt:

“I want you to act as a senior Odoo Functional Consultant. Create a realistic business scenario that involves multiple Odoo 18 modules working together, such as Sales, Inventory, Purchase, Manufacturing, Accounting, HR, or CRM. The scenario should reflect real-world business operations and show how different modules interact to support a complete workflow.“

This allowed us to simulate complete business processes in our test instance, helping us understand how modules interact in practical situations.

2. Explaining Complex Documentation with Real-World Context

Whenever we found a documentation topic difficult to fully grasp—especially areas like Inventory Valuation, Traceability, or MRP—we used ChatGPT to explain it in simple terms with relatable business examples.

Example Prompt:

“I want you to act as a mentor, teaching Odoo to a beginner functional consultant. Here is a screenshot or text from Odoo 18 documentation. Break it down in simple language, and explain it with real-world business examples. If applicable, include how different configuration options impact the workflow.“

This helped us understand not just what a feature does, but why it’s used and how it impacts a real business scenario.

3. Creating MCQs for Self-Testing

To reinforce learning and simulate the actual exam format, we asked ChatGPT to generate multiple-choice questions (MCQs) based on the documentation or topics we were studying.

Example Prompt:

“I want you to act as an Odoo Certification Trainer. Create 10 multiple-choice questions based on this Odoo 18 documentation content. Each question should have 1 correct answer and 3 realistic distractors.“

This allowed us to test ourselves in a structured way, identify weak areas, and gain confidence before the actual exam.

In summary, ChatGPT helped us go beyond traditional studying. It became our AI-powered study partner, offering explanations, practice, and perspective on real-world applications—all tailored to how we wanted to learn.

Some Sample Questions

1. By default, when are followers notified in a record?

Options:

1. By default, followers are notified for activities and discussions/messages
2. By default, followers are notified for messages/discussions and @ mentions
3. By default, followers are notified for activities and log notes

2. Inside a record, how do you schedule an activity?

Options:

1. Click the ‘Activities’ tab at the top of the chatter and choose the activity type, due date, assignee, and add a summary
2. Click Schedule Activities in the Configuration Menu and add the activity type, and due date.
3. Click on the phone icon in the top menu bar and then click the ‘+’ button to add an activity

3. To track a link included in a mailing…

Options:

1. …you must use the OLG (Odoo Link Generator) application
2. …you don’t need to do anything; Odoo does it for you
3. …you must manually add a piece of code in each mailing

4. Which of the following social media outlets is NOT present in Odoo 17?

Options:

1. X (formerly Twitter)
2. Facebook
3. TikTok

5. Can any product be used in a sales order?

Options:

1. Yes, you can use all your products
2. No, you can only use products you currently have in stock
3. No, you can only use products that you’ve marked as ‘Can be Sold’ on the product form

6. How do you look up which products have been sitting in stock longest?

Options:

1. Go to Reporting > Moves History and group by ‘Date’
2. Navigate to the Inventory > Stock and group by ‘Duration’
3. Go to Reporting > Stock Aging

7. How are hours billed at a fixed price computed?

Options

1. These are sold hours coming from a sales order that still need to be timesheeted before being invoiced.
2. These are timesheeted hours linked to a sales order, where the invoicing policy is set to “milestone” or “prepaid”.
3. These are the actual timesheeted hours that can’t be invoiced from the sales order.
4. I don’t know.

8. What pricelist is used on your online shop for visitors who have not logged in?

Options:

1. The default ‘eCommerce’ pricelist linked to your website
2. There is no pricelist for visitors
3. The default ‘Public Pricelist’ pricelist

9. What happens when you click one of the colored bars at the top of a Kanban stage?

Options:

1. Nothing happens
2. Odoo only displays opportunities in that stage that share the same color-code, which represents its current Activity Status
3. It only displays opportunities with a specific activity status (Planned, Today, Overdue) for all stages

10. The choice of a payment acquirer depends on various factors such as:

Options:

1. Your shop’s country and your business needs
2. Your shop’s country, your business needs, your business turnover, and your business sector
3. Your shop’s country, your business needs, your business turnover, your business sector, and your PoS set-up

Challenges Faced

Like any meaningful journey, ours came with a few challenges, especially when it came to some of the larger and more complex modules.

In the process, we gained valuable insights into how different industries manage their operations—from warehousing and manufacturing to tracking and planning. It wasn’t just about passing the exam; we genuinely expanded our knowledge of business processes and how Odoo supports them.

Technical Depth:

Modules like Accounting, HR, Inventory, and MRP demanded extra time and effort. These areas were not only heavily covered in the exam, but also involved deeper business logic and real-world scenarios.

Among them, Inventory and MRP were completely new to us. We didn’t have prior hands-on experience in those areas, which made the learning curve a bit steep at first. But instead of getting discouraged, we took it as an opportunity to learn something new.

Time Pressure:

The most significant challenge was the examination time constraint—125 questions in 90 minutes leaves only 40 seconds per question, requiring quick thinking and decisive responses.

Vast Content:

Covering 18 modules thoroughly within four months was intense and occasionally overwhelming.

Limited Team Size:

With only two people preparing together, dividing and mastering all modules was demanding.

High Daily Commitment:

Spending long hours daily was mentally exhausting but necessary given our Four-month timeline.

Complex Integrations:

Understanding how different modules integrate and affect each other was challenging but essential for success.

Balancing Breadth vs. Depth:

We had to strike a balance between knowing each module deeply and having sufficient breadth across all modules.

