Licensing · Microsoft 365 · NCE
NCE explained: the seven-day window, seat reductions and terms
The New Commerce Experience rules behind every Microsoft 365 quote: when you can cancel, when you can reduce seats, which terms exist and what can change mid-term. Each rule links to the Microsoft Learn page it comes from.
MSP HubPublished
Every Microsoft licensing quote eventually produces the same four questions. The answers come from Microsoft's New Commerce Experience (NCE) rules for license-based subscriptions, and they are the same whoever you buy from. Here they are, with the Microsoft Learn page each one comes from.
1. You have seven days to change your mind
NCE license-based subscriptions normally allow cancellation with a prorated refund within seven days (168 hours) of purchase or renewal. After that window closes, the full-term commitment remains, whichever billing plan you chose.
Perpetual software bought through CSP is different: it is refundable in full within 30 calendar days of purchase.
Source: New Commerce Experience cancellation policy (opens in a new tab) on Microsoft Learn.
2. Seats go up any time; they come down within seven days
Seats can be added at any time, subject to the offer's limits. Reductions are permitted within seven days of purchase, renewal or adding those seats, and a mid-term reduction cannot exceed the quantity that was recently added and is still inside its window. Outside that window the seat count waits for the next renewal.
Practical consequence: buy the seats you are sure of, add the rest when the people start, and keep the seven-day clock in mind when a project ends.
Source: Create customer subscriptions in Partner Center (opens in a new tab) on Microsoft Learn.
3. Three terms, several billing plans
License-based subscriptions are sold on monthly, annual and three-year terms where Microsoft offers them for the product. Each term has its own billing-frequency options: an annual term, for example, can be billed up front or monthly.
Prices differ by term and by billing frequency, and not in the same way for every product. Compare the available term prices and billing-frequency charges for each SKU before you commit, and expect a good estate to mix terms by user group.
Source: Create customer subscriptions in Partner Center (opens in a new tab) on Microsoft Learn.
4. Mid-term, you can usually only move to a longer term
Eligible subscriptions can move to a longer term mid-way through. Moving to a shorter term waits until renewal. Availability depends on the SKU: the enterprise three-year SKUs Microsoft introduced in June 2025 are bought new or upgraded to, not reached through a term change. Eligible changes can also be scheduled for the renewal date instead.
Billing-frequency changes have their own rules on the same Microsoft page, so check the specific subscription rather than assuming either way.
One detail that catches people: a mid-term change of term does not reopen the seven-day cancellation or seat-reduction window.
Source: Manage term duration and billing frequency (opens in a new tab) on Microsoft Learn.
What this means for a quote
The quote is really a set of term decisions, one per user group, made with the seven-day rules in mind. MSP Hub's licensing desk sets the options side by side, and HubX shows each subscription's term, billing frequency, expiration date and auto-renew setting, so the next decision is made with the dates in front of you.
Request a licensing quote, or if you already buy Microsoft elsewhere, see how switching works.