🏢 Client Overview: Starling Group
Starling Group is a UAE-based diversified business group with investments and operations spanning multiple sectors, including real estate, hospitality, engineering, and trade. With a growing workforce distributed across different business units and countries, the company required a centralized and scalable human resource and expense management platform.
Previously reliant on manual systems and basic digital tools, the HR and finance teams struggled to track time off, manage expense claims, and comply with UAE labor laws. In search of a modern, cost-effective, and open-source solution, Starling Group partnered with KoderXpert Technologies LLP to implement Odoo 17 Community Edition, customized to their specific needs.
❓ Challenges Faced
Despite having functional systems for payroll and recordkeeping, the company faced significant gaps in HR operations and finance tracking:
- Lack of Leave Policy Flexibility
The previous system could not accommodate the diversity of leave types defined under UAE labor law—such as annual leave, sick leave, emergency leave, and unpaid leave. - No Approval Workflows
Leave and expense approvals followed ad-hoc, email-based procedures without systematic logging or tracking. This caused delays, errors, and compliance issues. - Manual Expense Management
Employees submitted expense claims through spreadsheets or emails. These lacked standardization, audit trails, or accounting linkage. - Limited Visibility & Reporting
HR had difficulty tracking time off trends, pending leave requests, or department-level expense summaries. Manual reporting was time-consuming and error-prone. - No Accounting Connectivity
Approved expenses were not seamlessly integrated with accounting journals, affecting financial accuracy and budget tracking.
🌟 Goals & Objectives
The leadership at Starling Group outlined a set of strategic objectives for the Odoo ERP deployment:
- Implement a comprehensive leave management system that aligns with UAE labor laws and internal HR policies.
- Introduce multi-level approval workflows for both leave and expense processes.
- Standardize and digitize expense reimbursement processes with receipts, categories, and accounting integration.
- Deliver custom reporting tools for time-off analytics, approval status tracking, and financial summaries.
- Build a modular and scalable solution on Odoo 17 Community Edition without relying on costly proprietary systems.
✅ Solution Provided by KoderXpert
KoderXpert Technologies LLP carried out a deep customization of Odoo 17 Community Edition to deliver a complete HR and expense platform for Starling Group.
👥 HR Management System
- Custom Leave Types & Policies:
- Configured multiple leave types including annual, sick, casual, maternity/paternity, and unpaid leave.
- Set up UAE-specific accrual rules, carry-forward logic, and public holiday exclusions.
- Developed leave blocking during notice period or specific blackout dates.
- Multi-Level Leave Approvals:
- Implemented department-wise approval chains: Employee → Line Manager → HR → Director.
- Added email/SMS alerts and dashboard notifications for each stage.
- Leave Balances & Validation:
- Auto-calculation of leave balances based on working calendar and employment duration.
- Warning and rejection flows for insufficient leave or policy violations.
💳 Expense Management System
- Expense Categories & Policies:
- Defined travel, meal, accommodation, office purchases, and miscellaneous categories.
- Added daily and monthly limits for specific roles and departments.
- Multi-Level Expense Approval Workflow:
- Created validation chains: Submitter → Manager → Finance → Director (if > threshold).
- Integrated attachment uploads, digital signatures, and policy breach warnings.
- Accounting Linkage:
- Auto-creation of expense journals upon final approval.
- Linked expense entries to cost centers, employees, and departments.
📊 Reporting & Analytics
- Custom Time-Off Reports:
- Built reports for leave taken, pending approvals, and balance forecasts by employee or department.
- Integrated filters for leave type, duration, and calendar view.
- Expense Analytics Reports:
- Developed reports on expenses by category, employee, approval status, and monthly trend.
- Export-enabled dashboards for finance audits.
📆 Our Implementation Process
1. Business Analysis & Blueprinting
- Held workshops with HR and finance teams.
- Mapped leave and expense processes.
- Collected UAE labor law references and company-specific policies.
2. Configuration & Custom Development
- Customized Odoo modules using Python and XML views.
- Built new models for multi-level approvals and custom reports.
- Ensured seamless UX for HR and employees.
3. UAT & Validation
- Delivered sandbox for testing by selected users.
- Conducted multiple rounds of feedback and revisions.
4. Training & Deployment
- Provided functional training to HR and finance departments.
- Go-live done in two phases: HR first, followed by Expense Management.
🚀 Key Features Delivered
- UAE-compliant leave policies with automated accruals
- Multi-level leave and expense approval chains
- Categorized expense tracking with policy enforcement
- Integrated basic accounting linkage for expenses
- Custom dashboards for HR and finance reporting
- Modular, scalable deployment on Odoo 17 Community
📊 Results & Impact
- 🌐 Full compliance with UAE labor law
- ⏱️ 60% faster leave and expense processing time
- 📊 Improved visibility into workforce availability and spending
- 📈 100% digital audit trails for HR and finance
- 🚀 High user satisfaction from HR teams and department heads
🖊️ Client Testimonial
"KoderXpert delivered exactly what we needed—an HR and expense system that complies with UAE laws and fits our group’s approval structure. Their expertise with Odoo 17 Community helped us digitize and simplify complex processes. We now operate faster, with greater control and confidence."
— Starling Group
🔹 Conclusion
Through a deep understanding of HR operations and regional legal requirements, KoderXpert Technologies successfully transformed Starling Group’s HR and expense landscape. The customized implementation of Odoo 17 Community empowered the organization to simplify processes, enhance compliance, and gain real-time insights.
KoderXpert continues to deliver on its promise:
Transforming Ideas into Digital Excellence.