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Set up pay-as-you-go for Microsoft 365 Copilot services for IT admins

  • Applies to: ✅ Microsoft 365 Copilot

The Microsoft 365 Copilot pay-as-you-go service offers a usage-based option for organizations to access Copilot services, like Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. To learn more about the pay-as-you-go service, see Microsoft 365 Copilot pay-as-you-go overview.

You can set up the pay-as-you-go plan directly in the Microsoft 365 admin center. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up and manage pay-as-you-go billing.

This article applies to:

  • Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
  • SharePoint agents

Prerequisites

To set up pay-as-you-go, you must have the following prerequisites:

  • Azure subscription and resource group:

    • You must have an owner or contributor Azure role to an Azure subscription to set up the pay-as-you-go service.
    • You must have an owner or contributor Azure role to an Azure resource group linked to the same Azure subscription to set up the pay-as-you-go service.

    To learn more, see Use the Azure portal and Azure Resource Manager to Manage Resource Groups.

  • One of the following Microsoft 365 administrator roles:

    • Global administrator
    • Billing administrator
    • AI administrator

    To learn more about these roles, see Microsoft 365 admin roles.

Add a billing policy

To set up pay-as-you-go billing for Microsoft 365 Copilot, you must first add a billing policy in the Microsoft 365 admin center. You can create up to 10 billing policies for your tenant.

  1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to the Copilot > Billing & usage page.

  2. On the Billing policies tab, select Add a billing policy.

  3. On the Billing details page, enter a name for the policy. Under Subscription details, select the Azure subscription, resource group, and region for the policy. Under Terms of service, select the checkbox next to I accept the pay-as-you-go billing terms or service, then select Next.

  4. On the Choose users page, select a user scope for the billing policy, then select Next. You can choose from the following user scopes:

    • All Users: All users in the tenant are included in the billing policy
    • Specific group: Assign a specific security group to include in the billing policy

  5. On the Budget page, select the checkbox next to Set a budget for this policy. This option lets you specify a spending budget for your user's Copilot usage.

    • Enter a value for the budget limit.

    • Select when to reset the budget spending: first day of the month, first day of the quarter, or first day of the year.

    • To send budget spending alerts, in the Recipients box, select the name of one or more groups that you want to receive alert messages.

    • Under the Send alerts when usage reaches this percentage of budget section, the default value is 100%. To add other percentages, select Add more, then enter the percentage at which you want an alert sent.

      Note

      It can take up to 24 hours for recipients to receive budget alert notifications.

    • When you're finished configuring the budget, select Next.

  6. On the Review and finish page, review the details, then select Create policy.

Important

When you set a budget amount, it triggers email notifications based on your organization's spending relative to that limit. However, the system doesn't enforce the budget or prevent your organization from exceeding it. Usage can continue uninterrupted even after the budget is surpassed, ensuring no disruption to the service.

Connect a billing policy

After the billing policy is created, you must connect the policy to the Copilot pay-as-you-go service.

  1. In the admin center, go to the Copilot > Billing & usage page, then select the Pay-as-you-go services tab.
  2. Select Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat or SharePoint agents and select the billing policy you created.

To learn how to set up a billing policy for SharePoint agents, see Use agents with pay-as-you-go billing.

Add a budget to an existing billing policy

If you have an existing billing policy that doesn’t have a budget assigned to it, you can add one in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

  1. In the admin center, go to the Copilot > Billing & usage page.

  2. On the Billing policies tab, select an existing billing policy.

  3. In the flyout panel, select the Budget tab, then select Settings.

  4. To set a budget, select the checkbox next to Set a budget for this policy. This option lets you specify a spending budget for Copilot usage by your users.

    • Enter a value for the budget limit.

    • Select when to reset the budget spending: first day of the month, first day of the quarter, or first day of the year.

    • To send budget spending alerts, in the Recipients box, select the name of one or more groups that you want to receive alert messages.

    • Under the Send alerts when usage reaches this percentage of budget section, the default value is 100%. To add other percentages, select Add more, then enter the percentage at which you want an alert sent.

      Note

      It can take up to 24 hours for recipients to receive budget alert notifications.

    • When you’re finished configuring the budget, select Save.

Important

When you set a budget amount, it triggers email notifications based on your organization’s spending relative to that limit. However, the system doesn’t enforce the budget or prevent your organization from exceeding it. Usage can continue uninterrupted even after the budget is surpassed, ensuring no disruption to the service.

View spending for your organization

If you previously set up a budget for your organization, you can view the spending report in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

  1. In the admin center, go to the Copilot > Billing & usage page.
  2. On the Billing policies tab, select an existing billing policy.
  3. In the flyout panel, select the Budget tab, then select Spending.

Disable pay-as-you-go

Disabling pay-as-you-go for a Copilot service involves disconnecting the billing policies associated with the service, like Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat or SharePoint agent.

  1. In the admin center, go to the Copilot > Billing & usage page.
  2. Select the Pay-as-you-go services tab, then select the Copilot service, like Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat or SharePoint agent.
  3. Clear the checkboxes of the billing policies that you want to disconnect.
  4. Read and accept the confirmation. This step completes the disconnection.

When you turn off pay-as-you-go, it can take up to two hours for users to stop being able to use the agents. If the agent is unused, it stops being available when pay-as-you-go is turned off.

Delete a billing policy

After you disable pay-as-you-go, you can also delete the billing policy.

  1. In the admin center, go to the Copilot > Billing & usage page.
  2. On the Billing policies tab, select a billing policy, then select Delete billing policy.
  3. Accept the confirmation dialogue. Any services connected to the billing policy are disconnected.

What if pay-as-you-go is already set up in the Power Platform admin center?

If a pay-as-you-go billing policy is already set up in the Power Platform admin center, you can still create a new policy in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Both policies can exist at the same time, and the billing system ensures that your organization is only charged once, regardless of where the policy is configured.

While coexistence is supported, turning off the pay-as-you-go policy in the Power Platform admin center before enabling it in the Microsoft 365 admin center can help streamline management. Managing all pay-as-you-go policies from a single location simplifies administration and reduces potential confusion.