Manage customer subscriptions
Applies to: Partner Center | Partner Center for Microsoft Cloud for US Government
Appropriate roles: Admin agent | Billing admin | Global admin | Helpdesk agent | Sales agent
After you've created a record of your customer in Partner Center, you can sell that customer subscriptions to products in the catalog. The subscriptions include products published by Microsoft and software as a service (SaaS) products published by independent software vendors (ISVs) to the commercial marketplace (Azure Marketplace).
Note
You can only sell customer subscriptions if you're a direct bill partner or indirect provider. If you're an indirect reseller, reach out to your indirect provider. Fore more information, see Which CSP model is best for me?.
Some offers are limited to one subscription per customer. To see a list of which offers are restricted, visit the Partner Center Price lists page.
As a partner in the CSP program, you can purchase license-based or metered SaaS subscriptions from ISV publishers within Partner Center. You can purchase any license-based or metered SaaS offer that the ISV publisher has made available to you, including exclusive offers to which you have access. To purchase or manage other commercial marketplace offers from ISVs (such as usage-based offers that involve Azure applications, containers, or VMs), you must go to the Azure portal.
Note
All dates and times in Partner Center are given in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This time standard can differ by up to 24 hours from your local time.
Create a new subscription
To create a new subscription:
From the Partner Center dashboard, select the Customers tile, and then select the customer from the customer list.
Select Add subscription.
The Online Services tab shows all available marketplace SaaS offers. To see only certain types of subscriptions, make selections in the available filters:
- Publisher: Select Microsoft to see only offers from Microsoft, or select Partner to see commercial marketplace products published by ISVs.
- Billing type: Select the type of subscription billing that you want to use: License or Usage. For information that will help you decide between the monthly and annual billing frequencies, see License-based billing.
- Category: Select Enterprise, Small business, or Trial. For info about trial subscriptions, see Offer your customers trials of Microsoft products.
Select the product subscriptions that you want to purchase for your customer. The products that you see depend on the type of customer segment (for example, education or government) and the filters you've applied.
Some offers shown on the marketplace might not always be available to a specific customer or a specific CSP partner. Possible reasons include:
- The customer already has a subscription to that product and is allowed only one.
- The customer's subscription might have been suspended. (In this case, you can reactivate the subscription rather than purchase a new one.)
For ISV SaaS offers, there might be a few reasons why the offer isn't available to purchase:
- The ISV might not support the customer's billing country or region.
- The ISV might have chosen not to make the offer available through the CSP program.
- The ISV might have made the offer exclusive to only certain CSP partners.
- The ISV offer might not be transactable through the Partner Center (for example, containers or some usage-based offers).
For each subscription that you want to add, enter the number of licenses (if needed) and select Add to cart.
When you're finished adding subscriptions, select Review and review your order.
Important
Partners are required to attest to the following:
I confirm that my organization is acting as an Indirect Partner when choosing a Reseller and as a Direct Partner in the absence of selecting a reseller
EU/EFTA laws state that partners transacting in those countries have to declare other resellers associated within a transaction. The following rules will apply:
- An initial reseller must be chosen prior to any other resellers
- Other resellers won't be entitled to any extra incentives, offers, etc.
- Other sellers entered will be validated to ensure that the correct MPN ID is entered where applicable, and the reseller has signed the Microsoft Partner Agreement (MPA).
- A maximum of five other resellers may be entered as part of the transaction
If you're an indirect provider, select the indirect reseller that you want to associate with this customer's subscriptions from the list.
Select Review.
Select Submit.
To add subscriptions, select Add Products.
When you're finished adding customer information and have purchased the required subscriptions, select Done.
When you're ready to purchase these subscriptions, select Buy.
After you buy a subscription for a customer, the below will occur:
You can review or edit the subscription by selecting the subscription name from that customer's Subscriptions page. From here, you can select add-on licenses if any are available, change the quantity of licenses, or suspend the subscription.
For ISV SaaS (license-based and metered) subscriptions: You'll receive a link to the ISV publisher's site. This link should help you complete the deployment or account setup of the customer's subscription.
Note
Neither you nor your customer will receive an email with instructions to complete account setup or provisioning for this type of ISV subscription.
If your subscription comes with a 30-day free trial, the free trial period will be applied automatically. As a partner in the CSP program, you can't waive the free trial period on offers that you purchase for customers.
After the free trial period ends, the subscription term will begin and the subscription will convert to paid status. The subscription will then auto-renew according to the same schedule.
Update subscriptions with add-ons
To purchase an add-on, the customer must first have an active base subscription. You can't purchase add-ons through the catalog.
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
From the Partner Center menu, select Customers, and then choose a customer from the list.
Choose the subscription that you want to manage.
