Migrate from Insightly CRM to Odoo CRM

Insightly Organizations map to Odoo res.partner records in company mode. We import Organizations first so that the partner ID is available as a parent reference when importing Contacts. Odoo requires the company partner to exist before child contact records can be linked. The ORGANIZATION_NAME field in Insightly becomes the partner's display name; address fields map to street, street2, city, state_id, zip, country_id.

Insightly Contacts map to Odoo res.partner records in contact mode. We import Contacts after Organizations, then reconstruct the Contact-to-Organization link by setting the partner_id field on each contact record to reference the parent Organization's res.partner ID. This replaces Insightly's explicit link records. Email, phone, title, and custom fields migrate as standard partner fields or custom columns on res.partner.

Insightly Leads do not have a direct Odoo equivalent because Odoo's default CRM module does not include a separate Leads object. Leads are modeled as crm.lead records in the pipeline. We create a dedicated Kanban stage (or stages) in Odoo to receive Insightly Leads that have not been converted, preserving the Lead status in a custom stage name. We flag this as a configuration decision during scoping: the customer chooses whether converted Leads map directly to Opportunities or flow through a separate lead-stage pipeline.

Insightly Opportunities map to Odoo crm.lead records in the pipeline. The Opportunity name becomes the lead name, the monetary value maps to expected_revenue, and the stage maps to a Kanban stage column. We configure the Odoo pipeline stages in Odoo Studio before migration using the exact stage names from Insightly's pipeline configuration, then map probability values to stage probability fields.

Insightly pipeline stages are custom-named strings. We create corresponding Kanban stage columns in Odoo CRM Pipeline configuration (accessible via Settings > CRM > Stages). Each stage gets a sequence number and probability percentage matching the Insightly probability values. Stage mapping is applied during Opportunity import so that every crm.lead lands in the correct pipeline column.

Insightly Tasks map to Odoo project.task records. Tasks are imported after Opportunities to allow WhatId resolution (linking tasks to the originating Opportunity via the project_id or crm_lead_id field). Task status values (Not Started, In Progress, Completed, Deferred, Waiting) map to Odoo task stage columns that we configure in the project settings. The task priority and due date migrate as standard fields.

Insightly Notes migrate to Odoo mail.message records attached to the parent record (res.partner for Contacts/Organizations, crm.lead for Opportunities, project.task for Tasks). We use Odoo's message_post method to create note-style messages, preserving the note body, author name, and creation timestamp. The link between a Note and its parent record is reconstructed via the res_model and res_id fields on mail.message.

Insightly Projects map to Odoo project.project records. If the customer uses Odoo Project module, we import project headers first, then link associated tasks to the correct project. Project status (Active, Completed, Archived) maps to Odoo's project state. Custom fields on Insightly Projects are created as custom columns on project.project in Odoo Studio before import.

Insightly Tags are flat string labels on Contacts, Organizations, Opportunities, and Projects. Odoo CRM has a crm.tag model that applies to crm.lead records. We export all distinct tag strings, create crm.tag records in Odoo, then apply tags to the corresponding Contacts (via res.partner.category_id) and Opportunities (via crm.lead.tag_ids). Tags that apply to both object types are stored as plain text in a custom field for cross-object reference.

Insightly custom fields require a FIELD_NAME lookup via /CustomFields/{objectName} before any write operation. We retrieve all custom field metadata at the start of the migration, build a FIELD_NAME-to-field_id reference table, and use it for all writes. For each custom field, we create a corresponding custom column in Odoo Studio on the appropriate model (res.partner, crm.lead, project.task, project.project) before importing data. Field types are mapped: Insightly text to char, date to date, dropdown to selection, checkbox to boolean, number to float.

Insightly Custom Objects with user-defined fields map to Odoo custom models created via the Technical menu or Odoo Studio. We create the custom model with matching field definitions (field type, required, index), then import the custom object records via the ORM API with the custom model's name as the model reference. Any lookup relationships within the custom object are recreated as many2one fields pointing to the appropriate Odoo model.

Insightly link records (Contact-to-Organization associations) are exported separately from the primary Contact and Organization records. Since we import Organizations first, then Contacts, we reconstruct each link by setting the partner_id field on the contact's res.partner record to the parent's ID. This is the key transformation for this migration: Insightly's explicit AddLink API becomes Odoo's native parent-record reference. We sequence the import as Organizations → Contacts → Link reconstruction to avoid orphaned contacts.

Insightly email engagements (sent via Insightly's email tracking) map to Odoo mail.message records attached to the parent record (Contact or Opportunity). The email body, subject, and timestamp migrate. Email tracking metadata (opens, clicks) is stored as Insightly-specific fields that have no Odoo CRM equivalent and are noted in the migration summary for the customer's admin.

Insightly call engagements map to Odoo mail.activity records with activity_type_id set to the built-in Call type. Call duration, disposition, and notes migrate to custom activity fields we create in Odoo Studio before import. Activities are linked to the parent record (Contact, Organization, or Opportunity) via the res_model and res_id fields on mail.activity.