How does Odoo Project compare to Mavenlink / Kantata?

Comparable functional coverage for professional services. Mavenlink / Kantata edge Odoo on advanced resource planning + project forecasting at enterprise scale. Odoo wins on unified ERP (no sync to accounting / sales) and cost (included in Enterprise Custom vs USD 80–200/user/month specialist tool).

Can it handle construction projects (WIP, retainage, certified payroll)?

Native: WIP accounting, milestone billing, project P&L. Extensions: USA construction (AIA billing G702/G703, retainage, certified payroll) need configuration or partner add-ons. UK / EU / India construction handled with appropriate configuration. See Odoo vs Acumatica for Acumatica Construction comparison.

Does it integrate with Jira / Asana / ClickUp?

Integration available but most Odoo Project customers consolidate task management onto Odoo. Jira makes sense for software-dev-heavy teams. Asana / ClickUp sync via Zapier / Make.com for businesses with established workflows there.

What about timesheet approvals?

Multi-level approval workflows. Daily / weekly approval cadence. Time-sheet reminders. Approval can be delegated when manager is unavailable.

Can we bill in multiple currencies?

Yes — multi-currency project billing with appropriate FX handling. Project costs typically in local currency, customer billing in customer currency.

Does it support recurring retainer billing?

Yes — recurring retainer with hour bucket per period, overage handling, retainer rollover rules. Common for ongoing services contracts.

What about ASC 606 / IFRS 15 for project revenue?

Yes — appropriate revenue recognition method per project (completed contract, percentage of completion, time-and-materials, milestone). WIP accounting native. Sufficient for typical mid-market service businesses.

Can customers see project progress?

Yes — customer portal shows project status, milestones, time logged, billing. Reduces project-status inbound queries meaningfully.

Can we migrate from Harvest / Toggl / FreshBooks?

Yes — historical timesheet data migrates. Active projects with WIP balances migrate. Going forward, the new project-management + billing workflow runs on Odoo.

What's the implementation cost?

It depends on your billing rules (fixed-price, T&M, retainer, milestone), whether you need WIP and revenue recognition, how many currencies you bill in, and how many active projects we migrate. We don't work from a price list: a one-week discovery maps your project lifecycle and ends with a fixed price, so the number you sign is the number you pay.

What's the first step?

30-minute scoping call. Bring: industry, employee count, project volume / cycle, current PM tool, billing models, top operational pains.

Which project apps does Odoo offer for consulting firms needing timesheets and billing?

Consulting firms usually run four Odoo apps together. Project plans phases, tasks and milestones. Timesheets logs hours per task on web or mobile, with approvals. Sales creates the project from the quote and sets the billing model: fixed price, time and materials, retainer or milestone. Accounting invoices from those rules and shows live project P&L. Expenses and Purchase add project costs.

Which industries use Odoo Project?

Odoo Project suits any business where projects are the revenue model. Most users are professional services firms of 10–500 users: consulting, agencies, IT services, accounting and law. Construction firms use it with construction-specific extensions, and project-based manufacturers use it for custom equipment and project engineering. See Odoo for professional services.

How long does an Odoo Project implementation take?

A standard Project + Timesheets implementation takes 6–10 weeks at a fixed price. Complex billing rules with revenue recognition take 8–14 weeks. Construction setups with WIP and retainage take 10–18 weeks. Adding Project to an existing Odoo database takes 4–8 weeks. A pilot of 1–2 projects runs on Odoo before full cutover.

Project Module

Odoo Project + Timesheets

Odoo Project handles project management, timesheets, project costing, billing (fixed-price + T&M + retainer), WIP recognition, and project P&L — unified with the rest of the ERP. Sufficient for professional services, agencies, consulting firms, construction (with extensions), and any business where projects are the core revenue model.

Last reviewed: October 22, 2026

What it is

**Project structure**: projects with phases, tasks with sub-tasks, dependencies, milestones, Gantt + Kanban + Calendar + List views. **Timesheets**: time tracking per task, per project, per employee, mobile app for on-site time capture. **Budgets**: project budgets per cost type (labour / materials / sub-contractor / overhead). **Costing**: actual vs budget, project P&L in real time, employee cost rates per role. **Billing**: fixed-price (lump sum), T&M (timesheet-based), retainer (recurring), milestone (percentage of completion), prepaid. **Revenue recognition**: ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance for project revenue, WIP accounting, deferred revenue. **Integration**: project from Sales quote, materials from Purchase, time from HR, expenses from Expense, billing to Accounting.

Why it matters

Most service businesses outgrow basic time-tracking (Harvest, Toggl, FreshBooks) when project P&L matters more than basic time billing. Specialist project tools (Workday Professional Services / Mavenlink / Kantata / NetSuite OpenAir) are expensive at USD 80–200/user/month. Odoo Project unifies project management + timesheets + billing + accounting natively, included in Enterprise Custom (USD 49/user/month). For professional services firms 10–500 users, this is meaningful TCO advantage.

