Buy, assign and reduce Microsoft 365 licences – IT Solver Support

You can buy Microsoft 365 licences, give them to staff and pay for fewer licences in the IT Solver dashboard. Licences you get from IT Solver are billed through the dashboard, so make these changes in the dashboard, not in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Before you start

To buy licences, change quantities, change renewals or change to yearly billing, you must have the Owner, IT manager or Billing only role in the dashboard. See What each dashboard role can do.
To give a licence to a user or remove it from a user, you must be an owner or IT manager.
For most licence changes, you must sign in with an authenticator app. If the dashboard shows Set up your authenticator, do the steps in Set up an authenticator app for the dashboard first. You can change to yearly billing without an authenticator.
Your Microsoft 365 must be connected to the dashboard. If it is not, see Connect the dashboard to your Microsoft 365.

Read the Licences tab

Sign in at dashboard.itsolver.net. You can also type dashboard.itsolver.net into your browser.
In the sidebar, select Microsoft 365.
Select Licences.

The table has one row for each licence product:

Assigned: the number of licences that users have now.
Available: the number of paid licences that no user has. You can give these to users at no extra cost.
Purchased: the number of licences you pay for.
Billing: how often you pay for the product, for example monthly or yearly.
Status: for example the renewal date, Awaiting payment, Trial or Ending.
Action: the changes you can make to the product.

If the dashboard says that seat counts show after you sign in to Microsoft, the Assigned and Available columns are not shown. Select the link and sign in with a Microsoft 365 admin account. If the note has no link, see Connect the dashboard to your Microsoft 365 or ask IT Solver.

Buy a new licence product

These steps are for card or direct debit, for monthly orders paid by invoice, and for trials. For an annual order paid by invoice, do steps 1 to 2, then see If you pay by invoice.

On the Licences tab, select Add a product.
In Choose purchase type, select one of these:
- Choose monthly: you pay each month. This is usually the higher price for each licence, but it is easier when your number of staff changes often.
- Choose annual: you agree to pay for a full year. This gives a lower price for each licence.
- Choose trial: a free trial, for licences that Microsoft offers as a trial. See Trials.
In Licence, select the licence product. The list shows the price of each licence.
In Quantity, type the number of licences. For a trial, Microsoft sets the number. The page shows it in Trial quantity and you cannot change it.
Select Update licence selection. The dashboard shows the Total.
Read the message above the button. It tells you when you pay and when the licences start.
Select the button to order:
- Start trial: for a trial. No invoice is sent and the trial starts immediately.
- Start free subscription: when the order needs no payment.
- Start subscription: the dashboard uses the payment method saved on your account. The licences start immediately.
- Send invoice and queue order: the dashboard sends an invoice now. The licences start only after the payment clears. See If you pay by invoice.
Give the new licences to your users. See Give a licence to a user or remove it.

If you change Licence or Quantity again, select Update licence selection before you order. The order button is not available until you do.

Order on a later date

If you pay by card or direct debit, you can choose the day that the dashboard places a monthly or annual order. For example, use this for a new staff member who starts next month.

Do steps 1 to 6 in Buy a new licence product.
In Order on a later date, select the date. You can select a date from tomorrow to one year from now.
Select Schedule order.

The order shows below the table on the Licences tab. While the order shows orders on and a date, you can stop it. Select Cancel next to the order, then select OK in the Cancel this scheduled order? message.

If you pay by invoice

When you pay by invoice, no licences are added until the invoice is paid. While you wait, the product shows Awaiting payment. To open and pay the invoice, select View invoice. See Pay an invoice and manage your card on file. Order on a later date is not available when you pay by invoice.

For an annual order paid by invoice, the page shows one line for each licence product. You can put several licence products on one invoice:

In Licence and Quantity, select the licence and type the number of licences for the first line.
To add a different licence product, select Add new line.
Optional: in Assign after payment, select the users who get each licence. You can select up to the quantity on that line.
Select Send invoice for selected licences.

For a monthly order, you can select one user in After payment, assign to existing user. To only add the licence, keep Do not auto-assign this order.

The users you select show on the People page under Paid licence assignments. They get the licence after the payment clears and the licence is ready in Microsoft. Only an owner or IT manager can select users.

Add licences to a product you already have

On the Licences tab, find the product.
In the Action column, select Update quantity.
In Seats, type the new total number of licences in New seat quantity. The number must be more than you have now.
Select Update quantity. The dashboard does not ask you to confirm.

You pay a prorated amount for the rest of the current billing period:

If you pay by card or direct debit, the new licences are available immediately. You get an invoice for the prorated amount.
If you pay by invoice, you get an invoice for the prorated amount. The new licences are added only after that invoice is fully paid.

If the page says that another quantity change is active, wait until that change is complete.

Give a licence to a user or remove it

This changes who uses a licence. It does not change what you pay. To pay for fewer licences, see Pay for fewer licences at renewal.

In the sidebar, select Microsoft 365, then select People.
Optional: to see only users without a licence, set Licence to Unlicenced users.
On the row of the user, select the user actions button (three dots).
Select Manage licences.
Do one of these:
- To give a licence, find a licence that shows 1 or more licences available. Select the check box next to it.
- To remove a licence, clear the check box next to it. In Remove licence directly?, select the check box that starts with I confirm that I want to remove. Then select Remove licence.
Wait until the status message says the change is complete. The dashboard waits up to 30 seconds for Microsoft to confirm the change.

