We pride ourselves on taking potentially time-consuming admin tasks and making them practically seamless on Odoo.
It is common practice for UK businesses to check VAT numbers through the HMRC VAT website - ensuring that the information they have been provided with is true and correct. This is a simple task, but one that can take up considerable time when completed repetitively.
Below we highlight the challenge we faced and the remedy we put in place…
The Challenge
Before we developed the HMRC VAT Lookup module, our customers had to manually leave Odoo and open the Government website in order to check VAT details their customers provide to ensure validity. This needlessly consumed time and energy, so we were asked to develop a new module for seamlessly getting the same result within Odoo.
The Solution
The resulting HMRC VAT Lookup module allows internal Odoo users to check if a UK company’s VAT number is valid when they enter it into the partner form. This drastically cuts down needless admin and ensures smooth workflow as the user no longer needs to leave Odoo.
How it Works
This smart module allows you to validate a partner’s VAT number when entering it on the create a contact form. It communicates with the UK Government HMRC API, automatically validating the number entered. When viewing the new VAT contact, it will display the company’s information such as contact name, whether VAT has been checked, what date it was checked and the company’s address.
Visual Field Indications:
- If the number is being validated, a yellow clock will appear next to the field
- If the number entered is valid, a green tick will appear next to the field
- If the number entered is invalid, a red cross
will appear next to the field
Visual Banner Indications:
- If the number entered is invalid, a red warning banner will be displayed at the top of the form
