A cautionary tale if you have customers who use Coupa
We learned the very very very hard way that next-day Marketplace invoicing does NOT play nicely with Coupa. Here's what happened: Back in April, we closed a Marketplace transaction via private offer with one of our enterprise customers. Not a new customer, either - this was for a license extension with a current customer with which we'd transacted through Marketplace twice before. 30 days go by, and Partner Center still shows the invoice as 'uncollected.' 60 days go by, and Partner Center still shows the invoice as 'uncollected.' I open a ticket with Marketplace support. And kudos to them, they pick up my ticket within an hour. "Customer hasn't paid the invoice," they tell us. So now we are forced to take on the role of collections agency for a Microsoft invoice our customer hasn't paid and for which we don't know why they haven't paid. (Partner Center's Revenue reports are rather light on useful details.) Our buyer inside the customer also has no idea why the invoice wasn't paid: She sits far away from the folks who pay the Microsoft bills. Her colleague in IT who pushed the buttons to purchase the private offer likewise has no idea why the invoice wasn't paid: He too sits far away from accounts payable. We're baffled because never before have we had any delay in getting our payouts for this customer's Marketplace purchases. Our first thought is okay, maybe they now have custom net 60 payment terms with Microsoft. (A different issue we experienced on a different delayed payout back in January!) After ten days of intensive investigations involving nearly a dozen different people, we finally discover the source of the issue: The customer pays its Microsoft bills through Coupa, BUT: they did NOT know about nor integrate into Coupa workflow the (relatively new) next-day invoicing mechanism for Marketplace transactions. For their accounts payable team, if an invoice doesn't land in Coupa, it doesn't exist. The invoice for this Marketplace purchase was generated, but it got sent . . . nowhere, I guess? So in picking up my support ticket, Marketplace Support could only say "Customer hasn't paid the invoice." They probably had no way to know the correct response was "Customer hasn't received the invoice." Moral of the story: Ask your customers if they use Coupa. And if yes, prepare them for the possibility they might not receive the invoice for your software.Can the Missing Piece Be Found on Microsoft Marketplace?
For SMEs looking to get even more value from Microsoft 365, Microsoft Marketplace is a trusted and secure way to discover solutions that are easy to deploy and integrate with the tools teams already use every day. One solution worth exploring is Klynke. Klynke helps organizations understand how time is spent across projects, customers, and daily activities. By connecting data from Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Planner, Klynke provides a complete view of work hours, meetings, and tasks in one place. With Klynke, businesses can: ✅ Track time across projects and customers ✅ Gain better visibility into team productivity ✅ Improve project planning and resource allocation ✅ Make more informed business decisions For Microsoft partners, Klynke is a valuable addition to a Microsoft 365 offering, helping customers turn existing Microsoft data into actionable insights without changing the way they work. Microsoft Marketplace makes finding, deploying, and managing trusted business applications simple, allowing organizations to adopt solutions with confidence. Looking for the missing piece in your Microsoft 365 environment? Explore Klynke on Microsoft Marketplace and discover how better visibility into time can lead to smarter decisions and improved business outcomes.How to navigate multi-currency private offers and optimize global deals in Microsoft Marketplace
Selling through Microsoft Marketplace increasingly means operating across regions, currencies, and complex billing scenarios and understanding how multi-currency private offers work is critical to successful deal execution. Multi-currency private offers enable partners to scale globally, but require a clear understanding of how FX rates, timing, and pricing conversions impact both customer costs and partner payouts throughout the transaction lifecycle. Gain practical insights into how pricing is set and converted, how timing influences outcomes, and how to structure deals more predictably across geographies. Learn how to confidently manage cross-border transactions, reduce risk from currency fluctuations, and strengthen your Microsoft Marketplace strategy for global growth. 👉 Read the full article Multi-currency private offers in Microsoft Marketplace: What partners need to know or watch the recent office hours session Multi‑currency private offers in Microsoft MarketplaceDiscover how Microsoft Marketplace can support your FinOps strategy and cost optimization goals
