Microsoft Marketplace - foreign exchange (FX) frequently asked questions (FAQs) for publishers

You can price your offer in either USD or market currency, however, you must first enter a price in USD and click "save". Microsoft automatically converts the USD price entered to all available market currencies using the monthly exchange rate at the time you first save the price in Partner Center.

You may then export a pricing data Excel file to view the converted prices for each market in that market currency. Optionally, you can override market prices, saving the Excel file and then importing in Partner Center. The pricing section will then note Market pricing instead of displaying a USD price.

When you save a price, the converted local price is set using the current monthly exchange rate and remains fixed. It won’t change with market fluctuations unless you update the price. For private offers, you cannot change pricing after acceptance by the customer.

When exchange rates change after you set your price, the customer-facing price stays the same, but conversions between currencies during billing or payout may vary based on the exchange rate at the time of the transaction.

Microsoft uses monthly foreign exchange rates sourced from the WMR FX Benchmarks from LSEG (formerly Refinitiv) exchange rates, based on the 4 PM London rate. These rates are applied on a monthly basis, not daily. The rates at the end of May are used for all transactions in the June period. The applicable monthly rate is used when offer prices are saved, and again during billing and payout conversions.

Microsoft is prohibited from publishing WMR FX Benchmark rates. Financial Times makes them available through Markets data with an active subscription. For more information about WM/Refinitiv, please visit their site.

When authenticated, customers see pricing in their market currency based on the address of their tenant. When not authenticated, customers see pricing in USD by default. For a list of available markets and market currencies see supported geographic locations.

Customers are invoiced by Microsoft in the billing account currency associated with their Microsoft agreement, which may differ from their market currency.

In this scenario, private offers with absolute pricing will not be supported. For certain products you may be able to create a private offer with a percentage only discount from the public price. To set a specific price, you can create a private plan for the customer. Learn more about private plans.

When creating a private plan, you can enter the price in USD or use the Market pricing export and import feature to enter a price in the customer's market currency. This price will then be converted to the customer's billing account currency using the monthly exchange rate at the time of transaction.

The currency a customer sees and the currency they're invoiced in can differ because they’re determined by different parts of the customer’s Microsoft account configuration. Prices are typically shown in the customer’s market currency, which is based on their Azure tenant location. Customers are invoiced in their billing account currency, which is defined by their Microsoft Azure account billing profile and agreement. These two currencies don’t always match. For example, a customer may operate in one country but choose to be billed in a different currency through their billing account setup.

The custom meter per unit price is converted from USD to the customer’s market currency using the monthly exchange rate at the time the metered dimension price is first saved. This price then remains fixed for all markets unless overridden by creation of a private offer for a specific customer, or the price is changed. You can update unit prices in each market currency using the Market pricing export and import tools in Partner Center.

When usage is submitted through Marketplace metering service, the customer is billed for usage in the following month using the market unit price multiplied by the quantity of units submitted to Microsoft by the software company.

Exchange rates are applied when you first save a USD price in Partner Center. Microsoft converts that USD price to all supported market currencies using the applicable monthly exchange rate. These converted prices are then fixed and won’t change automatically as exchange rates fluctuate.

When you save a USD price in Partner Center, Microsoft automatically converts from USD to all available market currencies using the applicable monthly exchange rate. Customers automatically see the converted price in their market currency.

You must first enter a price in USD and save your offer. Then you can review converted prices across markets by using the Export Market pricing option in Partner Center. An exported .csv file downloads including pricing data for all markets in which your plan is configured to be sold.

After you export market pricing to .csv file, you can enable editing to the file, enter new pricing data into the worksheet for one or more you want to update. Save the updated file. Then use the Import pricing data option to apply those prices to your offer. You should see a banner notice that your market pricing has been saved.

Currency conversion may still occur, depending on the currencies used in the transaction.

• No additional conversion occurs for the customer when the customer’s billing currency matches their market currency.
• Conversion occurs at invoicing when the customer’s billing currency differs from their market currency. In this case, Microsoft converts the market currency price to the billing currency price using the applicable monthly exchange rate at the time of billing.
• If your payout currency differs from the customer’s billing currency, an extra conversion occurs when Microsoft pays you. This payout conversion uses the exchange rate from the month of the customer billing transaction.

