MS-900 Practice Question: Describe Microsoft 365 pricing, licensing, and support
A customer reports that their Microsoft 365 Business Basic subscription is about to expire. They want to ensure uninterrupted service. What should they do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse add-on licenses with subscription renewal, thinking that purchasing more licenses extends the subscription term, when in fact add-ons only increase the number of users or add features without affecting the subscription's expiration date.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Ensure recurring billing is enabled
Enabling recurring billing ensures that the subscription automatically renews before the expiration date, preventing any lapse in service. Without recurring billing, the subscription will expire at the end of the billing period, and the customer would lose access to Microsoft 365 services after a short grace period. This is the direct mechanism to maintain uninterrupted service for a Microsoft 365 Business Basic subscription.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cancel the subscription immediately
Why it's wrong here
Canceling the subscription immediately terminates the renewal cycle and disables all Microsoft 365 services at the end of the current billing period. After cancellation, administrators lose access to admin portals and user data may be permanently deleted after the retention period, so this action breaks service continuity rather than resolving a billing concern. You should not cancel to fix a perceived expiration issue; instead, confirm recurring billing or complete a manual payment.
- ✗
Wait for the grace period to expire
Why it's wrong here
Waiting for the grace period to expire is risky because the grace period is only a temporary state after a payment failure, typically granting limited access, such as read-only or reduced functionality, for about 30 days. If payment is not made during this time, services are fully disabled and the tenant may be marked for deletion, with data purged after a set retention window. This approach introduces avoidable downtime and potential data loss, making it an incorrect remedy for a subscription that should remain active.
- ✓
Ensure recurring billing is enabled
Why this is correct
Ensuring recurring billing is enabled is the correct action because, with this setting on, Microsoft automatically charges the stored payment method on the subscription's expiry date and renews the Microsoft 365 Business Basic license without interruption. You can verify this in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Billing > Your products, where the recurring billing toggle should be set to On for continuous service. If recurring billing was previously disabled, re-enabling it guarantees that the subscription follows the standard auto-renewal process and avoids any gap in services or user access.
- ✗
Purchase an additional add-on license
Why it's wrong here
Purchasing an additional add-on license does not extend the subscription term of the base Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan. Add-ons, such as Microsoft 365 Business Voice or Advanced Compliance, are tied to the same expiration date and billing interval as the core subscription, so they expire when the base plan expires. This option only increases the number of licensed users or features temporarily; it does not resolve the need to renew or maintain the base subscription itself.
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OneDrive for Business
Key term
Subscription
A subscription is a payment model where you pay a recurring fee to access a product or service instead of buying it once and owning it forever.
Key term
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based cloud service from Microsoft that combines productivity tools like Office apps with security, device management, and online storage.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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