How to Add EPC QR Codes to invoices in Odoo

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Odoo is a versatile and user-friendly ERP system with integrated blockchain to store important and private data of your company. It dedicates itself to making business interactions efficient by providing a completely integrated solution that enables you to track your inventory, keep track of sales and customers, and manage finances and payments easily.

Within Odoo, you can utilize many great features for your business. One such amazing feature is the QR Codes within the invoice. A QR code is a quick response code with the same black-and-white look as barcodes. QR codes are used mainly by companies for embedding and tracking data. A QR code has multiple small black squares within a bigger white background.

With the help of Odoo, QR codes can actually help your business track product information, invoices, and improve reports, data analysis, and so much more. For that reason, in this article, we will look at How to Add EPC QR Codes to invoices in Odoo. So, let’s dive right into it.

Table of contents

• What are EPC QR Codes
• How to Add EPC QR Codes to invoices in Odoo
  • 1. Configure the QR codes
  • 2. Issue Invoices with EPC QR Codes
• Conclusion

What are EPC QR Codes

European Payments Council Quick Response Codes, or EPC QR codes for short, are guidelines used to describe a QR code’s content. The EPC QR codes can be used to start off any SEPA credit transfer. Each EPC QR Code stores all of the important data (such as IBAN, recipient, and amount) in clear text.

The EPC QR code guidelines are mainly opted for on the payment requests and invoices. The QR code helps us pay without having to manually put in information, which can lower the risk of making errors.

For example, if the content of the EPC QR Code is as such: | Service Tag: | BCD | IBAN: | BE72000000001616 | |———————|———–|—————————|—————————-| | Version: | 001 | Amount: | EUR1 | | Character set: | 1 | Reason (4 chars max): | CHAR | | Identification: | SCT | Ref of invoice: | Empty line or REFINVOICE | | BIC: | BPOTBEB1 | Or text: | Urgency fund or Empty line | | Name: | Red Cross | Information: | Sample EPC QR code |

Then the QR string shall be as follows:

BCD
001
1
SCT
BPOTBEB1
Red Cross of Belgium
BE72000000001616
EUR1
CHAR
 
Urgency fund
Sample EPC QR code

Now that we have seen an example of what an EPC QR code could look like, let’s go into details about its XML file. Here is what an XML file of a code should be:

<odoo>
   <data>
       <record id="res_invoice_inherit" model="ir.ui.view">
           <field name="name">account.move.report</field>
           <field name="model">account.move</field>
           <field name="inherit_id" ref="account.view_move_form"/>
           <field name="arch" type="xml">
               <xpath expr="//field[@name = 'payment_reference']" position="after">
                   <field name="qr_code" widget='image' class="oe_avatar"
                    />
               </xpath>
      </field>
  </record>
   </data>
</odoo>
qr = qrcode.QRCode(
                   version=3,
                   error_correction=qrcode.constants.ERROR_CORRECT_L,
                   box_size=2,
                   border=4,
               )

There are mainly 4 things you should pay attention to: version, error_correction, box_size, and border.

• version: Version is a parameter running from 1 up to 40 and has the function of determining the EPC QR code size. The smallest version is 1, which is a 21 by 21 matrix.
• error_correction: Error correction is another parameter responsible for the error correction of the EPC QR code.
• box_size: As for box size, this parameter determines the total number of pixels each box within the EPC QR code has.
• border: As its name indicates, the border parameter decides how many boxes there should be, as well as the thickness of the EPC QR code’s border. The default value for the border is 4.

Before you move on with the configuration of the EPC QR code, you should keep in mind that not all countries use this type of code. As you can see from the name - European Payments Council Quick Response Codes, the code is mostly used in European countries such as Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, and The Netherlands. So make sure that you can have a plan for the EPC QR code and that your customers can access it if you want to put it into use.

How to Add EPC QR Codes to invoices in Odoo

1. Configure the QR codes

Now that you have grasped the basics of EPC QR codes, it is time to move on to the first step. To add EPC QR codes to invoices, the first thing you need to do is to, without a doubt, configure the QR codes.

The process is pretty simple, even for those just starting out using features on Odoo. So, to set up the QR codes, first, you have to head to Accounting. Then, look for Configuration and choose Settings. After that, all that is left is to click on Activate to jump-start your own SEPA QR Code.

In addition to configuring the QR codes, you may also want to look into how to configure your company’s Bank Account journal. To do so efficiently, you will need to check if the Bank Account is properly configured. In other words, you have to make sure that the Bank Account has the correct IBAN and BIC.

The steps to configure the Bank Account’s journal is as follows: Look for Accounting, then head right to Configuration. Then, click on Journals to open the bank journal of your company. The next step is to seek the Bank Account tab. And the final steps are to just fill out the Bank Account and Bank sections.

2. Issue Invoices with EPC QR Codes

After you have configured the EPC QR Code and the Bank Account’s journal, you are pretty much all set. The EPC QR Codes will be added to your invoices by default. But as we have said before, the EPC QR Codes will only work in countries that support them. So, just make sure that your customers live in a country where the EPC QR Code is supported.

To issue any invoice with an EPC QR Code, first head to Accounting. After that, look for Customers and go straight to Invoices. Then, you just need to create the invoice, and that is about it.

But to make the process much more efficient, you should head to the Other Info tab before posting the invoice. If done correctly, Odoo will fill out the Bank Account section using your IBAN on your behalf. And you should confirm beforehand that the account is the right one. In other words, the account should be the one your customers make their payments to. Odoo will then use this information to create the EPC QR Code.

But if you ever want to issue an invoice without any EPC QR Code for whatever reason, then just remove the IBAN. On the invoice, you should be able to find the IBAN under the Other Info tab. It is located within the Bank Account section.

Conclusion

Odoo is a powerful tool for managing your business. It enables you to integrate different systems and tools, automate repetitive tasks, and make your business more efficient. Odoo uses QR codes to store data and provides easy access to information anywhere and anytime.

If you seek a simple and effective way to collect customer data and track information via EPC QR Codes on invoices, then Odoo is a perfect choice. Odoo will provide you with an efficient tool to build the QR Code system for your business quickly.

In this blog, we have deeply looked into the details of How to Add EPC QR Codes to invoices in Odoo. We hope you find the information in our step-by-step guide useful. Don’t forget to save the article and try adding your own EPC QR Codes soon and let us know how it goes!