--- title: "Cloud Marketplace Invoices: A Buyer Handoff Guide" url: https://www.fours.com/resources/blog/cloud-marketplace-invoices-buyer-handoff/ canonical: https://www.fours.com/resources/blog/cloud-marketplace-invoices-buyer-handoff/ type: Blog description: "Who sends a cloud marketplace invoice on AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud, what decides when it arrives, and what your buyer's AP team needs before close." --- # Cloud Marketplace Invoices: A Buyer Handoff Guide > Canonical HTML version: https://www.fours.com/resources/blog/cloud-marketplace-invoices-buyer-handoff/ 1. [Home](/) 2. [Resources](/resources/) 3. [Blog](/resources/blog/) 4. Cloud Marketplace Invoices: A Buyer Handoff Guide # Cloud Marketplace Invoices: A Buyer Handoff Guide Your customer's AP team wants your invoice, but on a marketplace deal the cloud provider sends it. Which document arrives, from whom and when, and what to tell AP before the deal closes. [![Shirley Guo](/authors/shirley-guo.jpg)](/resources/blog/author/shirley-guo/) [Shirley Guo](/resources/blog/author/shirley-guo/) Oct 14, 2026 ![Cloud Marketplace Invoices: A Buyer Handoff Guide](/images/blog/cloud-marketplace-invoices-buyer-handoff/hero.png) Explore AI Summary [![](/logos/company/openai.svg)](https://chat.openai.com/?q=Read%20and%20summarize%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fours.com%2Fresources%2Fblog%2Fcloud-marketplace-invoices-buyer-handoff%2F%2C%20then%20cite%20the%20source.%20Focus%20on%20what%20it%20says%20about%20Billing%20%26%20Metering%2C%20Marketplaces. "Summarize with ChatGPT")[![](/logos/company/anthropic.svg) ](https://claude.ai/new?q=Read%20and%20summarize%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fours.com%2Fresources%2Fblog%2Fcloud-marketplace-invoices-buyer-handoff%2F%2C%20then%20cite%20the%20source.%20Focus%20on%20what%20it%20says%20about%20Billing%20%26%20Metering%2C%20Marketplaces. 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"Summarize with Perplexity") Table of Contents - [What is a cloud marketplace invoice, and who sends it?](#what-is-a-cloud-marketplace-invoice-and-who-sends-it) - [What decides which invoice your buyer receives?](#what-decides-which-invoice-your-buyer-receives) - [When does AWS invoice a marketplace buyer?](#when-does-aws-invoice-a-marketplace-buyer) - [When does Microsoft invoice a marketplace buyer?](#when-does-microsoft-invoice-a-marketplace-buyer) - [When does Google Cloud invoice a marketplace buyer?](#when-does-google-cloud-invoice-a-marketplace-buyer) - [What should you send the buyer’s AP team before the deal closes?](#what-should-you-send-the-buyers-ap-team-before-the-deal-closes) - [What can your team see in Fours when the buyer asks?](#what-can-your-team-see-in-fours-when-the-buyer-asks) - [Frequently asked questions](#frequently-asked-questions) - [Takeaways](#takeaways) _A cloud marketplace invoice is the bill a cloud provider sends your customer for a marketplace purchase. AWS, Microsoft or Google issues it, not you, and five facts about the purchase decide which document arrives, from whom, and when._ * * * Umbrella’s accounts payable team has an approved purchase from Acme and nothing to match it against, so it asks Acme’s customer success manager for the invoice. Acme can’t send one. Umbrella bought through a cloud marketplace, so the cloud provider invoices it, and Acme can’t see Umbrella’s billing console. The call still lands on the seller, and the answer depends on the buyer. This guide turns the five facts that decide it into one decision table, sets out each cloud’s rules, and ends with the handoff to send AP before the deal closes. ## What is a cloud marketplace invoice, and who sends it? **A cloud marketplace invoice is the bill a cloud provider sends the buyer for a marketplace purchase: AWS, Microsoft or Google issues it, or on Microsoft the partner the customer bought through.