Odoo Construction Case Study: Live Project Costs and ZATCA in 6 Weeks
Construction & Contracting · Client names are kept confidential at their request.
A general contracting company in Riyadh with 85 employees tracked project costs in spreadsheets, ran payroll manually and approved purchases over WhatsApp, with the ZATCA Phase 2 deadline approaching. Ruaa Alebtekar implemented Odoo Project, Accounting, HR & Payroll, Purchase, Timesheets and ZATCA e-invoicing in 6 weeks. Management now sees project costs in real time, payroll takes 3 hours instead of 2 days, and every invoice is ZATCA compliant.
Key results
Real-time
project cost visibility
2 days → 3 hours
payroll for 85 employees
100%
ZATCA Phase 2 compliant
6 weeks
to go-live
Client at a glance
| Industry | General contracting |
| Location | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Company size | 85 employees, multiple active projects |
| Go-live | 6 weeks |
| Odoo modules | Project, Accounting, HR & Payroll, Purchase, Timesheets, ZATCA e-Invoicing |
The challenge
Project costs lived in spreadsheets while HR, payroll and procurement ran on separate systems. With ZATCA Phase 2 approaching, the company had no integrated invoicing solution.
- No real-time view of project costs, so budget overruns were discovered weeks too late.
- Payroll for 85 employees was processed manually, which was slow and error-prone.
- Procurement was not linked to project budgets, and approvals happened over WhatsApp.
- The existing system could not meet the ZATCA Phase 2 deadline.
The solution
We linked purchasing, timesheets, payroll and invoicing to each project in Odoo, so every cost lands on the right project as it happens and management can act before a budget is exceeded.
Odoo modules: Project, Accounting, HR & Payroll, Purchase, Timesheets, ZATCA e-Invoicing.
Before and after Odoo
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Project costs tracked in Excel | Live cost dashboards for each project |
| Purchase approvals over WhatsApp | Automated approval workflows |
| Manual payroll for 85 staff | Payroll in hours, not days |
| No ZATCA compatibility | Full ZATCA Phase 2 compliance |
Results in detail
- Real-time project cost dashboards give management instant visibility, and budget overruns are flagged automatically.
- Payroll for all 85 employees now takes 3 hours instead of 2 days.
- Purchase orders are linked to project budgets, with approval workflows replacing WhatsApp approvals.
- ZATCA Phase 2 is fully implemented: all client invoices are submitted to FATOORA automatically.
- Timesheets allocate costs accurately per project and per employee.
- The system went live in 6 weeks with all 50+ office staff trained.
Implementation timeline
| Timing | Phase |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Discovery and scoping |
| Week 2 | Configuration and data migration |
| Weeks 3–4 | Training and testing |
| Weeks 5–6 | Go-live and support |
What the client says
We always found out about cost overruns too late. Now I have a live dashboard on my phone. The ZATCA integration alone was worth the project.
Management, general contracting company, Riyadh
Why companies choose Ruaa Alebtekar
- Odoo Silver Partner based in Riyadh, with 40+ projects delivered for 29 active clients
- 89% client retention: we stay involved after go-live
- Full ZATCA Phase 2 compliance included in every implementation
- Local team for fast response and on-site visits when needed
- Training and support in Arabic and English
Related services
Construction Solution · Odoo Implementation · Odoo Integration · See all case studies
Want results like these for your business?
Book a free 20-minute ZATCA Phase 2 compliance audit with our team in Riyadh.