Azure AD - How Long Must a User Hold a License Before I am Charged for That User?

Copper Contributor

To my understanding (correct me if I am wrong), if I have a P1/P2 license and I assign it to users, I will be charged per user, per month. I can have a combination of Free/P1/P2, and I will be charged accordingly.

How long must a user hold a license before I am charged for that user? Does the user need to have the license assigned for at least a month before I am charged? If I delete the user or remove the license from the user before 1 month after assigning it, will I still be charged for that user?

2 Replies
Hi, usually you will be charged pro-rata (ie if you run a license for 15 days, you will be charged for $15 days).

If they are through CSP, then its worth reading this: https://virtuoso.tech/new-microsoft-365-license-pricing-for-2022/ and reaching out to your CSP for more information.

Hi @dlacombe 


When you buy out the licenses you are already paying for the service.

  • Licenses added in the middle of your billing period appear on your next invoice. If you pay annually, you are invoiced within a month for these changes.
  • On your next billing statement, the previous charge for the original number of licenses is deducted. We add a prorated charge for the time period with the original number of licenses and add a charge for the new license count. There's also a charge for the current license count for the remainder of your billing period.

It's worth to take a look to understand the lifecycle of the billing:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/commerce/licenses/buy-licenses?view=o365-worldwide#ho...

Hope it helped.