Choosing odoo is usually the easy part. Choosing who implements it is where projects are won or lost. The same software can become the backbone of your business or an expensive headache, depending on how it is set up, how your team is trained and how much custom code ends up in it. If you are a company in the United States or Canada evaluating odoo partners, these are the questions we suggest you ask before you sign anything, including to us.
1. Are you an official odoo partner?
odoo keeps a public directory of its official partners. Being listed means the partner has a direct relationship with odoo, access to its partner resources and a track record odoo itself reviews. It is not the only thing that matters, but it is a reasonable first filter. Ask for the partner page and check it yourself.
2. What is your implementation methodology?
A good partner can explain, in plain language, how the project will run: discovery, configuration, data migration, testing with your users, training, go-live and support. Ask what deliverables you get at each step and who on your side needs to be involved. If the answer is vague, the project will be too. Our guide on how to implement odoo (in Spanish) shows the steps we follow.
3. Do you start with standard odoo or with custom code?
This is the question that saves the most money over time. odoo covers a very wide range of processes out of the box. Every custom module you add has to be maintained and upgraded with each new version. Ask the partner how they decide when to configure and when to develop. The healthy answer is odoo-first: configure what odoo already does, and write code only for what is truly unique to your business.
Which odoo partner is best for a company in the US or Canada?
The best partner is the one that understands your local requirements, works in your hours and shows you how they will reach a working system without over-customizing it. Use the questions below to compare candidates side by side.
4. How do you handle US sales tax?
Sales tax in the US depends on the state, and often on the county and city, plus the product and whether you have nexus there. odoo includes an Avalara AvaTax integration that calculates the tax at the time of the sale based on the address and the product. Ask the partner whether they have configured it before, how they map your products to tax codes and how exemption certificates will be handled. The specific rules for your company we review with your accountant during discovery.
5. What about payments and banking?
In the US, ask how vendor payments will work: odoo can generate NACHA files for ACH payments and print checks, and it can import bank statements for reconciliation. In Canada, ask about your banks and the payment file formats they accept. Payment flows touch cash, so they deserve a careful test before go-live.
6. How do you handle Canadian GST, HST and PST?
Canadian sales taxes vary by province: GST in some, HST in others, and GST plus PST or QST elsewhere. odoo ships a Canadian localization with these taxes, and the right setup depends on where you sell and where your customers are. A good partner will configure fiscal positions so the right tax applies automatically, and will validate the setup with your accountant during discovery.
7. Will we overlap in working hours?
Time zone overlap matters more than people think. You want answers during your business day, not the next morning. Ask how many hours of overlap you will have with the team, who answers urgent issues and how. Partners in Latin America, like us, share most of the working day with the Eastern and Central time zones and a good part of it with the West Coast.
8. What does support look like after go-live?
The first weeks in production always bring questions. Ask what support is included, how you open a request, how fast they respond and what happens with upgrades to new versions of odoo. You can see how one company centralizes its own customer service in odoo in our Siera Electronics case.
9. Can you show us references?
Ask for real projects and, when possible, to talk to the people who use the system. Look for work similar to yours in size or complexity. For example, the MTOP budgets its public works with OKentra PreObra on odoo. A partner who cannot show any project is asking you to be the first.
10. How do you train our team?
An ERP works when people use it. Ask how training is organized by role, whether there are materials your team can come back to and how new hires will learn the system later.
A short checklist
- Official odoo partner, verifiable in odoo's directory.
- A clear, phased methodology with deliverables.
- An odoo-first approach to customization.
- Experience with sales tax, ACH, GST/HST/PST and your industry.
- Real overlap with your working hours.
- Defined support after go-live.
- References you can check.
Want to see the full scope of what odoo covers? Visit our ERP page or see how AI agents can work inside odoo.
odoo + OKentra in the US and Canada
OKentra, your strategic odoo partner, in any country. We implement odoo with odoo's standard methodology, an odoo-first approach to custom code, local tax setup reviewed with your accountant and a team that works in your hours. Learn more about our services.
Want to see it working in your company? Book 30 minutes with our team and we will show you odoo with your own processes: book a meeting.
Ramiro Nantez — OKentra, Official odoo Partner: your strategic odoo partner.