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New commerce experience in Cloud Solution Providers program (CSP) Azure plan billing

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Appropriate roles: Admin agent | Billing admin

This article shows you how to access and understand your invoice and reconciliation data for Azure plan billing, which helps you manage your expenses more effectively. Azure plan billing is designed to be straightforward and convenient. With one billing date and a calendar-monthly billing period, it simplifies tracking your expenses.

Access your invoices and reconciliation files

The billing admin, who is responsible for managing company invoices, receives an email when the invoice is ready.

To access the new commerce invoices and reconciliation files, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to Partner Center and select the Billing workspace.

  2. Go to the Billing overview (NCE) task menu.

  3. Navigate to the Billing | Billing Overview (NCE) page.

  4. Choose the year at the upper right corner.

  5. Select the invoice number from the table.

  6. Find the reconciliation file on the side panel.

  7. Select Download report.

  8. Look for a notification at the top of the page indicating that your file is being processed. This file should be available shortly on the Reports (NCE) page.

  9. Monitor your download's progress on the Reports (NCE) page using the status column of the request line item.

Azure resource management

  • Azure plan: An Azure plan serves as the top-level container for all usage. Every usage is linked to an Azure plan, which helps in organizing and tracking costs. For example, a company might have a single Azure plan to manage all its cloud services.

  • Azure subscription: Manage your resources efficiently by using Azure subscriptions within an Azure plan. Each subscription allows for proper allocation and billing. For example, a development team might have a distinct subscription for testing new applications.

  • Resource group: Use resource groups to manage and monitor resources collectively within a subscription. Assign related resources to specific groups for better organization. For example, you can group all resources related to a web application together.

  • Resource: Examples of resources include virtual machines and storage accounts, which are crucial elements of your infrastructure, providing the necessary computing power and storage.

  • Meter: Track your resource usage effectively with meters. Each meter measures specific aspects of resource consumption, helping you optimize your usage. For example, a meter might track CPU usage while another could measure data transfer. Each meter has a unique ID to facilitate management.

By understanding and utilizing these components, you can effectively manage your Azure resources and ensure optimal usage.

Hierarchy of subscription resource groups and metering

Azure plan:

  • Subscription A

    • ResourceGroup 1

      • Virtual machine (resource)
        • Compute meter
      • Virtual network (resource)
        • No billing meter

    • ResourceGroup 2

      • Virtual machine (resource)
        • Compute meter
      • Premium SSD-managed disk (resource)
        • Storage capacity meter
        • Storage operations meter

  • Subscription B

    • ResourceGroup 1

      • Azure SQL (resource)
        • Compute meter
      • VPN Gateway (resource)
        • VPN gateway meter

    • ResourceGroup 2

      • Virtual Network Interface (resource)
        • No billing meter

About your invoice

Review the following numbers on the image regarding your invoice:

  1. Invoice availability: Your invoice is ready by the eighth of each month.
  2. Payment terms: Payments are due within 60 days from the invoice date.
  3. Billing period: The billing period covers a full calendar month, starting from the first day of the month (for example, June 1) and ending on the last day of the same month (for example, June 30).
  4. Net charges: All charges are adjusted for partner earned credits.
  5. Detailed information: For more specifics, check invoice reconciliation by signing in to your account and navigating to the "Billing" workspace, and view daily rated usage data under "Billing overview (NCE)" page.

We appreciate your attention to these details and are here to assist if you have any questions.

Microsoft invoice example.

Invoice reconciliation

  • The invoice reconciliation line items include discounts or credits for each resource during the billing period. For example, you might see a tiered discount, or a partner earned credit (PEC). The PriceAdjustmentDescription explains the discount, while the EffectiveUnitPrice shows the adjusted price after discounts.

  • When the pricing and billing currency are the same, the effective unit price for a resource equals the unit price without discounts or partner earned credits.

How to find tiered pricing in the reconciliation line items

Find out how to match tier prices in your invoice reconciliation data.

Read the daily usage file

  • Azure plan meters every day calculates the subscription charges.

  • Partner earned credit applies to the eligible resources or subscriptions daily.

  • Subscription meter show line item for each day's usage if there's any usage in that month.

  • In the following image:

    • Meter qualified for Partner earned credit for services managed from 7/1 - 7/3 (Note the effective unit price is the retail price less partner earned credit.

    • Meter didn't qualify for Partner earned credit for services managed from 7/4 - 7/7 (Note the effective unit price is the retail price).

    • Meter qualified for Partner earned credit for services managed from 7/8 - 7/31 (Note the effective unit price is the retail price less partner earned credit).

    Reconciliation file example.

Azure reservations

You can buy Azure reservations under an Azure plan and pay once or monthly.

Azure savings plans

You can buy Azure savings plans under an Azure plan and pay once or monthly. Learn how to reconcile Azure savings plans.

How do you calculate the costs of a product that has both a fixed fee and pay-as-you-go charges?

To learn how we calculate costs for a product or subscription with both fixed and variable charges, see cost calculation.

What unit price do we use to calculate the cost of Azure reservations or savings plans?

You pay for Azure reservations or savings plans in your billing currency. We convert the USD price to your billing currency with the exchange rate of the billing month. The reconciliation line item shows the exchange rate and provides a breakdown of the charges.

Effective unit price calculation for Azure plan pay-as-you-go charges

To ensure you get the best value, we calculate the effective unit price at the meter level based on your usage. Here's how we calculate it:

  • Track daily usage: We monitor your usage every day throughout the billing period.

  • Determine billable cost: We calculate the amount charged for the resources you use by each meter.

  • Apply tier pricing: If applicable, we factor in any tier pricing, where the cost per unit decreases as your usage increases.

  • Include partner earned credit: If applicable, we include any discounts earned through managed service to reduce your overall bill.

The effective unit price might change daily based on your usage, and is finalized at the end of the billing period. This approach ensures you have a clear and predictable understanding of your costs.

To maximize your savings, we encourage you to monitor your usage regularly. Start by reviewing your daily usage reports and setting up alerts for when usage reaches certain thresholds. This way, you can better control your expenses and make informed decisions about your Azure services.

By staying proactive and engaged, you can ensure optimal value and efficiency in your Azure usage.

Find out whether your meter uses tiered pricing

If you don't know whether your meter uses tiered pricing, follow the steps to find out.

  1. Sign in to Partner Center and select the Pricing workspace.

  2. Select Azure plan pricing.

  3. Find your meter by ID, and then download the pricing data.

Sample calculation

Here's how to find the effective unit price in the open billing period.

The table uses these values:

  • UP = Unit price of the resource/hour = 0.868

  • BUU = Billable usage unit for the meter

  • BC = Billable cost for the meter = BUU * UP * 0.85, which accounts for the 15% PEC. To charge the minimum amount, we round the value down to two decimal places.

  • Effective unit price = BUU/BC

Note

The meter in this example, which is used to measure resource usage, doesn't have any tier pricing or discounts.

Date BUU (Billable usage unit) BC (Billable cost) Effective unit price
3-Aug 29 21.39 0.737586206896552
10-Aug 210.950039 155.63 0.737757626107858
25-Aug 555.950039 410.17 0.737782122900436

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