Expiration dates

Odoo Inventory expiration dates track the shelf life of perishable products, from purchase to sale, helping reduce waste and avoid shipping products that have gone out of date.

Before you start

1. Go to Inventory app > Configuration > Settings, and under Traceability tick Lots & Serial Numbers, then Expiration Dates, and click Save.

Only products tracked by lots or serial numbers can have expiration information; if a product already has stock, an inventory adjustment may be needed to assign lot or serial numbers to it first.

How to configure expiration dates on a product

1. On the product form, set Product Type to Goods, and Track Inventory to By Lots or By Unique Serial Number.
2. On the Inventory tab, under Traceability, tick Expiration Date.
3. Under Dates, set however many of these apply: Expiration Time (days after receipt until goods may become unsafe), Best Before Time (days before expiry when goods start to deteriorate but are not yet unsafe), Removal Time (days before expiry when stock should be removed), and Alert Time (days before expiry to raise an alert).

Odoo uses these values to calculate an expiration date automatically as stock is received or produced. If none are set, dates can still be entered manually on receipts and deliveries.