Hello everyone,

We are currently working on implementing Odoo Subscriptions (v19.0) while our company still uses an external system for invoicing and accounting.

We have several active annual subscriptions that were already invoiced and paid in the external system, and we would like to migrate or register them in Odoo only for lifecycle tracking, reporting (MRR/renewals), and product association.

Our goal is to:

• Register active subscriptions in Odoo

• Keep the correct start date, product, and pricing

• Set the next renewal / invoice date correctly

• Avoid generating or duplicating invoices in Odoo

• Keep Odoo subscriptions aligned with external billing

We are evaluating importing subscriptions instead of creating them manually, and we would like to confirm best practices for this scenario.

Specifically, we would like to know:

1. Is importing subscriptions with the status set to "In Progress" and defining a future Next Invoice Date the recommended way to migrate externally billed subscriptions?

2. Is there any official or recommended approach to prevent Odoo from requiring an initial invoice when subscriptions were already invoiced outside Odoo?

3. Are there any risks or limitations in reporting (MRR, renewals, churn metrics) when subscriptions are imported without linked invoices?

4. Would you recommend using shadow invoices in Odoo, or is import-based migration considered a better long-term approach?

Any guidance or real-world implementation experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!