To overcome these challenges, we built a strong learning strategy:

• We took the mock tests available on the Odoo website, which gave us a good sense of the question patterns and areas we needed to work on.
• We did group study sessions, where we discussed concepts, reviewed answers, and supported each other’s understanding.
• We also created real-life business scenarios and tried solving them using Odoo’s features—this helped us apply what we learned in a practical way.
• One of the best tools we used was ChatGPT, which helped us generate custom business scenarios and quiz questions to practice. It played a key role in sharpening our thinking and testing our knowledge in different ways.

Through consistent effort, collaboration, and smart use of available tools, we turned our initial challenges into valuable learning experiences.

The Certification Day

Let’s be honest—the Odoo certification exam is tougher than you think.

Naturally, we felt a bit nervous before the exam. But at the same time, we were confident because we had put in the work and followed a solid preparation plan.

Here are a few tips from our experience:

• Track your time—don’t get stuck on any single question.
• If you start feeling stressed, it can seriously affect your performance. So, take a breath, stay calm, and focus.
• Read each question carefully. Some are tricky, and rushing might lead to simple mistakes.
• If you’re unsure about an answer, it’s better to skip it and come back later—don’t guess blindly.
• Keep a mental note of how many questions you’ve confidently answered so you know where you stand.

And a reality check: you might be tempted to rely on tools like ChatGPT or other AI, but they won’t help you during the exam. The timer is fast, the interface is locked, and the questions are very specific to real-world Odoo usage. This test is all about your knowledge, experience, and focus.

Our Success

After months of hard work, learning, and consistent practice, we’re proud to say that we cleared the Odoo 18 Functional Certification—and not just that, we achieved an impressive score of 94.8%! 🎉

See our official certificate:

This achievement wasn’t just a personal win—it was a huge milestone for SOFTEKO as a company.

Becoming certified has helped us:

• Establish credibility in the Odoo ecosystem.
• Prove that we’re not just service providers—we’re certified experts who understand Odoo inside and out.
• Gain the trust of clients, who now see us as a reliable partner for their ERP needs.
• Stand out as a professional and committed Odoo development company globally.

In the world of business software, trust and expertise are everything. Certification has helped us back our promises with proof. It shows potential clients that we’re serious about what we do, that we understand business workflows, and that we’re ready to implement Odoo with confidence and clarity.

But this is just the beginning. With Odoo 19 on the horizon, we’re excited to level up even further—this time, focusing more on technical development to expand our capabilities in both backend and frontend customizations.

We’re committed to staying ahead, growing with the platform, and delivering even more value to the businesses we serve.

Some Useful Tips

If you’re planning to take the Odoo Functional Certification, here are some practical tips based on our real experience that can help you prepare smarter and increase your chances of success:

1. Start with the Basics

• Begin with the official video tutorials from the Odoo website to get a clear understanding of each module’s purpose and workflow.
• These videos are a great foundation before diving into the documentation.

2. Study the Official Odoo 18 Documentation

• Don’t skip this! The documentation is detailed and covers many real-life use cases that are directly related to exam questions.
• Read module by module and take notes as you go.

3. Allow More Time

• If you’re preparing alone, it’s a good idea to extend your study timeline to ensure better understanding, stronger retention, and a less stressful experience.

4. Practice with Real-Life Scenarios

• Create your own Odoo database and simulate actual business workflows like purchasing, sales, inventory management, or accounting setups.
• This will help you understand the “why” behind each configuration.

5. Take Mock Tests

• Use the Odoo website mock test tool. It’s the best way to get familiar with the question format and the time pressure of the real exam.
• Treat mock tests like the real thing—set a timer and avoid distractions.

6. Practice Time Management:

• During your preparation, practice answering questions within the 40-second timeframe to build speed and confidence.

7. Collaborate & Study in Pairs or Groups

• Studying with a teammate can make a big difference. Divide modules, share notes, and help each other understand complex topics.
  Teaching others is one of the best ways to solidify your knowledge.

8. Use Tools to Stay Organized

• Use tools like Redmine or Trello to track progress.
• Plan your study hours using Google Sheets, and store important notes or tricky concepts in Google Docs for quick revision.

9. Use AI Tools Wisely

• Tools like ChatGPT can help you generate practice questions and test scenarios and even explain concepts in simpler terms.
• But remember: you can’t use AI during the exam, so use it only as a learning aid.

10. Be Exam-Ready

• The exam is fast-paced: 125 questions in 90 minutes, with -0.5 negative marks for each wrong answer.
• Time management is critical. Practice answering questions in 30–40 seconds.
• If you’re unsure, skip the question and come back later. Don’t guess randomly.
• Stay calm, read questions carefully, and trust your preparation.

11. Focus on High-Weight Modules

• Modules like Accounting, Inventory, HR, MRP, and Purchases tend to have more detailed and complex questions.
• Spend extra time learning and practicing these areas.

12. Focus on Integration Points

• Pay special attention to how modules interact with each other, as these connections often feature in exam questions.

13. Stay Curious and Keep Learning

• Treat this journey as more than just an exam. You’re building real-world ERP knowledge that can bring value to clients and your own business.

Final Thoughts

The Odoo 18 Functional Certification is challenging but achievable with proper planning, dedication, teamwork, and strategic preparation. Our journey demonstrates that even with a smaller team, success is possible, though we would recommend optimizing the process with a larger group and longer preparation time for better success.

Best of luck to all future candidates!  Feel free to reach out if you have questions about our preparation journey.