Note that offer pricing date, customer purchase date, Microsoft invoice date, and partner payout date may all occur in different calendar months, so different foreign exchange rates may apply during each of these transactions.

Exchange rate changes don’t automatically update the prices customers see in Marketplace.

When you save pricing in Partner Center, Microsoft converts and stores market prices using the exchange rate for that month. These prices remain fixed, even if exchange rates fluctuate later. This behavior is consistent across:

• Subscription durations
• Renewals
• Flat rate and per user entitlement billing
• Usage-based metered billing

Exchange rate changes may still affect:

• The amount a customer is billed if billing currency differs from market currency
• The amount you receive if your payout currency differs from the billing currency

To reflect updated exchange rates, you must initiate a price change to your public or private plan (not applicable for private offers). Update and resave new pricing for all plans, all available contract durations, and all metered billing dimensions you want to reflect the most current foreign exchange rates, then republish the offer in Partner Center. You can do this by:

• Changing your USD price, or
• Exporting and updating market prices, then reimporting the saved file

When pricing is updated and saved, Microsoft applies the current monthly exchange rate and generates new local prices. Price changes don’t take effect immediately for all customers. Learn more about price changes and timing considerations. You cannot change the pricing of a private offer once accepted by the customer. The exchange rate at the time you first saved the private offer remains locked for the duration of the agreement.

You can reduce exposure to exchange rate changes by controlling how prices are set and structured across markets. Common approaches include:

• Override market prices. Set explicit prices for specific markets instead of relying on automatic conversion.
• Align currencies where possible. Reducing differences between market, billing, and payout currencies limits the number of conversions.
• Create private offers. Negotiate with customers and set prices in their market currency, locking the current monthly exchange rate for the duration of the agreement.
• Review and update pricing periodically. Refresh prices as exchange rates shift to maintain consistency across markets.

You receive payouts in the payout currency configured in your Partner Center account. You select this currency when you set up your payout profile. All earnings from Marketplace transactions are paid out in this currency, regardless of the currency your customers are billed in.

Currency conversion occurs when your payout currency differs from the customer’s billing currency. Customers are charged in their billing account currency. Microsoft converts that amount to your payout currency using the applicable monthly exchange rate at the time of the transaction. Because of this conversion, the final amount you receive may differ from the original price you set, depending on exchange rate movements between currencies.

Your payout may differ from your expected price because exchange rates can vary between when pricing is set, when the customer is billed, and when the payout is processed. Even though customer-facing prices remain fixed after you set them, currency conversions during billing and payout use the exchange rates for the applicable transaction period. As a result, if your payout currency differs from the customer’s billing currency, changes in exchange rates can affect the final amount you receive.

A customer purchases at the public price on Microsoft Marketplace. The offer is priced in USD, billed in EUR, and paid out to the partner in USD.

Key takeaways

• Microsoft converts USD to market currency pricing for any market your product is available at the time the plan is first saved in Partner Center.
• The customer is billed based on this converted market price.
• Your payout may still vary based on exchange rates at the time of the transaction.

A customer purchases from Microsoft Marketplace via a private offer. The seller overrides the converted market price to 90 EUR, the customer is billed in EUR, and the partner is paid out in USD.

Key takeaways

• You can override Microsoft’s converted price for any market your product is available.
• The customer is billed based on your overridden market price.
• Your payout may still vary based on exchange rates at the time of customer billing.

A customer purchases a 2-year private offer with annual billing. The offer is priced in USD, billed in EUR each year, and paid out to the partner in USD.

Key takeaways

• Customer is billed the same amount for all years of the commitment.
• Exchange rate for partner payout may fluctuate based on monthly rate at each annual billing transaction.
• If the customer subscription auto-renews, the customer may be charged at the public price for the plan, unless a new private offer is accepted. Learn more about private offer FAQs.

A customer purchases a private plan where the market currency (SEK) differs from the billing currency (EUR). The offer is priced in USD, converted to SEK, billed in EUR, and paid out to the partner in USD.

Key takeaways

• When billing currency differs from market currency, an extra currency conversion occurs during invoicing.
• This can result in multiple FX conversions within a single transaction.
• The final payout depends on exchange rates at each stage.
• Private offers with absolute pricing will not be supported. Use a percentage discount private offer, or private plan.