Azure billing reconciliation breakdown

This article explains how to review an Azure billing period in Sync 365 and understand the values used to calculate the amount sent to your PSA.

Azure billing can include Microsoft retail pricing, distributor cost, vendor discounts, customer markup, tax, credits, reservations, software, marketplace items, and PSA posting rules. The reconciliation breakdown helps you understand how the final billing value was calculated.

When to use this article

Use this article when:

• The Azure amount in Sync 365 does not match what you expected.
• The Azure amount does not match your distributor invoice.
• The PSA addition value looks different from the Azure billing period value.
• You need to understand how markup or vendor discount has been applied.
• You need to check reservations, software, marketplace charges, or credits.

Where to review Azure billing

1. Log in to Sync 365.
2. Go to Company > Azure.
3. Open the relevant Azure company.
4. Open the Billing Periods tab.
5. Select the billing period you want to review.
6. Use Preview Invoice Description and View All Line Items to inspect the billing detail.

Key values in the breakdown

1. Microsoft RRP or retail value

This is Microsoft’s retail pricing value for the Azure usage or item, where available. For Direct CSP partners this is normally closer to the Microsoft source data. For Indirect CSP partners this may need to be estimated from distributor data or vendor discount settings.

2. Vendor discount or distributor cost estimate

For Indirect CSP partners, Sync 365 may need to estimate your cost price based on the discount you receive from your distributor below Microsoft retail pricing.

If no vendor discount profile is configured, Sync 365 may assume your cost is the same as Microsoft retail pricing. This can make margin or markup calculations look incorrect.

3. Customer markup

This is the markup applied to the customer’s Azure billing profile. The markup controls the sell price that should be billed to the customer.

Check that the correct Azure billing profile is assigned to the Azure company.

4. Credits and adjustments

Credits, refunds, or previous period adjustments can reduce the total billed amount. These may appear as negative values in the line items.

If a credit appears in Microsoft or your distributor invoice but not in Sync 365, check whether the billing period has been refreshed or whether the item exists in the imported/source data.

5. Reservations and savings plans

Reserved Instances and Savings Plans may need separate configuration, especially for Indirect CSP partners.

For Indirect CSP, make sure reserved instances have cost and sell prices configured and that they are included in billing if they should be charged to the customer.

6. Software and marketplace items

Software subscriptions, perpetual software, and marketplace items may be included or excluded depending on your Azure company settings and CSP type.

If these values are missing, check the include/exclude options on the Azure company and confirm that the source billing data contains those items.

7. Tax

Sync 365 typically posts the configured billing value into the PSA. Tax handling may then depend on your PSA product, agreement, contract, invoice, and accounting configuration.

If the final invoice total differs due to tax, check the PSA tax configuration as well as the Sync 365 Azure billing value.

Why Sync 365 may not match your distributor invoice exactly

There are several valid reasons the values may not match exactly:

• The distributor invoice includes tax, but Sync 365 is comparing pre-tax values.
• The distributor invoice includes credits or adjustments from another period.
• The billing period has not yet been finalised by Microsoft.
• Unbilled consumption was used instead of finalised billed consumption.
• The vendor discount profile is missing or uses the wrong percentage.
• Reservations, savings plans, software, or marketplace items are excluded.
• The PSA product or agreement applies its own tax or price rules.
• Currency conversion or rounding differences exist between systems.

Direct CSP checks

• Confirm whether the billing period uses finalised billed consumption or unbilled consumption.
• Check whether the Microsoft finalised bill is available for that month.
• Confirm that subscriptions have been mapped to the correct Azure company.
• Check include/exclude options for reservations, savings plans, software, and marketplace items.

Indirect CSP checks

• Confirm the correct Vendor Discount Profile is selected.
• Check that the vendor discount percentage matches your distributor pricing.
• Confirm the Azure subscription has been selected for the customer.
• Check that Sync 365 has access to the customer’s Azure subscriptions.
• Confirm reserved instances have cost and sell prices configured if they should be billed.

What to check before approving a billing period

1. Preview the invoice description.
2. View all line items.
3. Check the total cost and sell price.
4. Confirm the correct billing profile and markup are applied.
5. Check for credits or negative line items.
6. Check reservations, savings plans, software, and marketplace items.
7. Compare against the expected distributor or Microsoft bill.
8. Only approve once the values make sense.

When to recalculate

Use recalculation if you have changed the billing profile, vendor discount profile, reserved instance pricing, or include/exclude settings after the billing period was created.

After recalculating, review the line items again before approving the billing period.

When to contact support

Contact support if:

• The billing period total does not match the visible line items.
• The Azure company is missing expected subscriptions.
• Reservations or software charges are missing after checking settings.
• You cannot explain the difference between Sync 365 and the distributor invoice.
• The PSA value is different from the approved Sync 365 billing value.

When contacting support, include the Azure company name, billing period, CSP type, distributor invoice if relevant, screenshots of the billing period, and the expected versus actual value.

Related articles

• Azure Automated Billing - Overview
• Azure Automated Billing - Billing Periods and Approvals
• Azure Automated Billing - Initial Setup (Indirect CSP)
• Azure Automated Billing - Managing Reserved Instances
• Common Azure CSV Mappings