Billing & licences

Microsoft 365 licences explained

Every person (or mailbox) that signs in to Microsoft 365 needs a licence. The licence decides which apps and features they get.

The common business plans

• Business Basic: email, Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint, and the web and mobile versions of Word, Excel and Outlook. No desktop apps.
• Business Standard: everything in Basic, plus the desktop apps (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) on up to five computers.
• Business Premium: everything in Standard, plus advanced security and device management. This is the best choice for protecting your business.
• Exchange Online (email only): a mailbox without the Office apps.

Things that don't need a licence

• Shared mailboxes (like info@ or accounts@) don't need a licence in most cases. When someone leaves, converting their mailbox to a shared mailbox can save a licence. See When a staff member leaves.

Common requests

• New starter: needs a licence. See Setting up a new staff member.
• Leaver: we can remove or reassign their licence.
• Need the desktop apps or more mailbox space: we can upgrade the licence.

How to ask

Raise a ticket saying who it's for and what you need. Licence changes affect your bill, so we'll confirm the cost with your organisation's account owner before making any change.