Unlock bigger deals with flexible billing and five-year terms in Microsoft Marketplace
Many partners are already leveraging flexible billing and multi-year terms to close larger, more strategic deals in the Microsoft Marketplace. These features have been available for some time, but they’re worth revisiting — especially as they enable more personalized, enterprise-grade transactions for both SaaS and Virtual Machine (VM) offers. Why it matters Flexible billing and extended terms aren’t just enhancements — they’re strategic tools that help partners: Align with customer budgeting cycles Support custom payment preferences Simplify complex procurement processes Enable predictable revenue streams If you haven’t revisited your Marketplace offer recently, now is the time. Flexible billing: More control, more opportunity Traditionally, SaaS and VM offerings have been limited to monthly or annual upfront billing. Now, with flexible billing, you can set custom billing schedules with up to 70 installments over the duration of the contract. Key Capabilities Set specific charge dates and amounts Add notes for context (visible to both customer and partner) Support flat-rate SaaS and Professional Services plans Available globally in all Marketplace-supported currencies 💡 Note: Seat-based SaaS pricing is not supported. Metered billing dimensions are still charged monthly. Example Billing Schedule Charge Date Amount (USD) Notes Immediate $0.00 No upfront fee Jan 10, 2026 $5,000.00 First charge Jul 05, 2026 $2,500.00 Mid-year Mar 15, 2027 $8,000.00 Q1 Year 2 Sep 20, 2027 $4,000.00 Final charge Total $19,500.00 Longer terms: Up to five years Previously, term lengths were restrictive: SaaS: Max 3 years VM: 1- or 3-year terms, upfront only Now, both SaaS and VM offers support 1- to 5-year terms, combined with flexible billing. This opens the door to: Multi-year contracts with predictable revenue Enterprise-grade commitments Simplified renewals and fewer procurement cycles Real-world impact: Siemens “Siemens was recently able to transact a 5-year contract with a quarterly payment schedule on the Microsoft Marketplace thanks to the new multiyear contract durations. The process to enable this 5-year contract within one offer with a very large customer was extremely easy, and it simplifies the complex billing schedule. Siemens is excited and will continue to transact complex deals through the Microsoft Marketplace.” — Clare Dennis, Senior Manager, 3rd Party Marketplace Operations, Siemens Best practices to keep in mind Contract Duration: Must be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 years Charge Dates: Must fall within the contract duration and are executed in UTC Immediate Charges: Can be set to $0 to delay the first payment Currency Support: Pricing can be defined in local currencies using export/import tools Multiparty Offers: Channel partners can apply a uniform customer adjustment percentage Modifications: Once accepted, flexible schedules are locked Renewals: SaaS plans renew at public pricing unless auto-renew is disabled Resources to Help You Get Started Flexible billing schedule documentation Video tutorials: Flexible billing for private offers - This video explains what flexible billing is, how the feature works, and covers details of capabilities and restrictions. Flexible billing for private offers - This demo video shows software development companies how to create a direct customer private offers with a flexible billing schedule. Flexible billing for private offers - This demo video shows how to create multi-party private offers with flexible billing. The flexible billing customer experience - This demo video shows the customer purchase experience for a Marketplace private offer which has a flexible billing setup. This video is valuable to software development companies and customers. Take action Review your current offers in Partner Center and consider updating them to include flexible billing and longer terms. These features can help you: Support custom billing schedules Create multi-year partnerships Compete with tailored deal structures Simplify procurement for enterprise customers Need help? Reach out to your Microsoft partner manager or consult the Marketplace documentation for more details.Discover how flexible billing and multi-year terms drive bigger deals
Partners are increasingly using custom billing schedules and extended contract terms to secure larger, more strategic agreements in Microsoft Marketplace. These capabilities—available for both SaaS and VM offers—make transactions more personalized and enterprise-ready. Read the full article to learn how these features can help you close high-value deals.Accelerated Payouts for Marketplace Transactions
In case you missed it - or in case you didn't miss it but disregarded it as too good to be true - Microsoft recently launched accelerated payouts for Marketplace transactions with MCA customers. It is true, and it most definitely is good. :-) And it's even more important now than ever as more and more customers are switched from EA to MCA. We recently did a transaction with an enterprise customer on an MCA: Marketplace transaction was done on 29 September, and we received our payout on 15 October - barely more than two weeks later! This is outstanding news for everyone, from sellers who want their commissions to the finance folks who want the cashflow. Read the full announcement here: Announcing accelerated payouts to Microsoft Marketplace partners with MCA customers | Microsoft Community Hub #MarketplaceChampions #SponsoredGrow your SaaS business with Microsoft Marketplace: Proven strategies
