How partner earned credit is calculated and paid
Appropriate roles: User management admin | Admin agent | Billing admin | Sales agent
Partner earned credit (PEC) for managed services recognizes and rewards partners who own IT operational control and management of some or all of a customers' Azure environment.
IT operational control and management is often set up successfully with the default reselling experience. However, to ensure you receive PEC, it's crucial to address specific scenarios where access might not be correctly actioned:
when a customer changes partners and their Azure Plan is transferred to the new partner
when alternative access is required for enhanced cross-tenant management
when access is granted to individual users only.
For more information about how to give a transacting partner access, check out these articles:
Transfer subscriptions under an Azure plan from one partner to another: Learn how to move Azure plan subscriptions between partners.
Manage subscriptions and resources under the Azure plan: Understand how to manage subscriptions and resources under an Azure plan.
Reinstate admin privileges for Azure Cloud Solution Provider program (CSP) subscriptions: Find out how to restore admin privileges for Azure CSP subscriptions.
These resources help you navigate the process smoothly and ensure you have all the information you need to receive PEC uninterruptedly.
Once access is set up correctly, the monthly invoice amount shows net partner earned credit. You can see PEC details in your monthly invoice reconciliation file, which can be accessed through the Partner Center portal under the Billing workspace.
Eligibility
To receive PEC:
You must have an active Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program agreement and a valid role-based access control (RBAC) role.
You must have access permissions, which can be set in three ways:
Admin on behalf of (AOBO) is the default. When a partner provisions an Azure Plan subscription for a customer, AOBO is set in the form of a foreign principal who inherits owner permissions on the Azure subscription. The AOBO permissions mean that a certain group in the CSP Partner Center tenant—Admin agents—inherit those permissions.
For more information about AOBO, see Delegated admin privileges in Microsoft Entra ID.
Azure Lighthouse is an option suitable for partners who are interested in enabling sophisticated cross-tenant management experiences for Azure solutions. Like AOBO, Azure Lighthouse allows groups of users in the (Partner) management tenant to inherit delegated permissions in the customer's Azure subscription. The difference is that Azure Lighthouse enables more granular definition of groups and permission levels than AOBO.
For more information about Azure Lighthouse, see Cross-tenant management experiences.
Individual user accounts and service principals: Sometimes working with individual user accounts that have permissions on Azure Subscriptions might be best. These user accounts can be guest user accounts (from any tenant) or user accounts created in the customer tenant or service principals.
For more information, see Link your PartnerID to track your impact on delegated resources.
An indirect provider or their indirect reseller or both need AOBO privileges or an eligible RBAC role to qualify for PEC.
For more information about individual user accounts and service principals, see Reinstate admin privileges for Azure CSP subscriptions.
PEC is earned on Azure resource level, resource group, or subscription. If a partner has valid access at either the subscription or resource group level, each resource that rolls up to the higher entity earns PEC.
PEC isn't applicable to:
- Azure plan reservations
- Products identified as non-Microsoft or Third Party in the
Tagscolumn of the Azure plan consumption price list - Products in the Marketplace price list
- Azure Spot Virtual Machines
- Azure savings plans
- Any overage charges for telco products
If you have issues with PEC, see Troubleshooting partner earned credit.
In addition to the requirements, PEC is only applicable to services listed in the Azure plan consumption pricing. Only the services explicitly included in this list qualify for PEC. To better understand the costs, you can view and export the detailed pricing from the Azure plan pricing page. This page provides comprehensive information about the costs associated with each service within the Azure plan.
For more information, see Troubleshooting partner earned credit.
For more information on PEC, see the Microsoft Cost Management page.
For more information on eligibility, see Roles and permissions required to earn partner earned credit.
Calculation
- PEC is calculated and applied to eligible resources and subscriptions daily based on specific criteria.
- Although PEC details don't appear as credits on your monthly invoice, they're included in the adjusted net charges line, which reflects the total charges after applying PEC.
- You can find more PEC details in the daily usage file and in the monthly invoice reconciliation file. All values are in USD, as shown in column PricingCurrency:
The following table describes the PEC elements found in the invoice reconciliation file. As mentioned earlier, PEC is calculated daily and reflected in your adjusted net charges. This table helps you identify how PEC adjustments are applied to your invoice.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| C | CustomerName |
| P | UnitPrice |
| AD | PEC is applied to the EffectiveUnitPrice when the conditions for PEC eligibility are met. When PEC is applied, you see that the EffectiveUnitPrice in column AD is a percentage less than the UnitPrice in column P. For instance, if the UnitPrice in column P is USD 10 and a 15% PEC is applied, the EffectiveUnitPrice in column AD would be USD 8.5. |
| V | PriceAdjustmentDescription column shows the PEC percent that applies to UnitPrice when PEC requirements are met. However, you might be eligible for other credits such as tier discount. If so, they're listed in this column. Example: 100% Tier 1 Discount. |
To monitor PEC access, use these steps:
Daily rated usage file shows where PEC is applied (or not applied) on a daily basis.
Azure monitor alerts monitor changes to persistent privileged access, ensuring any modifications are quickly detected and addressed.
The daily rated usage file:
Partner earned credit API
Access and manage your earned credits with ease using the PEC API, available through the Azure API toolset. This API is designed to simplify the process, allowing you to efficiently apply your PEC to eligible resources. By using this tool, streamline operations and ensure a smooth integration of your credits into your workflow.
To learn more about PowerShell and CLI APIs, check out how to link an Azure account to a PartnerID.
By linking your Azure account to a PartnerID, ensure you receive all eligible partner earned credits.
Microsoft Cost Management and PEC
With Cost Analysis in Microsoft Cost Management (ACM), you can see how much PEC you received. For a detailed presentation on ACM, see the May 2021 CSP Spotlight call.
Use ACM to view your partner earned credit
In the Azure portal, sign in to your partner tenant and select Cost Management + Billing.
Select Cost management.
Select Cost analysis.
The Cost analysis view displays the costs for your billing account for all the services purchased and consumed at the prices that you pay Microsoft.
In the pivot chart drop-down list, select PartnerEarnedCreditApplied.
- This value is True when the resources/subscriptions meet the eligibility criteria for PEC. Otherwise, this value is False.
Note
Typically, usage for services takes 8-24 hours to appear in Cost Management, and the PEC credits appear within 48 hours of time of access in Microsoft Cost Management.
You can also group by and filter by the PartnerEarnedCreditApplied property by using the Group by and Add filter features. These filters allow you to drill into costs that have PEC and the costs that have no PEC applied.
How is PEC paid?
PEC earnings are factored into the adjusted net charges line in the invoice. The Total of the invoice shown illustrates this adjustment. For adjustment details, see the monthly invoice reconciliation file and Azure daily rated usage file.
