When managing sales of your business, it’s not enough to know how much you’re selling—you also need to know how much you’re earning. This is where sales margin comes in. In Odoo Sales, margin helps businesses track profitability directly inside quotations and sales orders, making smarter pricing and sales decisions easier.
This will guide and explain to you what margin is in Odoo Sales, why it is important, and how it is used in real-world sales scenarios, even if you’re a complete beginner in ERP systems.
What Is Sales Margin in Odoo?
Sales margin is the profit you earn from selling a product or service after all related costs are deducted.
In simple terms:
Margin = Sales Price − Cost
Odoo automatically calculates this value for you once prices and costs are properly configured. This allows salespeople and business owners to instantly see whether a sale is profitable—without doing manual calculations.
Why Sales Margin Is Important
Sales margin plays a key part in business decision-making. In Odoo, it helps you:
Monitor profitability per quotation or sales order.
Avoid selling products at a loss.
Compare profits across customers and products.
Make better pricing and discount decisions.
Understand the real impact of promotions and price lists.
Instead of guessing, Odoo shows you the numbers clearly.
Enabling the Margin Feature in Odoo Sales
Before margins appear in quotations and sales orders, the feature must be activated.
Steps to Enable Margins:
Go to the Sales app.
Navigate to Configuration → Settings.
Under the Pricing section, check Margins.
Click Save.
Once enabled, margin data becomes available throughout the Sales app.
Setting Up Product Price and Cost
For Odoo to calculate margins accurately, each product must have both a Sales Price and a Cost.
Steps:
Go to Sales app → Products → Products.
Open a product.
In the General Information tab:
Set the Sales Price.
Set the Cost.
Save the product.
Odoo uses these values to automatically compute margins for your quotations and sales.
Example: Basic Margin Calculation
Let’s say you are selling a Cable Management Box:
Sales Price: ₱1,000
Cost: ₱700
Margin:
₱1,000 − ₱700 = ₱300
Margin Percentage:
(₱300 ÷ ₱1,000) × 100 = 30%
This means you earn ₱300 profit for every unit sold.
Viewing Margins in Quotations and Sales Orders
When creating a quotation, Odoo automatically calculates the total margin for the entire order.
Steps:
Go to Sales → Orders → Quotations.
Click New.
Add customer details and products.
At the bottom of the quotation, you’ll see:
Total Margin (currency)
Margin Percentage
This helps salespeople instantly assess profitability before confirming the order.
Viewing Margin Per Product Line
To see margin details for each product in the quotation:
In the Order Lines section, click the ⚙️ (settings) icon.
Enable:
Margin
Margin (%)
These columns will now appear for all quotations and sales orders.
What These Columns Mean:
Margin: Profit earned for that product line.
Margin (%): Profit expressed as a percentage.
Quantity Impact: Margin is multiplied by the quantity sold.
Example: Margin Per Line Item
If you sell:
5 units of a product
Margin per unit: ₱200
Total Line Margin:
₱200 × 5 = ₱1,000
This helps you track which products contributes the most profit—not just revenue.
Understanding Margin with Pricelists
Odoo also will calculate the margins when pricelists or discounts are applied on the quotation.
Example: Discount Impact on Margin
Original Sales Price: ₱1,000
Cost: ₱700
Original Margin: ₱300
If a 5% discount is applied:
New Price: ₱950
New Margin: ₱250
Odoo updates this automatically once prices are refreshed.
Steps:
Create a pricelist (Sales → Products → Pricelists)
Apply it to a quotation
Click Update Prices
Margins adjust based on the discounted price.
Why Margin Visibility Matters in Real Sales
Without margin tracking, a business might:
Offer heavy discounts that remove all problem
Sell high-volume items that generate little income
Miss opportunities to promote high-margin products
With Odoo Sales margins, you gain financial clarity at every stage of the sales process.
Analyzing Margins Across Customers
Odoo also lets you analyze margins visually.
Steps:
Go to Sales → Orders → Quotations
Switch to Pivot or Graph view
Set Measure → Margin
This shows which customers, products, or salespeople generate the most profit.
Final Thoughts: The Purpose of Sales Margin in Odoo
Sales margin in Odoo is not just a number—it’s a decision-making tool. It helps businesses sell smarter, price better, and grow sustainably. By understanding margins, sales teams can focus not just on closing deals, but on closing profitable deals.
Whether you’re a beginner exploring Odoo or a growing business looking for better control over profitability, mastering sales margins is a powerful step forward.