** You can’t issue, change or resend it. - **AWS:** “At the beginning of the month, you receive a bill from Amazon Web Services (AWS) for your AWS Marketplace charges,” and contract fees get invoices of their own. - **Microsoft:** buyers “receive consolidated monthly invoices from Microsoft, including Azure charges and charges for Microsoft Marketplace purchases,” with exceptions below. - **Google Cloud:** Google sells directly under its Merchant of Record model. Under its agency model you are the Merchant of Record, but the documents still come from Google. Tax is the exception. Google tells an Australian seller whose Australian customer buys under the agency model: “You are responsible for invoicing the customer directly for any applicable taxes (GST).” How the marketplaces divide that duty is covered in [who handles tax and withholding on marketplace revenue](/resources/blog/tax-and-withholding-on-marketplace-revenue/). ## What decides which invoice your buyer receives? **Five facts about the purchase: the buyer’s billing agreement, your pricing model, the buyer’s geography, the transaction model, and the payer account.** Read down your cloud’s column for one deal; any row can change the answer. What to check AWS Marketplace Microsoft Marketplace Google Cloud Marketplace **Billing agreement** A buyer who pays by invoice gets your private offer’s net payment term, if you set one, or else its standard AWS terms Enterprise Agreement (EA): on the EA invoice. Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA): on the MCA invoice, plus next-day invoices for some products. Pay-as-you-go (MOSP): a separate Marketplace invoice around the ninth Invoiced account: one invoice a month. Self-serve account: charged automatically, with a statement that “isn’t a bill” **Pricing model** Contract fees: invoiced as each payment falls due. Usage, including usage above a contract: the monthly bill On an MCA, per-seat and flat-rate SaaS, professional services and a few other types: invoiced within 24 hours. Metered usage: monthly Subscription fees, usage fees or both; a private offer bills monthly, quarterly, annually or on a custom schedule **Geography** Picks the issuer: AWS Europe, AWS Australia, AWS Japan or AWS India where their conditions hold, AWS Korea per AWS’s tax pages, otherwise Amazon Web Services, Inc. A separate Marketplace invoice for an EA in Australia, Japan or Singapore, and an MCA in Japan or Singapore A payment profile in a split-invoicing country, such as the UK, Germany, France or Australia, separates agency-model purchases **Transaction model** Public listing: contracts billed upfront at subscription. Private offer: upfront, in installments on your dates, or per approved payment request for professional services Through a CSP partner or a Licensing Solution Provider: Microsoft invoices the partner, which bills the customer Agency model: you are the Merchant of Record. Merchant of Record model: Google sells directly. The buyer is told which at purchase **Payer account** The organization’s management account pays for every member account, including the one that accepted Invoices are generated per MCA billing profile; viewing them takes a billing profile role The Cloud Billing account linked to the project; a SaaS purchase may add a project whose ID begins with `pr`, shown with a lock icon Three Microsoft buyers of one per-seat plan show why no single sentence covers a cloud. Umbrella, on an MCA in the US, receives a Microsoft invoice within 24 hours of purchase. Globex, on an EA in the US, finds the charge on its EA invoice after its Azure charges. Initech, on an EA in Japan, receives a separate Marketplace invoice. ## When does AWS invoice a marketplace buyer? **As each contract payment falls due, and monthly for usage, from the AWS entity for the buyer’s location to the account that pays.** AWS generates invoices “when a monthly billing period closes” and “when subscriptions or one-time purchases are made”: - **Upfront contracts**, public or private: “Upfront billing paid immediately upon subscription.” - **Private offer installments**: “Invoiced at 00:00 UTC on dates defined by the seller.” - **Professional services with variable payments**: invoiced the day the buyer approves, or auto-approves, a payment request. - **Usage**, including metered usage above a SaaS contract: “Billed monthly at 00:00 UTC on the second or third day of the month, combined with other AWS charges.” Then the questions AP asks next: - **Due date.** AWS announced seller-set net payment terms for private offers on August 6, 2026, generally available from that date, with options including Net 30, 45, 60 and 90 for buyers who pay by invoice. Without one, “the buyer’s standard AWS payment terms continue to apply.” - **Issuer.