Microsoft has again pushed back the effective date of its plan to turn on usage-based billing by default for new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business subscriptions purchased through Cloud Solution Provider partners, saying it now expects to enact the policy sometime between January and March 2027, its third fiscal quarter. “We heard your feedback and are adjusting the effective dates to give you extra time to prepare for these upcoming changes and support your customers,” Microsoft said in a statement. This marks Microsoft’s second delay of its usage-based billing (UBB) by default policy, with the vendor previously delaying the policy’s Nov. 2 effective date to Dec. 1. Microsoft is also delaying the availability of Partner Center sandbox environments for testing the new policy, without revealing a new availability date, and is promising readiness guidance and at least 30 days of sandbox testing. The change comes as Microsoft solution providers navigate internally and with customers when artificial intelligence use is covered by a license, when it triggers consumption and how those costs affect the use of AI tools such as Copilot. Microsoft has about 500,000 partners worldwide, according to CRN’s 2026 Channel Chiefs.