MS-900 Practice Question: Describe Microsoft 365 pricing, licensing, and support
A small business with 25 employees wants to purchase Microsoft 365 Business Standard licenses through a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner. How will the billing be handled?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming Microsoft always bills the customer directly, but in CSP the partner handles billing.
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
✓
The CSP partner bills the customer directly, and the customer pays the partner.
When purchasing Microsoft 365 through a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), the CSP partner is responsible for billing the customer. The customer pays the partner, and the partner manages the subscription and support. Microsoft does not bill the customer directly in this model. This simplifies billing for the customer and allows the partner to add value-added services.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The customer pays Microsoft directly via credit card, and the CSP partner receives a commission.
Why it's wrong here
In the CSP model, the customer does not pay Microsoft directly; they pay the CSP partner. The partner manages the entire billing cycle. While partners may earn margins, the payment flow is from customer to partner, not customer to Microsoft.
- ✗
The customer receives a quarterly invoice from Microsoft and pays the CSP partner a separate service fee.
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft does not send invoices to customers who purchase through CSP; the partner handles all billing. There is no separate quarterly invoice from Microsoft. The customer pays only the CSP partner, who may include their own service fees in the price.
- ✓
The CSP partner bills the customer directly, and the customer pays the partner.
Why this is correct
In the CSP model, the partner is responsible for billing the customer and managing the subscription. The customer pays the CSP partner, who then handles payment to Microsoft. This allows the customer to have a single point of contact for billing and support.
- ✗
Microsoft bills the customer directly on a monthly basis.
Why it's wrong here
When purchasing through a CSP partner, Microsoft does not bill the customer directly. The CSP partner is the billing entity. Direct billing from Microsoft occurs when purchasing directly from Microsoft, not through a partner. This option misrepresents the CSP relationship.
Go deeper
Related to this question
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Microsoft Defender for Business
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.
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.
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This MS-900 question is part of Courseiva's 794-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
This MS-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the MS-900 exam.