Accounting lock date in Odoo: how to set it, unlock it and avoid mistakes

Updated on 3 November 2026.

You confirm an invoice and Odoo replies that you cannot add or modify an entry prior to the lock date. The message is blunt, and it usually comes at the worst moment: early in the year, right after sending the FEC audit file to your accountant. The Odoo accounting lock date is not a bug, it is a safeguard. What matters is understanding what it blocks, and knowing how to handle it without weakening your accounting.

What is the accounting lock date for in Odoo?

Once a period has been declared or closed, its figures must not change. Your VAT return, your balance sheet and the FEC sent to your accounting firm rely on the entries as they were when they were sent. If someone edits a March invoice in July, the declared amounts no longer match the accounting.

The lock date solves this problem: no entry dated on or before that date can be created, modified or deleted. It is also a safety net against data-entry mistakes, such as a vendor bill accidentally dated in the previous year.

The different locks depending on your version

The principle has been the same for a long time, but Odoo reworked how it works from version 18 onwards. Check your version before following a tutorial found online: the screens are no longer the same.

Up to Odoo 17

Three dates coexist in the lock dates wizard:

• the journal entries lock date, which blocks standard users but still lets accounting advisers (“Adviser” rights) post entries;
• the lock date for all users, which blocks everyone, advisers included;
• the tax return lock date, which prevents changes to entries with taxes on a period that has already been declared.

From Odoo 18 onwards

Locking becomes more granular. You now choose what you lock:

Lock	What it blocks
Sales	Customer invoices and credit notes
Purchases	Vendor bills and refunds
Tax return	Entries with taxes, including miscellaneous operations. It is set automatically when you post the tax closing entry
Everything	All entries up to the chosen date
Hard lock	All entries, with no possible exception and no way back

The wizard is in Accounting, under the Accounting menu then Actions, “Lock Dates”. If draft entries remain on the period, Odoo warns you and offers to review them before locking.

How to set a lock date, step by step

1. Check the period. Bank reconciliations done, vendor bills entered, no forgotten draft entries.
2. Open the wizard from the Actions menu in Accounting.
3. Choose the type of lock and the end date of the period concerned, for example the last day of the month covered by your VAT return.
4. Save, then check that a test entry dated within the period is indeed rejected.

In practice, we recommend a simple routine to our clients: lock taxes at each VAT return, lock sales and purchases once the month has been reviewed, and lock the whole fiscal year once the accounting firm has approved the balance sheet.

Unlocking a locked period safely

Sometimes a forgotten invoice absolutely has to be recorded in a closed period. Before touching anything, ask yourself: has this period already been declared or sent to your accountant? If so, tell them before making any change. They are the one who will have to include the correction in their own work.

On Odoo 17 and earlier versions

A user with adviser rights can move or clear the date in the wizard, post the entry, then restore the original date. It is quick, but the operation itself is not logged: write it down somewhere.

On Odoo 18 and later versions

Instead of clearing the date, you create an exception. It can apply to the administrator or to all users, not to one specific user. Changes made during the exception remain visible in the audit trail, which is much cleaner for your accounting firm.

Two rules to know:

• a draft entry confirmed after the lock date is automatically dated on the first day after the locked period;
• a locked invoice can no longer be edited, it is corrected with a credit note.

The special case of the hard lock

The hard lock lives up to its name: once set, it can never be removed, not even by an administrator. It is useful to freeze an approved fiscal year and prove the integrity of your data. But a wrong date can block entire months of accounting.

Our recommendation: keep it for fiscal years whose annual accounts have been approved, and restrict access to this menu through user rights. If you are unsure about the date, wait.

The mistakes we see most often

• Locking with drafts still pending. Draft vendor bills will then be dated outside the period, which distorts the allocation of expenses.
• Clearing the date “to save time” and forgetting to set it again. The period stays open to everyone for weeks.
• Confusing accounting locks and inventory. Lock dates do not block stock moves, which are managed in the Inventory app.
• Editing an already declared period without telling your accounting firm. The FEC you sent no longer matches your database, and the differences show up at the next closing.

Odoo accounting lock date: frequently asked questions

What is the error message when a period is locked?

Odoo says that you cannot add or modify entries prior to or on the lock date. Compare the date of your entry with the one shown in the wizard to understand what is blocking.

Who can change the lock date?

Users with adviser or administrator rights in Accounting. On recent versions, access to the wizard can be restricted precisely through access rights.

Does the lock prevent entering invoices for the current year?

No. Only entries dated on or before the chosen date are affected. New entries in the open period are recorded as usual.

Going further

To go through the steps again, see our tutorial Accounting closing date: how to set it and unlock it, as well as the full course Getting started with accounting in Odoo. And if your year-end closing is coming up, also check where you stand on electronic invoicing in Odoo.

Is your Odoo accounting blocking you, or do you want to set up a clean closing routine with your accounting firm? Book a meeting with a Skillreso expert.