Overview

As a Direct CSP partner, you have direct access to Microsoft Partner Center and can automatically retrieve Azure consumption data for all your customers. This guide walks you through the initial setup process to start using Azure Automated Billing.

Prerequisites

• Active Microsoft Partner Center account with Direct CSP enrollment
• PSA (ConnectWise or Autotask) configured in Sync 365
• Billing Profiles created for Azure services
  

Step 1: Configure Settings

Navigate to Company > Azure tab, then click on the Settings tab and configure the following options:

Process Approved Consumption Setting

Choose when to add approved consumption to your PSA:

• Current Month: Adds the charge into the client agreement in the current month: Default - Billing this month for previous months consumption
  
• Previous Month: Adds the charge into the client agreement for the previous month. Note: This will not work for Connectwise if the agreement has been billed and prorate is disabled.

This setting determines the billing period that will be used when syncing approved consumption to your PSA system.

Click Save Setting to apply your configuration changes.

Step 2: Trigger Initial Azure Consumption Download

For Direct CSP partners, it's recommended to trigger an initial consumption download to populate your system with all available Azure subscriptions:

1. Go to Company > Azure > Consumption
2. Click on Get Azure Consumption 
   
   
3. Select the period to download. NOTE: Microsoft Billed consumption data is typically only available from the 8th or 9th of the month for the previous period. I.e. Process November month after 9th of December
   
1. Its best to select 2 months ago for the initial sync
   
   
4. Wait for the process to complete (this may take several minutes depending on the number of customers)

What This Does

• Retrieves all Azure subscriptions from your Partner Center
• Downloads recent consumption data for each subscription
• Populates the Unmapped Tenants tab with discovered subscriptions
• Makes it easy to map tenants to your PSA companies

Step 3: Review Unmapped Tenants

After the initial download completes, navigate to the Unmapped Tenants tab. You'll see a list of all Azure subscriptions discovered from Partner Center.
**You may need to refresh your page to see them.

Step 4: Configure Include/Exclude Options

As a Direct CSP partner, you have control over which Azure products to include in billing. When adding or editing an Azure company, you can toggle:

• Include Reserved Instances: Include Azure Reserved Instance charges
• Include Savings Plans: Include Azure Savings Plan charges
• Include Software Subscriptions: Include software subscription charges
• Include Perpetual Software: Include perpetual software license charges

Step 5: Map Tenants to Companies

For each unmapped tenant you want to bill, click the Map to Company button, complete the add company form, and the system will link the Microsoft tenant to your PSA company and begin tracking consumption.

Best Practices

Initial Setup

• Trigger the initial download before mapping any companies to ensure all subscriptions are discovered
• Review all unmapped tenants before mapping to ensure you're not missing any customers
• Set up billing profiles before adding companies to streamline the mapping process

Ongoing Management

• Check unmapped tenants regularly for newly discovered subscriptions
• Monitor the billing approvals tab for consumption awaiting approval
• Review billing periods before approving to catch any anomalies

Troubleshooting

No Subscriptions Appearing

If the initial download doesn't show any subscriptions, verify your Microsoft Partner Center credentials are valid, ensure you have the appropriate permissions in Partner Center, check that you have active Azure subscriptions under your Direct CSP program, and try triggering the download again after a few minutes.

Next Steps

• See Azure Automated Billing - Adding Azure Companies for details on mapping tenants
• See Azure Automated Billing - Managing Reserved Instances for RI configuration
• See Azure Automated Billing - Billing Periods and Approvals for processing consumption