** AWS Europe bills EMEA accounts, excluding Turkey and South Africa, that buy from an EMEA-eligible seller; AWS Australia and AWS Japan bill accounts based in those countries; AWS India bills India accounts buying from a seller in India. “Otherwise, you receive a bill from Amazon Web Services, Inc.” That billing page leaves out South Korea, but AWS’s tax pages make AWS Korea the operator that invoices buyers there; [AWS Marketplace in Japan and Korea](/resources/blog/aws-marketplace-japan-korea-tax/) covers when each local operator applies. AWS Europe’s Marketplace invoices name Amazon Payments Europe, S.C.A. in their remittance details, with bank accounts different from those for AWS cloud services, and “All invoices must be settled in full.” - **Payer.** The organization’s management account “pays the charges of all the member accounts”; under billing transfer, the bill transfer account receives the invoices. - **Currency.** Private offers in EUR, GBP, AUD or JPY are invoiced in that currency, and a buyer with offers in several currencies may receive a separate invoice for each. ## When does Microsoft invoice a marketplace buyer? **By billing account first and pricing model second: only some products bought on an MCA are invoiced the next day.** Microsoft introduced next-day invoicing in September 2025 and documents it for MCA customers: - **Eligible:** SaaS with per seat or flat rate pricing, professional services, Azure managed apps with flat fee pricing, Power BI visuals, and Dynamics 365 apps on Dataverse and Power Apps. - **Still monthly:** “Charges for metered usage, virtual machine software reservations, Dynamics 365 Business Central apps, and Azure container offers continue to appear on your consolidated monthly invoice.” A SaaS plan with a flat fee and meters has its entitlement billed next day and its metered portion monthly. - **What arrives:** an invoice within 24 hours of purchase or renewal, one per day’s purchases. “Your payment terms start from the invoice date,” and the purchase flow shows “which products will be invoiced within 24 hours of purchase.” Otherwise the billing account decides: - **EA:** Marketplace charges follow the Azure charges on the EA invoice, naming the product and the solution provider. Microsoft says they “can’t be invoiced separately under the EA billing model,” though its own table gives an EA in Australia, Japan or Singapore a separate Marketplace invoice. - **MCA:** on each billing profile’s invoice, or a separate one in Japan and Singapore. Viewers need a billing profile Owner, Contributor, Reader or Invoice manager role. - **MOSP:** a separate invoice, “generated around the ninth day of the month,” typed **Azure Marketplace and Reservations** in the Azure portal. - **Through a partner:** a CSP partner’s own Microsoft invoice carries the Marketplace charges, and in Microsoft’s Licensing Solution Provider example, the partner receives Microsoft’s invoice and “will issue a separate invoice to their customer.” ## When does Google Cloud invoice a marketplace buyer? **Monthly, against the Cloud Billing account linked to the buyer’s project: on one Google invoice, unless an agency-model purchase is split onto its own document.** “The cost of the products is charged to your project’s linked Cloud Billing account,” and Marketplace charges “appear as separate items” in Cloud Billing reports. - **Billing account type.** An invoiced account “generates one invoice each month,” which “should be available by the fifth business day of the following month.” A self-serve account pays automatically, and its statement “isn’t a bill.” - **Transaction model and geography.** Under the Merchant of Record model, the buyer continues “to receive a single invoice from Google.” Under the agency model, a buyer whose payment profile is in a split-invoicing country (from the UK, Germany and France since February 2025 to Australia since August 1, 2026) gets Marketplace purchases on separate documents, in some countries a “Request for Payment.” Payments “go to different entities,” so AP may need another vendor record. Google tells the buyer which model applies “during the purchasing process.” - **Where the line sits.** A SaaS purchase may add a project whose ID typically begins with `pr`, shown with a lock icon. It appears in Cloud Billing reports, and Google tells buyers not to modify it. The Cost table report shows a split invoice’s publisher type and seller name. - **Who can see it.