diff --git a/src/wutta_corepos/conf.py b/src/wutta_corepos/conf.py
index ef4c917..77bb6cc 100644
--- a/src/wutta_corepos/conf.py
+++ b/src/wutta_corepos/conf.py
@@ -100,3 +100,9 @@ class WuttaCoreposConfigExtension(WuttaConfigExtension):
         config.core_office_arch_engines = engines
         config.core_office_arch_engine = engines.get('default')
         Session.configure(bind=config.core_office_arch_engine)
+
+        # define some schema columns "late" unless not supported
+        if config.get_bool('corepos.db.office_op.use_latest_columns',
+                          default=True, usedb=False):
+            from corepos.db.office_op.model import use_latest_columns
+            use_latest_columns()