Migrate from Smokeball to Odoo CRM

Smokeball contacts map directly to Odoo res.partner records. Names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, and tags transfer as-is. The res.partner record type (contact vs. company) defaults to 'contact' unless the Smokeball contact has a company association, in which case it becomes a company record with contact children.

Smokeball contacts that have a primary company association become Odoo res.partner records with partner_type='company'. The company name from Smokeball becomes the res.partner name field, while individual contact names populate the display_name field. Child contacts for that company create separate res.partner records linked via child_ids, preserving the hierarchical relationship structure.

Smokeball matters map to Odoo crm.lead records in the 'opportunity' state (type='opportunity'). The matter description becomes the crm.lead name field. Matter status (Open/Pending/Closed) maps to Odoo crm.stage_id based on the stage configuration in Odoo's CRM Pipeline settings, requiring prior stage setup by your Odoo administrator.

Smokeball matter types (e.g., Family Law, Personal Injury, Corporate) have no direct Odoo equivalent. We create a custom Char or Selection field on crm.lead called x_smokeball_matter_type and populate it from the source. Odoo stage configuration can group stages by matter type using Kanban columns filtered by this custom field.

Smokeball activities — tasks, meetings, calls, and billable time entries — map to Odoo crm.activity records. Activity type (call, meeting, task, email) maps to Odoo's activity_type_id. Original dates, durations, and staff assignments transfer. Unbilled time entries become crm.activity records linked to the opportunity.

Smokeball documents attached to matters re-upload to Odoo as ir.attachment records linked to the crm.lead. File names, content types, and binary content preserve exactly as they existed in Smokeball. Large document batches exceeding 500 per matter may require batch processing with smaller chunk sizes to avoid Odoo worker timeout issues during the migration run.

Smokeball staff records (first name, surname, email, status) map to Odoo res.users. Email matching resolves the owner on migrated matters and activities. Inactive Smokeball staff become Odoo users with active=False. If Smokeball staff lack email addresses, they are flagged for manual Odoo user creation.

Smokeball hard costs and soft costs are legal billing constructs with no Odoo equivalent. We map hard costs to account.move.line entries on vendor bills with a custom x_cost_type='hard' field. Soft costs map similarly with x_cost_type='soft'. Trust accounting balances require separate Odoo configuration post-migration.

Smokeball workflows (automated task sequences tied to matter type triggers) do not migrate. We export workflow definitions as JSON so your Odoo administrator can rebuild them using base.automation triggers (on_create, on_write, on_cron) and server actions. The exported JSON includes task names, trigger conditions, and sequence order.

Smokeball contact tags map to Odoo res.partner.category (contact tags). Matter tags map to crm.tag. Tags with identical names merge; tags with no Odoo match create new category records during migration. Tag color assignments do not transfer and default to Odoo's neutral color.

Smokeball custom fields on contacts and matters require Odoo custom field creation via Settings > Technical > Database Structure > Fields. Field types map: text to Char, number to Float or Integer, date to Date, dropdown to Selection. Post-migration, Odoo Studio provides a GUI for managing these fields.

Smokeball trust account balances (client funds held in trust) map to an Odoo account.journal with type='bank' and x_is_trust=True custom flag. Opening balances transfer as account.move entries. This setup requires the Odoo accounting module configuration with proper chart of accounts and trust-specific account codes established before migration runs.