Explore how to expand your reach and simplify transactions by publishing your SaaS solution on Microsoft Marketplace. This step-by-step guide explains how to list your offering, optimize for visibility, and leverage marketplace tools to drive growth and scale efficiently. Read the full article Boost SaaS revenue with Microsoft Marketplace: A step-by-step guide | Microsoft Community HubTime tracking woven into Microsoft 365, simple, secure, and proven
From Web to Teams, Outlook, and now M365 Copilot, Klynke time tracking is fully woven into the Microsoft 365 fabric. For partners, this isn’t just another feature. It’s a value-added service you can recommend, bundle, or build into your existing offerings. The payoff: clients stay inside the tools they already know and trust, while you strengthen your Microsoft 365 practice with a solution that’s proven, secure, and seamless. With a tried and tested approach, partners can confidently deliver integrated experiences that feel natural to end users. No extra training. No steep adoption curve. Microsoft even spotlighted this in the Tech Community interview Building Secure SaaS on Microsoft Cloud Let’s explore how integrated solutions like time tracking can open new doors for collaboration. If you’re building on Microsoft 365, we’d love to connect and share ways to create more value together.Partner Spotlight: Orchestry’s transactable offer powers Copilot-ready governance
In our latest Marketplace blog, we spotlight Michal Pisarek and the team at Orchestry, a Microsoft 365 governance platform helping organizations streamline lifecycle management and tighten permissions to stay Copilot-ready. Built entirely on Azure and integrated with Microsoft Graph, Orchestry transforms noisy tenant signals into actionable insights—like identifying overshared sites and ownerless teams—and enables rapid remediation at scale. Learn how publishing a transactable offer on Microsoft Marketplace helped Orchestry simplify procurement, accelerate customer onboarding, and scale their governance solution to more organizations with less friction. Read the full articleA note about the FY26 Build and Publish Incentive
For anyone here who is/was Top Tier in FY25: You ARE eligible for the Build and Publish incentive (up to $100k) through 31 December - even though you might have been told otherwise. I mention this here because we were initially told "No, you are not eligible because you still need to have an Azure or industry CSD." Took a wee bit of perseverance, but we broke through the denials and received confirmation yesterday that the incentive is on its way to us. Probably a niche scenario, but please do feel free to message me if you were also told no on this incentive - I'll be happy to share how we got to 'yes.' #marketplacechampions #sponsoredLock in marketplace terms for up to five years with multiyear contract durations
Co-authored by Trevor_Yeats We’re excited to announce that the Microsoft marketplace now supports multiyear contract durations—enabling customers and partners to lock in terms and pricing for up to five years. New options include four and five-year terms for SaaS and Professional Services, and two, four, and five-year terms for Virtual Machine Software Reservations (VMSR). These contract durations are available globally across all marketplace-supported currencies. The value for your customers and for you With multiyear contract durations, customers can buy with confidence knowing they will have stability and continuity of service, making it easier to plan and forecast expenses and lock in substantial savings that often come with longer contracts. Partners benefit by supporting customers’ budget needs, strengthening customer relationships, reducing administrative burdens, and growing reliable revenue streams. “Our customers value five-year contracts for the stability and long-term value they provide. With multiyear contracts now available in Microsoft marketplace, we can better align with their operational timelines, reduce renewal cycles, and focus on building lasting relationships—while driving predictable revenue.” Sue Wilkinson, Global Director of Partners, IFS How it works To enable multiyear contract durations, software partners must take the following steps: Create a public offer with multiyear contract durations. Partners must ensure their public offers include extended contract terms before they can create private offers with those durations. Partners have two options: Update an existing public plan to support new options for extended durations (i.e., four and five-year options for SaaS offers and two, four, and five-year options for VMSR), or Create a new public plan that includes multiyear contract durations. Create private offers with multiyear contract durations. Once a public offer with multiyear contract durations is published, partners can configure private offers that leverage those durations. Notes: As of October 31, multiyear contract durations are available for CSP offers. Existing customer agreements cannot be modified mid-term to extend contract length. Customers must cancel their current plan and purchase a new one that includes the desired extended duration. Creating multiyear contracts with flexible billing schedules Partners can create private offers that combine multiyear contract durations with flexible billing options—like quarterly, semiannual, or bimonthly—making it easier to align with customer needs and streamline sales. “Microsoft’s recent launch of multiyear contracts and flexible billing has been a game changer, simplifying the buying process and enhancing the customer experience. We can now build private offers in the Microsoft marketplace in a more natural way that mirrors our contracts in the platform.” Sue Wilkinson, Global Director of Partners, IFS Learn more about flexible billing schedules and capturing the