Below the Status section is a list of available add-ons for the subscription. Update the quantity of licenses for each required add-on. Then select Submit.
The ability to purchase add-ons through Partner Center is available only to direct bill partners and indirect providers. Only eligible add-ons are displayed, based on the base requirements and regional availability. For more information about pricing and offers, see the Cloud Reseller offer matrix. Suspending the base subscription will also suspend any associated add-ons.
Start dates for add-ons align to the base subscription. Charges are calculated from the charge start date and charge end date with pro-rata charges in the first invoice. For more information, see License-based billing.
Increase or decrease licenses in new commerce license-based subscriptions
The license count on a subscription can be increased at any time. Billing adjustments will be reflected on the next invoice and reconciliation file.
The license count on a subscription can be decreased only within the first seven days, except where otherwise required by law, of when the seats were added to the subscription whether it was at the initial purchase, on renewal or at midterm.
To increase or decrease licenses (within the first seven days):
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
Select Customers, and then select a customer from the customer list.
Select the subscription that you want to update.
On the details page, enter the new total number of licenses that you want in the Quantity section. (If you're decreasing licenses past the seven day window, you'll see an error message.)
Select Submit.
Note
In both cases of license reduction, you'll be refunded the full amount minus the prorated amount for the days that you used the subscription. (Proration is calculated daily.)
If more than 7 days have elapsed since the subscription order was placed or more licenses were added, the license count can't be decreased until the next cancellation window at renewal.
View seats available for reduction
You can view the number of seats that can be reduced on a subscription at any given time through the Partner Center portal or the Get a Subscription by ID API:
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
Select Customers, and then select a customer from the customer list.
Select the subscription that you want to check.
Select View licenses to reduce
If you have any seats that can be reduced, you'll see the total quantity listed along with the breakdown of the number of licenses and the associated timestamp by when the license(s) can be reduced. If you have no seats available to reduce, you'll see a message stating so.
Upgrade for new commerce license-based subscriptions
For new commerce, upgrading means going from one paid subscription to another paid subscription of a higher tier. (Downgrades aren't supported.) New commerce paid-to-paid upgrades allow the customer to immediately upgrade from the current SKU to one with added services.
Partners can select which subscription they want to upgrade to when they're configuring license counts. Partners can select a new subscription or select an existing subscription if it's eligible for the upgrade.
Upgrades can be of two types: full upgrade and partial upgrade.
Note
You can schedule upgrades for the end of a term or start a midterm upgrade. Starting a midterm upgrade will remove existing scheduled upgrades. You can start upgrades only from subscriptions in the Active state.
To upgrade your subscription:
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
Select Customers, and then select a customer from the customer list.
Select the subscription that you want to upgrade.
Verify that the subscription is eligible for an upgrade by checking whether a banner with an Upgrade now link is visible. If the link isn't visible, the subscription has no eligible upgrades available.
Select Upgrade now and choose an eligible upgrade for your subscription.
You can choose to upgrade to a new subscription or select an existing subscription (if available) from the Destination subscription dropdown list.
Select the term duration, the billing frequency, and the number of licenses that you want to upgrade. The number of licenses that you select dictates whether the upgrade is a full upgrade or a partial upgrade.
Select Submit, and your upgrade will begin.
Note
Not all new commerce produce SKUs can be upgraded. There are a few cases of expected upgrade paths that are not yet supported. Below are a few examples of upgrade paths partners may expect to be supported buy are not.
Upgrades not currently supported
| Upgraded from SKU | Upgrade to SKU |
|---|---|
| Enterprise Mobility + Security E3 | Enterprise Mobility + Security E5 |
| Enterprise Mobility + Security E5 | Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 E5 without Audio Conferencing |
| Universal Print | Microsoft 365 E3, Microsoft 365 E3 - Unattended License, Microsoft 365 E5, or Microsoft 365 E5 without Audio Conferencing |
| Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 | Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 E5 without Audio Conferencing |
| Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 VDA | Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 E5 without Audio Conferencing |
| Windows 10/11 Enterprise E5 | Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 E5 without Audio Conferencing |
| Dynamics 365 Human Resources Self Service | Dynamics 365 Team Members |
| Project Online Essentials | Dynamics 365 Team Members |
Full upgrades
A full upgrade is an in-place upgrade, which means that all or more licenses are being upgraded. In this case, the subscription ID remains the same, and licenses are automatically assigned.
If the customer has already purchased the destination SKU from another partner or channel, manual assignment is necessary. The partner will see a warning message in Partner Center, stating that the licenses need to be manually assigned.
Full upgrade details:
- All or more seats are being upgraded.
- The subscription ID stays the same.
- All or more seats are transferred to the new subscription.