Learn how Microsoft Marketplace can help organizations streamline cloud procurement, optimize spend visibility, and simplify software purchasing through a FinOps-driven approach. This upcoming Microsoft Marketplace customer office hours session explores how partners and customers can leverage Marketplace capabilities to align cloud investments with business outcomes, improve operational efficiency, and maximize the value of Azure consumption commitments. Read the full event details and see why this session is valuable for organizations focused on cloud financial management, procurement modernization, and Marketplace growth strategies. 👉 Register Here: Microsoft Marketplace as a FinOps platform - Microsoft Marketplace customer office hoursDiscover new Microsoft Marketplace innovations announced at Microsoft Build
At Microsoft Build, Microsoft shared new opportunities for software development companies and partners to build, scale, and monetize AI apps and agents through Microsoft Marketplace. Explore how Microsoft Marketplace is helping software companies accelerate go-to-market strategies, expand customer reach, simplify procurement, and unlock new revenue opportunities across the Microsoft ecosystem. Learn how organizations can take advantage of Azure and Marketplace capabilities to support AI innovation and deliver enterprise-ready solutions faster. Whether you’re building intelligent applications, growing your commercial marketplace presence, or exploring new ways to monetize AI-powered solutions, this is a valuable resource for understanding the latest Microsoft Marketplace announcements and opportunities coming out of Build. 👉 Read more: Build, scale, and monetize apps and agents with Microsoft MarketplaceDiscover how AI-powered agents on Microsoft Fabric are accelerating retail merchandising decisions
Retail organizations are under increasing pressure to move faster and make smarter, data-driven decisions at scale. In this latest Marketplace Partner Spotlight, Microsoft highlights how AI agents built on Microsoft Fabric are helping merchandising teams transform complex operational data into actionable insights—without leaving the security of their existing data environment. By leveraging Microsoft Fabric and OneLake as a unified data foundation, partners like Lucid Data Hub are enabling retailers to automate time-intensive reporting processes and shift toward continuous, insight-driven workflows. These business-ready AI agents can analyze large volumes of sales and operational data, surface meaningful trends, and deliver clear recommendations—empowering buyers and store leaders to act faster and with greater confidence. The impact is tangible: merchandising teams can reduce hours of manual analysis into minutes, uncover item-level performance insights, and identify opportunities across store clusters to optimize outcomes. If you’re exploring how AI agents, Microsoft Fabric, and the Microsoft Marketplace ecosystem can drive intelligent automation in retail, this article offers practical insights and real-world examples to help you get started. 👉 Read the full article AI agents on Microsoft Fabric for faster retail merchandising decisions
Accelerate SaaS deals and streamline onboarding with auto activation in Microsoft Marketplace
Discover how the new auto activation capability for SaaS subscriptions in Microsoft Marketplace helps partners close deals faster and scale transactions with less friction. When enabled, subscriptions activate and billing begins immediately at purchase—eliminating manual steps, reducing delays, and enabling faster customer onboarding and time-to-value. This article walks through how auto activation works, when to use it, and how to configure it in Partner Center to align with your offer strategy. Learn how real-time purchase notifications and streamlined onboarding flows can improve conversion rates, enhance the buyer experience, and support more efficient, scalable Marketplace growth. Read the full article to understand how to take advantage of this new capability and optimize your SaaS sales motion in Microsoft Marketplace: Now available: Close deals faster and transact at scale with auto activation for SaaS subscriptions
Marketplace offers as transactable and azure benefit eligible
Query about Marketplace listings - I want to upload a new offer as SaaS. I want to make sure it's transactable and also have the azure benefit tag added to it. I have the banking and tax profile approved and completed. I'm unable to find how do I get the Azure benefit eligible tagged to this offer (or is there a pre-requisite). I have reviewed the Marketplace best practices but unable to find how do I exactly go about doing it.Master multi-currency private offers to scale your Microsoft Marketplace deals globally
Join us May 19 | 9:30 AM PT and learn how to confidently navigate multi-currency private offers in Microsoft Marketplace and close global deals with greater clarity. Join this practical session to understand how local currency invoicing, exchange rates, payment timing, and resale-enabled offer scenarios can impact your Marketplace transactions across geographies. Learn more and attend: Multi‑currency private offers in Microsoft Marketplace - Microsoft Marketplace Community