** Billing documents need the Billing Account Viewer or Billing Account Administrator role, and an invoiced account can add contacts to receive invoices by email. ## What should you send the buyer’s AP team before the deal closes? **A short note naming the payer account, the issuer, the first invoice date and the due-date rule, each worked out from the table, not promised from memory.** Ask the buyer the two things only they know, which account will pay and under what billing agreement, then send: 1. **Payer account.** AWS: the account the offer targets, and its management account if it has one. Microsoft: the billing account type and, on an MCA, the billing profile. Google: the Cloud Billing account the offer is built against, invoiced or self-serve. 2. **Issuer and payee.** The AWS entity for their location, with Amazon Payments Europe as payee for AWS Europe; Microsoft or their partner; Google, plus a possible new vendor record for agency-model purchases in split-invoicing countries. 3. **First invoice date.** AWS: acceptance, your installment dates, or the monthly bill for usage. Microsoft: within 24 hours only for an eligible product on an MCA. Google: the monthly invoice. 4. **Due-date rule.** Your AWS private offer’s net term, if set; on Microsoft’s next-day invoices, terms from the invoice date; on Google, the terms on their invoice. 5. **PO inputs.** [Each cloud takes the buyer’s PO number in a different place](/resources/blog/purchase-order-numbers-on-cloud-marketplaces/), so send the identifiers it needs. 6. **Access.** Billing access in the AWS management account, a billing profile role on an MCA, or on Google a Cloud Billing role or a place on the invoice email list. Write timing as a condition, never a promise. For a per-seat plan sold through Microsoft: > Acme won’t invoice you for this purchase; Microsoft will. On a Microsoft Customer Agreement, expect a Microsoft invoice within 24 hours of purchase, with payment terms from the invoice date; the purchase screen will confirm it. On an Enterprise Agreement, the charge will appear on your EA invoice, or on a separate Marketplace invoice in Australia, Japan or Singapore. ## What can your team see in Fours when the buyer asks? **The seller’s record of each marketplace invoice: its ID, issue and due dates, balance due, status and aging.** In Fours, **Revenue → Invoices** is the accounts-receivable view: “what buyers and channels still owe you, how overdue it is, and the full detail behind any single invoice.” An entitlement’s page has its own **Invoices** tab for that agreement, and a Google Cloud invoice shows an expected payout date rather than a due date. That gives a customer success manager specifics for AP: the invoice ID to search for, when it was issued and when it falls due. The same invoice date places a deal in billings, one of [the four marketplace revenue numbers: bookings, billings, collected and disbursed](/resources/blog/bookings-billings-collected-disbursed/). ## Frequently asked questions ### Does the seller send the invoice for a cloud marketplace purchase? No. AWS, Microsoft or Google invoices the buyer, or on Microsoft the partner the customer bought through. Tax can be the exception: Google makes an Australian seller invoice GST directly to an Australian customer on agency-model sales. ### Does Microsoft invoice marketplace purchases within 24 hours? Only some. On a Microsoft Customer Agreement, per-seat and flat-rate SaaS, professional services and a few other product types are invoiced within 24 hours of purchase. Metered usage stays monthly, and buyers see which products are invoiced next day during purchase. ### Which AWS entity invoices an AWS Marketplace buyer? By the buyer’s account location. AWS Europe bills EMEA accounts, except Turkey and South Africa, buying from EMEA-eligible sellers; AWS Australia, AWS Japan and, per AWS’s tax pages, AWS Korea bill accounts there; AWS India bills India accounts buying from sellers in India. Others get Amazon Web Services, Inc. ### Why did a Google Cloud buyer get a separate document for marketplace charges? Because the purchase ran under Google’s agency model and the buyer’s payment profile is in a split-invoicing country, such as the UK, Germany, France or Australia. Google then invoices Marketplace purchases separately, and payment may go to a different entity than the Google Cloud invoice. ### Which account is invoiced when an AWS member account accepts a private offer? The organization’s management account. AWS says the management account pays the charges of all member accounts and that member account bills are informational, so