- If the customer is upgrading to an existing subscription, seats will be added only to the existing subscription and keep the term duration and billing frequency.
Partial upgrades
Partial upgrades enable a partner to designate some licenses from one SKU to another. Previous upgrade functionality in traditional license-based subscriptions only enabled all licenses to be upgraded. New commerce enables a partner to move some licenses at their convenience. This ability gives the partner more control over managing upgrades.
Partial upgrade details:
- An upgrade is defined as partial if the upgrade license count is less than the initial subscription's license count.
- A new subscription created in a partial upgrade will have the same term end dates as the subscription that the upgrade originated from (coterminous).
- You'll have two subscriptions: an existing one and a new one.
Seat Reassignment
Seat reassignment is always attempted for Full Upgrades, even if license transfer without reassignment is passed through the API. Seat reassignment will have to be manually completed for Partial Upgrades or in cases where there are multiples of the same SKU.
Scheduled changes for managing new commerce license-based subscription renewals
Note
The new commerce experiences for license-based services include many new capabilities and are available to all Cloud Solution Provider (CSPs). For more information, see new commerce experiences overview.
Partners can choose to schedule subscription changes for the end of the term instead of immediately. Examples of changes that can be scheduled include:
- Subscription upgrades.
- License increase or reduction.
- Changes to billing term.
- Changes to billing frequency.
- Changes to coterminous date.
Partners can set scheduled changes only if they meet the following prerequisites:
- Subscription is active.
- Auto-renew is on.
To schedule a new change to occur at renewal:
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
Select Customers, and then select a customer from the customer list.
Select the subscription that you want to manage.
Select Manage Renewal.
Make changes to the subscription and select Okay.
Select Submit.
Partners can access Manage Renewals to view, update, or remove an existing scheduled change.
Note
By default, trials will convert to the paid equivalent SKU at the end of the trial period.
For scheduled SKU upgrades, if the license quantity doesn't change, user license reassignment will be automatic. Otherwise, it will have to be done manually.
Saved scheduled changes are deleted when the following midterm changes are made:
- Auto-renew is turned off.
- A quantity is changed.
- A subscription is canceled.
- A SKU is upgraded.
- A trial is converted.
Switch billing plans
Partners can switch their billing plan and/or billing term on their subscription. They also have the option of switching just their billing plan at midterm, without resetting the billing term.
Note
Partner Center does not support switching to an "upfront billing plan" at midterm - only supported at the time of purchase. "Upfront" is defined as where billing term is the same as the billing plan (ex: annual term & annual billing plan or monthly term & monthly billing plan).
Change only billing frequency (scheduled change)
Partners can change just the billing plan through Partner Center in the following steps. The change will take effect in the next billing cycle. It's not immediate.
Go to the customer's subscription page, and select the subscription that you want to change.
Select the Manage billing frequency link.
A side panel displays the current billing frequency and a dropdown list that contains the options for changing the frequency.
Select a new value.
Change billing frequency along with billing term and other fields (immediate change)
Partners can use the following steps to change the billing frequency, along with the billing term and other fields, through Partner Center. The change will take effect immediately.
Go to the customer's subscription page, and select the subscription that you want to change.
Change the term duration by selecting an option in the dropdown list.
In the next dropdown list that opens, select a different billing frequency.
Select Submit.
Note
Many promotions are specific to a given term and billing cycle. Subscriptions with promotions applied may not enable the partner to change the term or billing cycle.
Suspend or cancel a subscription
Partners can suspend or cancel a subscription if the customer requests it.
Suspend a subscription
Partners can suspend and resume a subscription without a cancellation as long as the subscription is reactivated within the subscription's term. However, partner billing continues during suspension.
Suspending a customer's subscription will disable their ability to sign in and use their services until their subscription is resumed. All data related to the subscription will be deleted unless the subscription is reactivated within the end of the subscription's term. When a subscription is in a suspended state, a user can’t access files and services, but an admin can access data.
To suspend a subscription using Partner Center:
Go to the customer's subscription page, and select the subscription that you want to suspend.
Select the Suspend option.
In the pop-up dialog, select OK.
Suspending is reversible through the Partner Center user interface or APIs, which will immediately restore a customer's access to a subscription's services as long as the suspension is reversed within the subscription's term. If there's nonpayment from customers, you can use the suspension capability to immediately block the customer’s access. However, the partner will continue to be billed, unlike in legacy, and customer access to services can be restored when payment resumes.
Cancel new commerce license-based subscriptions
Note
New Commerce changes are currently available only to partners who are part of the technical preview of the Microsoft 365 or Dynamics 365 new commerce experience.
For new commerce offers, partners can cancel their subscription with a pro-rated refund within the first seven days for any term, except where otherwise required by law.
