How to Connect Odoo to Power BI

Odoo is a powerhouse for managing your business operations - from CRM and sales to inventory and accounting. But when you need to dig deep into your data for advanced analysis and custom visualizations, its built-in reporting can sometimes feel limiting. This is where Power BI, Microsoft's leading business intelligence tool, comes in. This guide will walk you through the most common methods for connecting Odoo to Power BI to unlock more powerful insights from your data.

Why Connect Odoo to Power BI in the First Place?

Before getting into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." Integrating these two platforms moves you from standard operational reports to a full-fledged business intelligence setup. Here are the key benefits:

• Advanced Customizable Visualizations: Power BI goes far beyond basic charts and tables. You can create interactive dashboards, custom maps, slicers, and complex graphs that tell a clearer story about your business performance.
• Combine Data from Multiple Sources: This is a big one. You can pull your Odoo data into Power BI and merge it with data from other platforms like Google Analytics, HubSpot, Salesforce, or even simple Excel spreadsheets. This lets you see the full picture, like tracking a marketing campaign's cost against the sales orders it generated in Odoo.
• Automated Data Refreshes: Stop wasting time on Monday mornings exporting CSV files. A proper Odoo to Power BI connection allows you to schedule automatic data refreshes, ensuring your dashboards always show the latest information.
• Powerful Collaboration and Sharing: Securely share interactive dashboards with stakeholders, teams, or clients. No more sending static files via email. Everyone with access sees the same, up-to-date version of the truth, allowing for smarter, data-driven conversations.

Getting Started: Picking Your Connection Method

There isn't a single "connect" button, instead, there are a few different paths you can take, each with its own pros and cons. The best one for you depends on your version of Odoo (Online, On-Premise, or Odoo.sh), your technical comfort level, and your budget.

Let's break them down, from the most direct to the most user-friendly.

Method 1: Direct Database Connection (For Odoo On-Premise & Odoo.sh)

Odoo is built on a PostgreSQL database. If you host your own Odoo instance (On-Premise) or use Odoo.sh, you can often get direct access to this database. This is the most powerful and direct way to get your data into Power BI.

Who is this method for?

This approach is best for users who have direct database credentials and are comfortable navigating a complex database structure. You'll likely need help from your IT team or Odoo partner to get the required access information securely.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Gather Your Credentials: You will need the following information for your Odoo database:
2. Open Power BI Desktop: Navigate to the "Home" tab and click on Get Data.
3. Select the PostgreSQL Connector: In the search bar that appears, type "PostgreSQL" and select the PostgreSQL database connector. Click "Connect."
4. Enter Your Server and Database Details: In the dialog box, fill in the credentials you gathered in step 1. You can leave "Data Connectivity mode" as "Import" for better performance, or choose "DirectQuery" if you need absolutely real-time data (this can be slower for complex reports).
5. Navigate and Select Your Data: Power BI will connect to your database and show you a list of all the tables. This is where it gets tricky - Odoo has hundreds of tables with technical names (like sale_order, res_partner, account_move). Start by selecting a few that you recognize, like sale_order and res_partner.
6. Transform Your Data: After choosing some tables, we strongly recommend you click Transform Data. This opens the Power Query Editor, where you can clean up your data before loading it. You can do useful things like renaming cryptic columns, merging tables (e.g., combining sales order data with contact information for clients), and performing quick data preparation.

Pros and Cons

• Pros: Full access to all raw data, can be set to refresh automatically, and no additional cost for middleware.
• Cons: Requires technical knowledge to navigate the Odoo data model. Read-only database access for everyone - security reasons must be a high concern, and it may get very slow if you're pulling a ton of information. Only available for On-Premise/Odoo.sh users.

Method 2: Using the XML-RPC API (More Technical)

If you use Odoo Online (SaaS) or don't have direct database access, you'll need a different approach. Odoo provides an External API that allows you to fetch data programmatically. This method involves writing scripts (e.g., in Python) to communicate with this API and then saving the data in a format Power BI can read.

Who is this for?

This is for developers or high-tech data analysts with scripting abilities. Using a bit of coding, you make API calls to retrieve data, create reports, and push them to Power BI.

General Workflow:

1. Create authentication and get your API credentials from the Odoo Settings.
2. Write scripts (Python has great libraries, specifically pandas or polars) and fetch the needed records and objects from various endpoints.
3. Send the parsed and collected data to a location that Power BI can access, such as CSV files, Azure SQL databases, or Google Sheets.
4. From within Power BI, connect to any of these supported sources where your Odoo records currently reside.

Pros and Cons

• Pros: Works with all Odoo versions, including online, it is highly adjustable for all needed data.
• Cons: Requires coding skills, you have to handle data transformation and have separate schedulers for keeping it updated.

Method 3: The Classic CSV Export (Simple but not Scalable)

The good old reliable is always available. You may export whichever list views in Odoo as CSV or Excel files and bring them into Power BI.

Who is this method for?

It's for people wanting to conduct quick, solo analysis on a select database slice of Odoo. However, if you demand regular and up-to-date reports without the endless manual entry for every update, this may not be the best option.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Log in to Odoo and move towards a particular list view you wish to analyze (e.g., sales orders, invoices, products).
2. Check the boxes beside all the desired records, then click into actions and choose export.
3. In the export popup, select which fields you want to export. Export it as CSV or XLS, then hit 'export'.
4. With Power BI Desktop, go to Get Data and choose File / Excel or CSV, then point towards your recently downloaded file.

Pros and Cons

• Pros: The ultimate simplicity, requires absolutely no technical skills! A fantastic route for fast, one-off investigations.
• Cons: Completely manual. You have to export a new file every single time you want fresh data. Not viable long-term. There's a risk of error since you must do it repeatedly.

Method 4: Using a Third-Party Connector / An Intermediary (The Perfect Mix)

The marketplace has seen an influx of SaaS companies providing Odoo and other connector services made especially for Power BI. These services bridge your Odoo instance to Power BI, managing all the hard API authentication and data transformation stuff behind the curtain.

Who is this for?

Most business teams, marketing analysts, and general managers who need an easy and automated process without requiring technical overhaul. If you are ready to spend money for convenience and real-time updates, third-party connectors are your thing.

How they work:

• You register for one of these services.
• Inside their interface, connect your Odoo account and your Power BI.
• Inside Power BI, find a 'custom connector' or look through the marketplace to see what it offers. This makes it possible to load cleaned and processed Odoo objects (like 'Sales', 'Customers', and 'Inventory') into your data model directly.

Pros and Cons

• Pros: Very user-friendly, fully automated for scheduling refreshes, and provides customer support if needed.
• Cons: There are subscription costs. Also, the data models they provide depend entirely on them, so not all users will be happy with these limitations.

Final Thoughts

Connecting Odoo to Power BI transforms your raw operational data into a powerful strategic asset. Whether you choose a direct database connection for full control, a third-party connector for convenience, or manual exports for quick analyses, the goal is the same: to get a clearer, deeper understanding of your business so you can make smarter decisions.

This process of connecting different platforms to get a unified view of performance is fundamental to modern analytics. At Graphed we built our entire platform around this idea, but with a different spin. Instead of pointing and clicking to build dashboards in tools like Power BI, we let you connect all your sales and marketing sources - like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, Shopify, and Salesforce - and build real-time dashboards simply by describing what you want in plain English. This approach saves countless hours spent manually creating the same reports every week, allowing you and your team to focus on insights, not setup.