Features

What Odoo Project + Timesheets does, capability by capability.
Capability	What it does
Multi-view project management	Kanban, Gantt, Calendar, List, Timeline views — switch per user preference. Drag-and-drop task management.
Timesheets (web + mobile)	Time tracking per task / project / employee. Mobile app for field / on-site time capture. Approval workflows. Bulk entry. Stopwatch for live tracking.
Project budgets + cost tracking	Budgets per cost type (labour / materials / sub-contractor / overhead). Real-time actual vs budget. Employee cost rates per role. Vendor cost capture.
Real-time project P&L	Project profit and loss calculated live from timesheets, materials, sub-contractor costs, expenses, vs billing. Margin per project visible to project managers.
Multiple billing models	Fixed-price, T&M (timesheet-based), retainer (recurring), milestone (percentage of completion), prepaid. Different rules per project; even within a single project.
Revenue recognition (ASC 606 / IFRS 15)	Project revenue recognised per appropriate method: completed contract, percentage of completion, milestone, time-and-materials. WIP accounting handled.
Resource planning	Capacity planning per employee / role. Forecasting vs allocated time. Gantt-based resource scheduling.
Integration with Sales + Purchase	Project created from Sales quote / order. Materials purchased via Purchase orders linked to project. Expenses captured against project.
Customer portal	Customers see project progress, timesheets, milestones, billing through self-service portal. Reduces project-status inbound queries.
Multi-currency project billing	Project costs in local currency, billing in customer currency, with appropriate FX gain / loss accounting.

How it works

Process discovery

Interview project leads, PMs, finance. Document project lifecycle, billing models, current pain points. Output: project-management spec.
Configuration

Project templates per service type, task templates, billing rules per template, employee cost rates, approval workflows.
Active-project migration

Current active projects migrated with WIP balances, remaining budget, milestone status, customer billing schedule.
Training + pilot

Project managers + timesheet users trained. Pilot 1–2 projects on Odoo while existing projects continue on legacy. Iterate.
Full cutover

All new projects on Odoo. Existing projects either migrate or finish on legacy. Customer portal launched.
Stabilisation

30-60 days post-cutover. First fully Odoo project billing cycle. Project P&L reporting validated by finance.

Deployment timeline

Standard Project + Timesheets implementation: 6–10 weeks fixed-price. With complex billing rules + revenue recognition: 8–14 weeks. Construction-specific with WIP + retainage: 10–18 weeks. Project add to existing Odoo: 4–8 weeks.

Best for

Professional services firms (consulting, agencies, IT services, accounting, law) 10–500 users. Construction (with construction-specific extensions). Project-based manufacturing (custom equipment, project engineering). Any business where projects are the revenue model, not just orders.

Frequently asked questions

How does Odoo Project compare to Mavenlink / Kantata?

Comparable functional coverage for professional services. Mavenlink / Kantata edge Odoo on advanced resource planning + project forecasting at enterprise scale. Odoo wins on unified ERP (no sync to accounting / sales) and cost (included in Enterprise Custom vs USD 80–200/user/month specialist tool).
Can it handle construction projects (WIP, retainage, certified payroll)?

Native: WIP accounting, milestone billing, project P&L. Extensions: USA construction (AIA billing G702/G703, retainage, certified payroll) need configuration or partner add-ons. UK / EU / India construction handled with appropriate configuration. See Odoo vs Acumatica for Acumatica Construction comparison.
Does it integrate with Jira / Asana / ClickUp?

Integration available but most Odoo Project customers consolidate task management onto Odoo. Jira makes sense for software-dev-heavy teams. Asana / ClickUp sync via Zapier / Make.com for businesses with established workflows there.
What about timesheet approvals?

Multi-level approval workflows. Daily / weekly approval cadence. Time-sheet reminders. Approval can be delegated when manager is unavailable.
Can we bill in multiple currencies?

Yes — multi-currency project billing with appropriate FX handling. Project costs typically in local currency, customer billing in customer currency.
Does it support recurring retainer billing?

Yes — recurring retainer with hour bucket per period, overage handling, retainer rollover rules. Common for ongoing services contracts.
What about ASC 606 / IFRS 15 for project revenue?

Yes — appropriate revenue recognition method per project (completed contract, percentage of completion, time-and-materials, milestone). WIP accounting native. Sufficient for typical mid-market service businesses.
Can customers see project progress?

Yes — customer portal shows project status, milestones, time logged, billing. Reduces project-status inbound queries meaningfully.
Can we migrate from Harvest / Toggl / FreshBooks?

Yes — historical timesheet data migrates. Active projects with WIP balances migrate. Going forward, the new project-management + billing workflow runs on Odoo.
What's the implementation cost?

It depends on your billing rules (fixed-price, T&M, retainer, milestone), whether you need WIP and revenue recognition, how many currencies you bill in, and how many active projects we migrate. We don't work from a price list: a one-week discovery maps your project lifecycle and ends with a fixed price, so the number you sign is the number you pay.
What's the first step?

30-minute scoping call. Bring: industry, employee count, project volume / cycle, current PM tool, billing models, top operational pains.
Which project apps does Odoo offer for consulting firms needing timesheets and billing?

Consulting firms usually run four Odoo apps together. Project plans phases, tasks and milestones. Timesheets logs hours per task on web or mobile, with approvals. Sales creates the project from the quote and sets the billing model: fixed price, time and materials, retainer or milestone. Accounting invoices from those rules and shows live project P&L. Expenses and Purchase add project costs.
Which industries use Odoo Project?

Odoo Project suits any business where projects are the revenue model. Most users are professional services firms of 10–500 users: consulting, agencies, IT services, accounting and law. Construction firms use it with construction-specific extensions, and project-based manufacturers use it for custom equipment and project engineering. See Odoo for professional services.
How long does an Odoo Project implementation take?

A standard Project + Timesheets implementation takes 6–10 weeks at a fixed price. Complex billing rules with revenue recognition take 8–14 weeks. Construction setups with WIP and retainage take 10–18 weeks. Adding Project to an existing Odoo database takes 4–8 weeks. A pilot of 1–2 projects runs on Odoo before full cutover.