AP should look for the charge on the management account’s bill. ### Can Fours show the invoice for a marketplace deal? Fours shows the seller’s record of it: the invoice ID, issue and due dates, balance due, status and aging, in Revenue → Invoices and on each entitlement’s Invoices tab. The document the buyer pays stays in their cloud provider’s billing console. ## Takeaways - The cloud provider, or on Microsoft the partner, invoices your customer; your job is to tell AP what to expect. - Five facts decide the document: billing agreement, pricing model, geography, transaction model and payer account. Work them out for each deal. - Never promise timing across the board: Microsoft’s next-day invoice covers only some products bought on an MCA. - Before close, send AP the payer account, issuer and payee, first invoice date, due-date rule, PO inputs and who needs access. Fours keeps the seller’s view of your marketplace invoices, from issue and due dates to balance due and aging, beside the revenue records finance reconciles. For the rest of the finance workflow, read [the marketplace billing and revenue operations guide](/resources/guides/marketplace-billing/). ## Sources Primary sources for the platform rules cited above. Last verified October 14, 2026. Cloud providers change fees, eligibility, and program terms without notice — check the source before relying on a figure. - [AWS Marketplace Buyer Guide: Paying for products in AWS Marketplace](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/marketplace/latest/buyerguide/buyer-paying-for-products.html) — The bill for AWS Marketplace charges; the billing entity by account location (AWS Europe for EMEA accounts outside Turkey and South Africa buying from EMEA-eligible sellers, AWS Australia, AWS Japan, AWS India for India accounts buying from sellers in India, otherwise Amazon Web Services, Inc.); the private-offer and public billing tables: upfront billing at subscription, installments invoiced at 00:00 UTC on seller-defined dates, variable payments invoiced on approval, usage billed on the second or third day of the month; offer-currency invoicing and separate invoices per currency; AWS Europe Marketplace remittance to Amazon Payments Europe, S.C.A., to different bank accounts, settled in full - [AWS Marketplace Seller Guide: Pricing for SaaS contracts](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/marketplace/latest/userguide/saas-contracts.html) — AWS Marketplace bills SaaS contract customers upfront or by the payment schedule the seller defines; usage above the contract is reported through the AWS Marketplace Metering Service - [AWS What's New: AWS Marketplace now lets sellers configure net payment terms on private offers](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2026/08/aws-marketplace-net-payment-terms-for-private-offers/) — Posted August 6, 2026, generally available in all commercial AWS Regions: net payment terms on a private offer, with options including Net 30, 45, 60 or 90, applying to all its charges and to buyers who pay by invoice; without a custom term, the buyer's standard AWS payment terms apply - [AWS Billing User Guide: Understanding your bill](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awsaccountbilling/latest/aboutv2/getting-viewing-bill.html) — Invoices are generated when a monthly billing period closes or when subscriptions or one-time purchases are made; the Bills page covers AWS Marketplace purchases, with an Invoices tab per service provider; the management account sees member accounts' charges; under billing transfer, the bill transfer account receives the invoices; IAM users need explicit permission - [AWS Billing User Guide: Consolidating billing for AWS Organizations](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awsaccountbilling/latest/aboutv2/consolidated-billing.html) — The management account pays the charges of all member accounts, and member account bills are for informational purpose only - [Microsoft Learn: Overview of billing and invoicing for Microsoft Marketplace customers](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/billing-invoicing) — Page dated September 2, 2026: the invoice table by billing account type (EA consolidated except Australia, Japan and Singapore; MCA consolidated except Japan and Singapore; MOSP separate, generated around the ninth day of the month); EA purchases can't be invoiced separately and list Azure charges first, naming