If the message says that Microsoft has not confirmed the change, do not try again. Wait a few minutes, then open Manage licences again to check.

If a licence shows 0 licences available, you cannot select it. Buy more first. See Add licences to a product you already have.

When you remove a licence, the user cannot use the apps and services in that licence. If the person has left and you want to keep their email, do not remove the licence yourself. See When a staff member leaves: offboard them in Microsoft 365.

Some licences do not have a check box that you can change, for example licences from another provider. Ask IT Solver to change these.

Pay for fewer licences at renewal

You can lower the number of licences you pay for. The change starts on the next renewal date. You keep all your licences until that date, and you get no credit for the days that are left.

You cannot pay for fewer licences than your users have. First remove the licences from the users who do not need them. See Give a licence to a user or remove it.

On the Licences tab, find the product.
In the Action column, select Stop renewal.
Select Pay for fewer licences at renewal. The Reduce licences at renewal page opens.
In Paid licences to renew, select the minus (−) or plus (+) button, or type the number. The page shows the lowest and highest number you can select.
Select Review removal.
Read the product, the paid quantity, the date and the new monthly total.
Select Confirm removal. To choose a different number, select Change quantity.

To stop paying for all licences of a product, see End a licence product at renewal.

No user loses a licence because of this change. If the page says that all the licences due to renew are assigned, every licence is in use. Remove a licence from a user, then try again.

You can also do this from Manage renewal in the Action column. In Manage renewal & cancel, type the number in Renewal quantity and select Reduce at renewal (or Update renewal). Then read the summary and select Confirm.

End a licence product at renewal

On the Licences tab, find the product.
In the Action column, select Stop renewal.
Read the date. The licences stay active until that date. No users are removed now.
Select Stop renewal. To cancel, select Keep renewing these licences.

The product then shows Ending and the end date. To keep the product, select Keep renewing in the Action column. Then select Keep renewing again to confirm.

Before the end date, move any email or files that you want to keep. Ask IT Solver if you are not sure what the product includes. For other services, see Cancel or reduce a service: notice, refunds and your data.

Some products show a Request immediate cancellation button in Manage renewal & cancel. It shows only during the short cancellation window that Microsoft allows. The dashboard shows an estimated credit before you confirm. After that time, use Stop renewal.

Change to yearly billing

If you pay monthly, you can change a product to yearly billing for a lower price. You can do this without an authenticator app.

On the Licences tab, find the product.
In the Action column, select Change to yearly billing. Wait while the dashboard shows Checking your bill….
Read the date of the change, the yearly price for each line and the amount you save. The prices do not include GST.
Read the terms. A yearly term lasts 12 months and you pay in advance. You can add licences, but you cannot remove licences or stop the term early.
Select I agree to these terms.
Select Change to yearly billing.

The change starts on the date the dashboard shows. If other Microsoft 365 licences are on the same bill, they change together. Until yearly billing starts, you cannot change this product. After it starts, the Licences tab shows Yearly billing until a date. Until that date, ask IT Solver to add licences to this product.

To cancel the change before it starts, select Keep monthly billing in the Action column. Then select Keep monthly billing again to confirm. If the button is not shown, ask IT Solver. If the dashboard shows Ask IT Solver to switch, select it. IT Solver must make the change for you.

Trials

A trial is free. It ends automatically after one month. It does not renew and does not change to a paid licence. Microsoft sets the number of licences for each trial.

To keep the service after the trial, order a paid licence before the trial ends. Only an Owner or IT manager can use Choose renewal. A Billing only member can use Add a product instead, or ask an Owner or IT manager.

On the Licences tab, find the trial. Its status is Trial.
In the Action column, select Choose renewal.
Select the paid licence and quantity, then order it. If you pay by invoice, see If you pay by invoice. The trial still ends on its end date.

You can also make this decision on the People page. Under Trials, a trial that shows an end date can have these buttons:

Let trial end: the trial ends on its end date and you get no paid licence.
Continue on paid: this opens the order for a paid licence of the same product.

To move a trial to a different licence product, ask IT Solver. If the row shows IT Solver review required or Paid transition completed instead of the buttons, you do not have to do anything.

Examples

A new staff member starts and no licence is free

The Available column shows 0 for Business Standard. A new person starts on Monday.

To fix it: do the steps in Add licences to a product you already have, and add 1 licence. Then make the user. See Add a new staff member in Microsoft 365. If you pay by invoice, pay the invoice first.

A staff member left and you still pay for their licence

The person left last month. Purchased shows 6 and Assigned shows 5.

To fix it: do the steps in Pay for fewer licences at renewal and select 5. You pay for 6 licences until the renewal date, then 5.

You cannot reduce the number because every licence is in use

The page says that all the licences due to renew are assigned. One licence is still on the account of a person who left.

To fix it: offboard the person first. See When a staff member leaves: offboard them in Microsoft 365. Then do the steps in Pay for fewer licences at renewal.

Your team size is stable and you want a lower price

You have paid monthly for two years and your number of staff does not change.

To fix it: do the steps in Change to yearly billing. Read the terms carefully. You cannot pay for fewer licences until the yearly term ends.

Still have a problem?

Questions? Email support@itsolver.net or phone 07 3123 6000.