From 1 December 2026, Microsoft is switching on usage-based billing by default for new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licences bought through partners such as ramsac. Licences bought directly from Microsoft have had it since 19 October. Your per-user licence and everyday Copilot use don’t change, but advanced services like Copilot Cowork will use Copilot Credits, with a default limit of 4,000 credits (around US$40) per user each month. If you’re planning to add Copilot Business licences, decide who should have access and set your own spending limits first.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is not becoming a purely pay-as-you-go service. The normal per-user licence cost remains, but some advanced capabilities will also carry additional usage-based charges on top. These charges apply to services such as Cowork, Code, Autopilot, new agentic experiences in SharePoint, or when working with newer agentic frontier models.
What is changing?
Microsoft is moving to a two-part model: a per-user licence for everyday AI, plus usage-based billing for more advanced work. Usage is measured in Copilot Credits. From 1 December, usage-based billing will be switched on automatically when a qualifying Copilot Business purchase is made. When this happens:
- A default spending limit is set of 4,000 Copilot Credits per user per month (around US$40). This is a spending limit, not a fee: you’re only charged for credits actually used, and spending only goes above the limit if an administrator raises it.
- Licensed users can start using these services straight away, unless access has been restricted.
- The billing setup is created automatically where it doesn’t already exist. Usage charges then appear on your invoice as a separate line from your licences.
What is – and is not – affected?
Everyday Copilot use isn’t affected. Copilot Chat, Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, Notebooks, and agents such as Researcher and Analyst all stay within the licence.
The additional consumption charges relate to specific advanced and more agentic services. Copilot Cowork is one of the clearest examples. Rather than simply responding to a prompt, Cowork is designed to take on more complex pieces of work, use organisational information and tools, and complete longer-running tasks. These more resource-intensive capabilities are where Microsoft is increasingly using Copilot Credits to measure and charge for consumption.
The change is currently only focused on the Microsoft 365 Copilot Business family of commercial licences. Microsoft 365 Copilot (Enterprise), education and non-profit are out of scope. Microsoft’s guidance around some existing subscriptions, seat changes and renewal scenarios is still developing, so we are continuing to monitor those details.
If you already have Copilot Business and add even one new licence after 1 December, usage-based billing will be switched on for all your Copilot Business users. If you make no purchase, your existing licences are unaffected.
For Microsoft 365 Copilot (Enterprise) customers, you will remain unaffected by this, even if you were to add Copilot Business licences alongside your existing Enterprise subscription.
Why the default settings matter
For many organisations, the most important question is not whether these new AI capabilities are useful. They potentially are, but maybe not for all Copilot users.
The question is who should have access to them, and how much should they be able to spend? Microsoft’s default allowance of 4,000 Copilot Credits per user may be appropriate in some cases, but it should not automatically become an organisation’s policy. If you have a large number of Copilot Business users, enabling the same allowance for everyone could create a significant potential consumption budget. That does not mean all of that spend will necessarily be incurred, but it does mean businesses should make a conscious decision about the desired level of access and cost controls they are comfortable with.
Our recommendation: start with controlled access
For most organisations, we recommend taking a controlled enablement approach. Rather than enabling usage-based services for every eligible user immediately, first decide which teams or individuals have a genuine business need. A sensible starting point is to:
- Restrict initial access to Cowork and other usage-based services to nominated users or pilot groups.
- Set appropriate spending limits for those users rather than relying solely on Microsoft’s default allowance.
- Configure suitable alerts and monitoring so that consumption remains visible.
- Review whether new usage-based services should be added automatically to existing spending policies.
- Monitor usage and business value before expanding access more widely.
This approach allows businesses to experiment with new AI capabilities without either blocking innovation or creating uncontrolled expenditure.
Keep governance aligned with the technology
The move towards a combination of fixed licensing and usage-based AI services is likely to become more common as Microsoft introduces increasingly sophisticated Copilot capabilities. That makes cost governance an important part of AI governance.
The objective should not be to prevent employees from using valuable new tools. It should be to ensure that access, spend and oversight are managed deliberately.
How ramsac can help
ramsac can help you understand how the changes may affect your organisation, review access to usage-based Copilot services and put appropriate spending controls in place. We can also help you identify where advanced capabilities such as Copilot Cowork could deliver genuine business value, so that new features are introduced in a controlled and purposeful way.
How can we help you?
We’d love to talk to you about your specific IT needs, and we’d be happy to offer a no obligation assessment of your current IT set up. Whether you are at a point of organisational change, unsure about security, or just want to sanity check your current IT arrangements, we’re here to help.
FAQs: Copilot Business billing
If you buy new Copilot Business licences through a Microsoft partner, usage-based billing is switched on by default from 1 December 2026. If you buy directly from Microsoft, it has been switched on by default since 19 October 2026.
No. You still pay the usual per-user licence. Usage-based charges are added on top only when people use certain advanced services, and they’re measured in Copilot Credits. Those services include Copilot Cowork, Code, Autopilot, new agentic experiences in SharePoint and newer frontier models.
The default limit is 4,000 Copilot Credits per user per month, which is roughly US$40. It’s a cap, not a charge. You only pay for credits people actually use, and spend can only go past the cap if an administrator raises it.
No. Copilot Chat, Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, Notebooks, and the Researcher and Analyst agents are all still covered by the standard licence.
Your existing licences stay as they are unless you buy more. If you add even one new Copilot Business licence after the change, usage-based billing is switched on for every Copilot Business user in your organisation.
No. Copilot Enterprise, education and non-profit licences are out of scope. That still holds if an Enterprise customer adds Copilot Business licences alongside its Enterprise subscription.
Start by giving usage-based services such as Cowork to a small pilot group, not everyone. Set your own spending limits instead of relying on Microsoft’s default, and turn on alerts so you can see consumption. Then review usage and business value before you widen access. ramsac can help you set this up.