product and solution provider; MCA invoices per billing profile and the roles that can view them; next-day invoicing, introduced in September 2025 for MCA customers: eligible and excluded product types, the 24-hour invoice, one invoice per day, payment terms from the invoice date, renewals, the entitlement and metered split, purchase-time notifications; MPA for CSP partners and the Licensing Solution Provider example - [Microsoft Learn: Understand your Azure external services charges](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/understand/understand-azure-marketplace-charges) — Without an MCA or MPA, a separate Marketplace invoice each billing period, of the type Azure Marketplace and Reservations; on an MCA, seat-based subscriptions are billed the day after purchase - [Google Cloud Marketplace: Transaction models](https://docs.cloud.google.com/marketplace/docs/transaction-models) — The agency model, with the vendor as Merchant of Record, and the Merchant of Record model, with Google selling directly; the buyer is told which applies during purchase; split invoicing by payment-profile country and the Switzerland and Australia document sets, including the Request for Payment; otherwise a single invoice from Google - [Google Cloud Marketplace: Migration to split invoicing for agency model transactions](https://docs.cloud.google.com/marketplace/docs/partners/migrations/split-invoicing-for-agency) — The split-invoicing countries and start dates, from the UK, Germany and France around February 1, 2025 to Australia on August 1, 2026; an Australian seller invoices an Australian customer directly for any applicable GST - [Cloud Billing: Split invoicing for agency model transactions](https://docs.cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/split-invoice) — The first-purchase confirmation email warning of two invoices; publisher type and seller name in the Cost table report; several AP vendors may be needed because payments for each invoice go to different entities - [Cloud Billing: Get a Cloud Billing document such as an invoice, statement, or receipt](https://docs.cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/get-invoice) — An invoiced account generates one invoice each month, available by the fifth business day of the following month; self-serve accounts pay automatically, and a statement isn't a bill; the Billing Account Viewer and Billing Account Administrator roles; contacts to receive invoices by email - [Google Cloud Marketplace: Billing for Google Cloud Marketplace products](https://docs.cloud.google.com/marketplace/docs/billing) — Marketplace charges appear as separate items in Cloud Billing reports; subscription fees, usage fees, or a combination of the two - [Google Cloud Marketplace: Managing billing for Cloud Marketplace products](https://docs.cloud.google.com/marketplace/docs/manage-billing) — Product costs are charged to the project's linked Cloud Billing account; the SaaS tracking project whose ID typically begins with pr, which buyers shouldn't modify - [Google Cloud Marketplace: Billing frequency for private offers](https://docs.cloud.google.com/marketplace/docs/partners/offers/select-payment-schedule) — The seller chooses a monthly, quarterly, annual or custom billing frequency; offers to Cloud Billing accounts in Brazil must be monthly - [Fours docs: Invoices](https://doc.fours.com/revenue/invoices/) — Fours behaviour: Revenue, Invoices as the accounts-receivable view; the invoice table's ID, buyer, channel, issue and due dates, balance due, status and aging; the Invoices tab on an entitlement's page; a GCP invoice shows an expected payout instead of a due date ## Keep reading - [Billing & MeteringMarketplace Usage Report Failed After AcceptanceOct 7, 2026](/resources/blog/usage-report-failed-after-acceptance/) - [Billing & MeteringMarketplace Usage Correction: What Each Cloud AllowsSep 24, 2026](/resources/blog/marketplace-usage-correction/) - [MarketplacesCloud Marketplace Purchase Orders: Who Sets the POSep 19, 2026](/resources/blog/purchase-order-numbers-on-cloud-marketplaces/) - [Billing & MeteringYour Year-End Marketplace Reporting ChecklistAug 24, 2026](/resources/blog/year-end-marketplace-reporting-checklist/) [Browse every post on the Fours Blog](/resources/blog/) ### Stay Updated New posts, product updates and marketplace strategy are shared on LinkedIn as they publish. 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