Marketplace Cashflow Management

A new one on me, but one to watch for if you haven't yet yourselves encountered it:

• Back in April, we created an Azure Marketplace private offer for an enterprise customer
• Customer has a MACC; but instead of their EA number, they gave us a subscription ID with the explanation they separate their internal consumption from Marketplace purchases
• Customer waited until 2 May to purchase their private offer

Seemed innocuous at the time, but . . . the combination of purchasing under a subscription ID + waiting until early in a new month to execute the purchase = the transaction not landing on their Microsoft Azure bill until June.  Which in turn means they don't have to pay Microsoft until July.  Which in turn means we don't receive our payout until August.  Or maybe September.  

Clever, eh?

Good for the customer's cash flow.  Less good for ours.  

Some customers are getting wise to the nuances of Marketplace billing and payment cycles, so be wary of the impacts on your cashflow!

#MarketplaceChampions #Sponsored