Odoo Version Upgrades in Australia: How the Process Works and When to Schedule One

Odoo releases a new major version every year. That annual cadence is one of the platform’s strengths, because features arrive quickly and the product never sits still. It also means every Odoo site faces the same recurring decision: which version to move to, when to schedule the work, and how much testing the move needs before it touches production.

This guide covers how the Odoo version upgrade process works, what Odoo’s upgrade service does and doesn’t handle, and how Australian businesses should time an upgrade around BAS quarters and the upcoming v20 release. If you’re weighing up a move from another system entirely, that’s a migration rather than an upgrade, and our Odoo data migration checklist is the better starting point.

How the Odoo version upgrade process works

Every upgrade follows the same two-stage pattern, whatever your hosting: test first, then production.

You request an upgraded copy of your database through Odoo’s upgrade platform, test everything on that copy, and only then upgrade the real thing. Odoo asks you to run the production upgrade within three days of a successful test upgrade, so the testing window needs to be planned rather than left open-ended.

The mechanics differ slightly by hosting type:

• Odoo Online. You request the upgrade from the database manager or from your subscription page. The first request can only be a test, which is a sensible guardrail.
• Odoo.sh. The platform has a dedicated Upgrade tab. You test on a staging branch built from your latest production backup, then run the same process on the master branch when you’re satisfied.
• On-premise. You can use the upload form or a command line tool. The command line route is faster for large databases and can resume if the transfer is interrupted.

In every case the upgraded database comes back to you for testing. That testing step is where upgrades succeed or fail, and it deserves more attention than the upgrade request itself.

What the upgrade service covers, and what it doesn’t

Odoo’s upgrade documentation is clear about scope. The service converts your database so that standard modules, your data, and Odoo Studio customisations work on the target version.

What it does not do is rewrite custom module code. If your site runs custom developed modules or third-party apps, that code has to be adapted to the new version separately, either by your internal team or by your partner. On Odoo.sh this shows up directly in the process: after the database upgrade finishes, the platform prompts you to push a commit containing your updated customisations.

Two facts worth stating plainly, because we still see confusion about both:

• The upgrade service is included with every Odoo Enterprise subscription. It isn’t a partner-only benefit and there’s no extra fee to Odoo for using it.
• Community edition sites upgrade differently. The hosted upgrade service is tied to an Enterprise subscription, so Community upgrades are a manual, technical exercise. If that trade-off matters to you, our guide to Odoo Community vs Enterprise covers it in detail.

The upgrade platform currently offers 17.0, 18.0 and 19.0 as target versions, which reflects Odoo’s practice of supporting the three most recent major releases. If you’re running v16 or older, you’re outside that window, and getting back inside it should be treated as overdue maintenance rather than a nice-to-have.

When to schedule an Odoo upgrade in Australia

The upgrade itself is version-agnostic about dates. Your BAS calendar isn’t.

Our advice for Australian businesses is to schedule the production cutover early in a Business Activity Statement (BAS) quarter, not in the weeks before a lodgement deadline. If something needs fixing after go-live, you want clear air between the fix and your next BAS obligations, not a compliance deadline bearing down on the finance team. The same logic applies to end of financial year: don’t upgrade in the middle of your June close.

Testing should include your Australian localisation specifically. Run your BAS report on the upgraded test database and compare it against production. Check tax codes, bank feeds and any ABA payment files. Standard modules convert reliably, but configuration issues surface in exactly these workflows, and finding them on staging costs nothing.

Then there’s the v20 question. Odoo unveils its next major version at Odoo Experience 2026 in Brussels, running 24 to 26 September. If you’re on v18 or v19 and stable, there’s no urgency. If you’re on v17, upgrading to v19 now and looking at v20 later usually beats waiting, because a just-released version takes months to settle and your support window keeps shrinking while you wait. We covered what’s expected in the release in our Odoo v20 roadmap post.

What an Odoo version upgrade actually costs

The database conversion costs nothing on Enterprise. The real costs sit around it:

• Custom module adaptation. Developer time to make custom code compatible with the new version. This scales with how much custom code you have, not with database size.
• Testing effort. Finance and operations staff walking through real workflows on the test database.
• Integration re-testing. Anything connected to Odoo, from ecommerce platforms to shipping tools, needs a check against the upgraded version.

For a site with light Studio customisation, testing might take a few days of part-time effort. Sites with heavy custom code can need 2 to 6 weeks of development and testing before production cutover. Capterra’s Australian research found fewer than 1 in 3 Australian businesses successfully adopt new software, and skipped testing is a big part of why change goes wrong. An upgrade is a smaller change than a new system, but the discipline is the same.

Most upgrade pain we see isn’t the upgrade itself, it’s untested custom code hitting production. Test the upgraded database properly, fix what breaks on staging, and the production cutover is usually an evening’s work.

Bill Alvarez, Practice Manager, Auboros

It’s also worth keeping upgrades in perspective. MYOB’s Mid-Market Survey found 36% of Australian mid-sized businesses are looking to upgrade their ERP. Staying current on a platform you already own is far cheaper than being forced into a replatform later because versions were left to drift. Regular upgrades are how Odoo implementations stay healthy over a five or ten year life.

Planning an Odoo version upgrade before v20 lands?

Auboros runs test upgrades, adapts custom modules and times cutovers around BAS quarters for businesses across Brisbane, Queensland and the rest of Australia. Our Odoo upgrade services cover the whole process from staging to go-live.

If you’d like a clear picture of what your upgrade involves before committing to anything, book a free consultation. We’ll tell you if the timing is wrong, too.