Flexible billing schedule

Partners can create private offers with plans that include flexible schedules to align with their customers’ budget cycles and purchasing preferences, enabling personalized billing without affecting their invoice cycles. The video below provides an overview of the capability and shares a couple example scenarios.

Supported scenarios

Flexible billing schedules can be configured within both customer private offers and multiparty private offers.

Flexible billing is supported for plans within the following offer types:

• SaaS with flat-rate pricing model

• Virtual machines with software reservations

• Professional services

Flexible billing is available globally in all Microsoft Marketplace-supported currencies.

Creating a flexible billing schedule

The flexible billing capability allows setting up a schedule with up to 70 installments for the selected contract duration. For each installment, a unique charge date and amount must be specified. Notes might also be added about each installment to provide more context for both the customer and the partner. Flexible schedules are supported for contract durations longer than one month that is publicly listed for the selected base plan.

This demo video shows how to create a flexible billing schedule for plans within a private offer.

The following table is an example of a flexible schedule with five installments over a contract duration of two years.

Immediate charge when billing starts

A flexible schedule is created by defining the amount for an immediate charge when billing starts. This charge is transacted as soon as the billing starts, with the charge date being the same as the contract start date. The amount can be set to zero USD if no immediate charge is desired upon subscription.

Charge Dates (UTC)

For every subsequent installment, a unique charge date (in UTC time zone) must be defined for each transaction. The charge date is the date on which Microsoft executes the transaction and records the purchase. Each charge date must fall within the length of the chosen contract duration.

• If the private offer starts on a specific month, the charge dates must fall within the length of the contract starting from the first date of that month. For example, if the private offer starts in January 2024 and a contract duration of two years is selected, all charge dates must be within January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025.

• If the private offer starts upon acceptance by the customer, the charge dates must fall within the length of the contract starting from the date (in UTC time zone) on which the private offer is created. For example, if the private offer is created on July 01, 2025, and a duration of two years is selected, all charge dates must be within July 01, 2025, and June 30, 2027.

If there's any delay from the customer's side to subscribe to the plan, any overdue charges are billed immediately once the contract and billing start. This ensures that the collection of all configured installment amounts isn't missed.

Amount

The amount for each installment can be set to zero USD or higher, but not greater than 100,000,000 USD. The calculator in the web UI can be used to tally the total amount (in USD) at any time while creating a flexible schedule.

Market Pricing

The amount can also be defined in the customer’s billing currency (if non-USD) using the export/import functionality under the Market Pricing section on the pricing page. By default, Microsoft converts the entered USD price to the local currency for each market where the plan is available. The converted pricing can be reviewed by clicking "Export pricing data" after saving the flexible schedule. Optionally, the converted pricing can be overridden within defined limits and imported back. Learn more about currency conversion.

Brief notes might optionally be added for each installment to provide more context for both the customer and the channel partner. These notes are shown to the customer when they accept, purchase, and manage private offers. The notes are also accessible to partners on viewing the private offer or the purchase status in the private offers dashboard.

Creating a flexible schedule for a multiparty private offer

For multiparty private offers, the software partner is responsible for creating a flexible schedule including charge dates, partner price, and optional notes for each product plan. The channel partner applies a customer adjustment percentage at the plan level, applying the same percentage increase to each charge amount. Different customer adjustment percentages may be entered for each plan

This demo video shows how to create flexible billing schedules for plans within multiparty private offers, exploring both the software company and channel partner experience.

Select View partner price to review the schedule set up by the software partner. Select "view customer price" to review the price after the adjustment. The following table is an example of how a 10% adjustment to the partner price would apply to the flexible schedule:

Customer experience

This demo video shows the customer perspective when reviewing a private offer with plans that have a flexible billing schedule, and the customer purchase experience.

Viewing status of each installment

For plans with flexible billing schedules, the transaction dates, amounts, and notes can be viewed by clicking on "flexible schedule" in the purchase status in private offers dashboard. The amounts are displayed in the customer’s billing currency. The status "charged" indicates that the transaction is executed by Microsoft and will be invoiced to the customers in their next invoice cycle.

To view the unbilled charges or the full charge schedule, click on the private offer name in the private offer dashboard. Additionally, Marketplace Insights Reporting in Partner Center should be used to gain deeper insights into orders and revenue reporting. Learn more about orders and revenue reporting.

Requesting cancellations and refunds

Cancellation and refund policies remain unchanged for plans with flexible billing schedules. Learn more about refund policies for Microsoft Marketplace.

Managing automatic renewals

SaaS plans with flexible billing schedules renew at the public price and billing frequency if auto-renew (recurring billing) is enabled by the customer, with the contract duration remaining unchanged. Professional services plans and VM software reservations won't automatically renew. Customers should be advised to turn off auto-renewal for flexible billing subscriptions if rolling over to public pricing isn't desired. The customer's status can be monitored using the private offer dashboard by viewing the purchase status.

Mid-term plan changes

Plans with a flexible schedule can't be changed either by the partner or the customer. Learn more about Customer initiated change plan and software partner-initiated change plan.

FAQs for flexible billing schedules

Are there any changes to my customer’s private offer acceptance, purchase, and configuration steps?

There are no changes to the customer purchase process beyond viewing flexible schedules in the pricing section for each plan within a private offer. See Private offers overview for customer guidance.

Can we use flexible billing to transact deals with a custom contract duration (e.g. 9 months, 19 months)?

No. Flexible schedules work with contract durations of 1-year, 2-years, 3-years, 4-years, and 5-years. All charge dates must be scheduled within the contract duration.

Can I delay the start of my customers’ subscription or billing?

Billing starts at the time of purchase and subscription activation. You can't delay or schedule the subscription activation date. If you have a specific contract start date negotiated, you might ask your customer to wait to complete the purchase on that date. Alternatively, you can set the "immediate charge" amount to zero USD and schedule the first non-zero charge amount to be billed on any future date within the contract duration.

What happens if the contract duration goes beyond the chosen end date of my private offer?

A private offer determines the timeframe for which included plans are eligible for purchase at a custom price. Once the plans are purchased, the private offer can expire and the subscription with all scheduled future charges are locked in for the full duration.

Can a channel partner assign a different customer adjustment percentage for each charge in a flexible schedule?

The customer adjustment percentage entered by the channel partner applies equally to every charge in the flexible schedule. Partners can review the final customer price schedule after adjustment is applied before submitting the private offer.

Can I modify a flexible schedule after my customer has purchased?

Once a private offer is accepted by your customer, the flexible schedules for all included plans are locked and can no longer be modified. You may need to file a support request with Microsoft to cancel the customer’s active subscription(s) and should re-issue a new private offer. Customers can self-serve cancellation and are eligible for a full refund if they cancel within 72 hours of purchase. See Refund policies