marketplace opportunity. Eligibility for multiyear contracts and how to get started Any company who is part of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program can sell on the marketplace with multiyear contract durations. Details are provided in our documentation, but at a high-level: Be a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (it’s free to join) Sign the marketplace publisher agreement Publish your public offer with multiyear contract durations. Sell private offers with multiyear contract durations. In addition, we have many support resources for partners depending on where they are on their marketplace journey. For example, software development companies can join ISV Success, within the Partner Program, for tools and resources that help them publish their solution and maximize reach through the marketplace. Learn more by visiting: Microsoft commercial marketplace transact capabilities FAQs: https://aka.ms/multiyear-FAQs
FY26 Q1 update: Make the most of your certified software designation
Key reminders for partners with current top tier benefits Now: Partners can start the process of attaining a certified software designation—which is required to access benefits like partner-reported Azure consumed revenue (PRACR) reporting. Until December 31, 2025: Partners can retain access to current top tier benefits, including PRACR reporting and Azure partner-led incentives. Starting January 1, 2026: Partners will need to have a certified software designation to continue accessing these benefits. Updates for FY26 PRACR-reporting partners PRACR reporting has moved to Partner Center: PRACR reporting is now centralized in Partner Center and tied to active contracts—meaning that partners will need to register legacy deals and renewals as net-new to maintain eligibility. Partners who missed the April 30 deadline for estimated Azure consumption (EAC) percentage (EAC%) will receive a default rate unless updated proactively. If partners are renewing expired deals as net new through the deal registration process in Partner Center, please ensure a co-sell motion has occurred as part of the renewal. Review the Partner Center requirements for PRACR and ensure your reported deals are registered accordingly. Make the most of PRACR with vNext documentation: To support your success with vNext PRACR, we’re launching a suite of clear, actionable documentation designed to guide you through onboarding, transitions, and ongoing participation. News and announcements From FAQs to playbooks, our resource collection has the tools you need to succeed as a Solutions Partner with a certified software designation. Explore resources Enhanced FY26 go-to-market benefits: Solutions Partners with certified software designations can access updated go-to-market (GTM) benefits, including solution play cards, solution briefs, and an animated solution video—all designed to raise awareness of your solution and support your co-sell success. Learn more here or here. New Industry AI designations now available: We introduced six new designations for industry-specific AI—Energy, Government, Telecom, Education, Defense, and Nonprofit—so software development companies can further differentiate and align their solutions to sector-specific needs. Learn more here. Incentives and offers Microsoft’s FY26 Partner Incentives empower software development companies to accelerate customer migrations and modernizations with substantial financial rewards. Partners with certified software designations—including Azure, Security, and Industry AI—can earn up to $175,000 USD for qualifying Customer Migrate & Modernize engagements. These incentives, a part of Marketplace Rewards Advanced Package, support a wide range of customer scenarios, from migrating on-premises environments to Azure-hosted solutions, moving from competitive platforms, expanding Azure solution footprints, and acquiring net new customers. Check out the “ISV Engagements” tab in the incentives guide for more information. Partner success Hear how Symphony AI, Rockwell Automation, Rescale, Accenture, and Avanade are leveraging their certified software designations to expand global reach, increase brand visibility, and deliver cutting-edge AI-powered solutions. View here. Follow the tag certified software designations to stay updated on quarterly partner news for certified software designations. *“Solutions Partner” refers to a company that is a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program and may offer software, services, and/or solutions to customers. Reference to “Solutions Partner” in any content, materials, resources, web properties, etc. and any associated designation should be not interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, a commitment or any other type of representation or warranty on the part of Microsoft. All decisions pertaining and related to your business needs including but not limited to strategies, solutions, partner selection, implementation, etc., rests solely with your business. **A certification is (1) specific to the solution’s interoperability with Microsoft products and (2) based on self-attestation by the solution owner. Solutions are only certified as of the date the solution is reviewed. Solution functionality and capability are controlled by the solution owner and may be subject to change. The inclusion of a solution in the marketplace and any such designations should not be interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, a commitment or any other type of representation or warranty on the part of Microsoft. All decisions pertaining and related to your business needs including but not limited to strategies, solutions, partner selection, implementation, etc. rest solely with your business.
