A module adding a read-only group for accounting data (V7)

We have put together a module that adds a group called “Accountant (Read-Only)”, which can reach the same menus as “Accountant” but cannot alter data. It is available for download here, on the Apps page.

It is meant for cases where you want an outside tax accountant to look at your accounting results directly in the system.

In Odoo, menu access, the rights to create, write, delete and read data, and record filtering are all adjusted through the settings on a “group”. Groups are defined per business area and assigned to each user.

Groups carry the idea of “inheritance”: the inheriting group takes on every right of the group it inherits from. Among the accounting groups, for instance, “Accountant” inherits “Billing”, so everything a billing user can do in Odoo, an accountant can do as well.

That idea of inheritance is very convenient for adding rights, as in the example above, but it is not suited to taking them away. Where you want what this module is for — the same menu access as “Accountant”, but no altering of data in the system, read-only — you cannot inherit the “Accountant” group and then restrict it. You have to define access to the menus and the objects from scratch on the new group. (Which is a bit of a chore.)

This module saves you that chore. (Depending on which modules are installed in your environment, you may still need to add some rights separately.) We would be glad if you put it to work, or used it as a reference when building a module of your own for adjusting rights!

Related article:

・We built a Stock Forecast module (for V7)