After the window has passed, cancellation is no longer available. The partner will be billed for the full term, even if the customer stops paying for or using the subscription (applicable to any billing plan).
When a cancellation is complete, the customer immediately loses access to the service. The service can't be restored. The state for the subscription will be unrecoverable.
To cancel a new commerce license-based subscription:
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
From the Partner Center menu, select Customers, and then choose a customer from the list.
Find the subscription that you want to cancel.
In the Status section, select the Cancel Subscription option.
To confirm the cancellation, select Submit.
Important
Since October 2021, the refund policy for ISV SaaS offers has changed for both monthly and annual offers. It is now a full refund and not prorated.
Cancel traditional license-based subscriptions
You can cancel traditional license-based SaaS subscriptions from ISV publishers within the Partner Center commercial marketplace. As long as you cancel within the cancellation period, you'll receive a full refund.
For ISV offers billed monthly:
If you cancel less than 24 hours after you place the order, you'll receive a full credit on the next invoice.
If you cancel more than 24 hours after you place the order, the cancellation will be scheduled to occur at renewal.
For offers billed annually:
If you cancel less than 14 days after you place the order, you'll receive a full credit on the next invoice.
If you cancel more than 14 days after you place the order, the cancellation will be scheduled to occur at renewal.
To cancel a traditional license-based subscription:
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
From the Partner Center menu, select Customers, and then choose a customer from the list.
Find the subscription that you want to cancel.
In the Status column, select Cancel. Then select Submit.
If a dialog appears, fill out any relevant details and select Submit.
To confirm the cancellation, select Yes, cancel.
Note
You can also choose to cancel an Azure Marketplace subscription by using APIs. To do so, see Cancel an Azure Marketplace subscription.
Subscription renewals
Note
The new commerce experiences for license-based services include many new capabilities and are available to all Cloud Solution Provider (CSPs). For more information, see new commerce experiences overview.
By default, active subscriptions are set to automatically renew when the subscription period expires. For subscriptions to commercial marketplace products, or new commerce subscriptions, you can optionally choose not to automatically renew the subscription.
To stop an active subscription from automatically renewing:
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
From the Partner Center menu, select Customers, and then choose a customer from the list.
Select Subscriptions. Any license-based subscriptions that you've purchased for the customer appear in a list.
On the subscription details page, in the Status section, clear the Auto-renew box.
Select Submit.
Manage trials for new commerce license-based subscriptions
Trials for new commerce license-based subscriptions last for 30 days, come with 25 seats, and have auto-renew turned on by default. After 30 days, the trial will auto-renew to the paid equivalent subscription, but that can be turned off.
On conversion to a new subscription, the term duration defaults to Annual, and the billing cycle defaults to Monthly. Partners can modify the term duration and billing plan if they decide to convert the trial.
During the trial, the following actions aren't available:
- Increasing or reducing quantity
- Changing the status of the subscription
You can convert trials to an equivalent paid subscription, a higher-tier subscription, or an existing subscription. Trials can be converted at midterm or be scheduled.
Note
For you to convert from a trial to an existing subscription, the existing subscription's end date must occur on the same day as or after the trial's end date.
Promotions don't apply when you're converting from a trial to a paid subscription.
Midterm trial conversion
Trials last for 30 days, but you don't have to wait until the end of the 30 days to convert your trial. You can choose to convert the trial at midterm anytime before then.
When you choose to convert at midterm, you can't decrease licenses from the default of 25. Just like in upgrades, you can choose to convert to a new subscription or choose an existing subscription.
If you select a new subscription, you can choose the term duration and billing frequency and choose at least 25 seats to convert with. If you select an existing subscription, the 25 seats will be added to the existing subscription and will keep the existing term duration and billing frequency.
To convert a trial at midterm:
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
From the Partner Center menu, select Customers, and then choose a customer from the list.
Find the trial subscription that you want to convert.
Select the Convert trial to paid subscription link in the top banner.
Choose an eligible conversion for your subscription. Select the quantity, billing frequency, and term duration, if applicable.
To confirm the conversion, select Submit.
Scheduled trial conversion
If you want to use the trial for its full duration but don't want to convert to the equivalent paid subscription, or you want to convert with less than the default of 25 seats, you can choose to schedule the conversion. For you to schedule a conversion, auto-renew must be on.
To schedule a trial to convert at the end of the 30 days:
Sign in to the Partner Center dashboard.
From the Partner Center menu, select Customers, and then choose a customer from the list.
Find the trial subscription that you want to schedule a conversion for.
Select Manage Renewal.
Make changes to the subscription and select Okay.
Select Submit.
The trial will convert with the scheduled changes after the 30 days.