Sell Professional Services on Microsoft Marketplace

To sell professional services on Microsoft Marketplace, you publish a professional service offer and sell it only through private offers, from a seller ID in the US, UK or Canada to a customer billed in one of those countries, for work delivered virtually. Google Cloud Marketplace also sells services only by private offer, under narrower rules. This guide sets the two side by side.

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Initech, a systems integrator, implements Acme’s analytics platform for enterprise customers and already sells that work on AWS, the motion covered in selling professional services on AWS Marketplace. Two more customers now want to buy the same way. Umbrella buys through Microsoft and wants the implementation to count toward its Azure commitment. Globex buys through Google Cloud and wants an Initech engineer on site for the cutover.

Both marketplaces can sell Initech’s services, and between them they refuse both requests: Microsoft professional services don’t count toward an Azure commitment, and neither marketplace allows on-site work. Here are the rules that decide whether a services deal can go through Microsoft or Google Cloud at all, how the buyer purchases, what each marketplace charges, and what Fours does on each.

Can you sell professional services on Microsoft Marketplace?

Yes. A professional service offer is Microsoft Marketplace’s offer type for work you deliver, such as an assessment, an implementation or a migration. Microsoft sells it only through private offers, from sellers with a US, UK or Canadian seller ID to customers billed in one of those countries.

• What counts. Microsoft lists “assessment, briefing, implementation, proof of concept, workshop, migration, and customer support services that support the use of Microsoft Cloud.” Services “must be fixed in scope and have a defined outcome,” and an offer mainly selling software licenses or subscriptions belongs in an application offer instead.
• Whose software. Your own or another partner’s, linked to its Microsoft Marketplace offer with “a clear business justification,” or Microsoft’s own, where an automated check confirms that you hold the matching Solutions Partner designation.
• Where you and the buyer are. You need a seller ID in the US, UK or Canada, and the customer needs a billing account with a sold-to address in one of them. Many customers that operate elsewhere have a US billing account, Microsoft notes, so ask which one to transact with. Other markets are planned, but “timelines aren’t currently available.”
• How it’s bought. “Services may only be sold via Private Offers,” and transactable services listings “are not searchable on any storefront today,” so you send the customer a direct link. The listing generates no leads.
• Who does what. You fulfil the service, “while Microsoft handles billing, invoicing, payment collection, and partner payouts.” The subscription activates when the purchase completes; there’s no activation step.
• Where the work happens. “Today, professional services must be offered virtually. They cannot be offered on-site at the customer’s location.” Microsoft’s category list still describes a workshop as “conducted on the customer’s premises,” so scope workshops as remote sessions.

Outside those three countries, the only option is the listing-only professional service, formerly called Consulting Service. It’s available in every market, but only for services that support Microsoft’s own software, and nothing transacts through it.

How does Google Cloud Marketplace sell professional services?

Also by private offer only, under narrower rules. Customers can see your listing, but they “can buy professional services only by accepting a private offer from you or from a reseller of Google Cloud products.” Six requirements decide whether your services qualify, and you certify that you meet them when you create the product in Producer Portal:

1. The agency model. “Cloud Marketplace must be able to use the agency transaction model for your private offers that include professional services products.” Under it, “Google facilitates and processes the transaction, but you’re the Merchant of Record for the transaction.” Both parties must be in a supported agency jurisdiction, and you must have accepted the current Marketplace Vendor Agreement.
2. United States only. “You and your customer must both be located in the United States.”
3. A linked listing. Your services “must link to at least one current commercial Cloud Marketplace product listing,” and Google says professional services “are only available for third-party Cloud Marketplace product listings.”
4. Five categories. Assessment, Implementation, Premium support, Managed services and Training.
5. No regulated services. Nothing “specifically regulated under applicable laws, such as legal, pharmaceutical, financial investment, or accounting services.”
6. Remote delivery only. Services “must be restricted to remote delivery. On-site engagements, and any associated expenses (for example, travel or hospitality), are strictly prohibited.”

The statement of work is a contract term, not a form field. Google’s Marketplace Product Specific Terms, which are incorporated into your Marketplace Vendor Agreement, say: “For each listing and/or Private Offer for Professional Services, You will provide to Google a statement of work describing the Professional Services to be performed by You or on Your behalf for the Customer and the applicable Customer Charges.” A product EULA is optional. Google’s private-offer API, in preview, applies the same rule: the statement of work is required, Google’s standard EULA isn’t allowed, and the documents can’t change once the offer leaves draft.

How do Microsoft’s and Google’s services rules compare?

Both sell services only by private offer and rule out on-site work; they differ on where you and the buyer can be, what qualifies and how the fee is set. The provider cells come from each provider’s own pages, cited at the end of this post; the last row is Fours.

Rule	Microsoft Marketplace	Google Cloud Marketplace
Where you sell from	A seller ID in the US, UK or Canada	The United States
Where the customer is	A billing account with a sold-to address in the US, UK or Canada	The United States
What the service supports	Your or a partner’s Microsoft Marketplace software, with a business justification, or Microsoft’s, with a Solutions Partner designation	A current commercial Cloud Marketplace listing; third-party listings only
Categories	Seven, each with its own tax code: Assessment, Briefing, Customer support, Implementation, Migration, Proof of concept, Workshop	Five: Assessment, Implementation, Premium support, Managed services, Training
What’s excluded	Offers mainly selling software licenses or subscriptions; services must be fixed in scope with a defined outcome	Services regulated under applicable laws, such as legal, pharmaceutical, financial investment or accounting
Delivery	Virtual only, never on-site	Remote only; on-site work and its expenses “strictly prohibited”
How it’s bought	Private offer only; the listing isn’t searchable, so you send a direct link	Private offer only, from you or a Google Cloud reseller; the listing is public
Transaction model	Microsoft bills, invoices, collects and pays you out	Agency: Google processes the transaction and you’re the merchant of record
Statement of work	Not among Microsoft’s requirements; a private offer can attach your own terms	Required for every listing and private offer
Pricing	Flat rate, billed one-time, monthly, annually or on a flexible schedule	Flat fee, or flat fee with usage; pricing review takes up to four business days
Contract term	1 month to 5 years; 1–120 months on private offers created with absolute pricing	The subscription periods you set on each plan
Customer’s cloud commitment	Doesn’t count toward MACC	Not addressed on Google’s professional-services pages, so ask Google before you promise it
Reselling	Not supported in multiparty private offers	A Google Cloud reseller can send the offer
Fee	3% standard store service fee	No services rate: you keep 97% to 98.5%, by deal type and contract value
What Fours does	Records each purchase as an entitlement	Creates the private offer with its statement of work

What can’t a Microsoft services deal do?

It can’t draw down the customer’s Azure commitment, go through a multiparty private offer, or hide a large services charge inside a software price. Raise these rules before the buyer’s procurement team picks the route:

• No MACC. “Professional services aren’t Azure benefit-eligible. Professional service purchases don’t count towards a customer’s Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC).” If that’s Umbrella’s reason for buying through the marketplace, tell them now.
• No multiparty private offers. “Professional services aren’t supported in Multiparty Private Offers.” Microsoft plans to add them but gives no timeline, so a channel partner can’t resell your services that way today.
• Under 10% inside a software price. Services billed through a software offer rather than a professional service offer “can only amount to an ancillary component less than 10% of the total price charged to end customers.” Sell anything larger as its own offer.
• One purchase per private offer. The customer “can only purchase the service a single time,” can’t upgrade without another private offer, and can’t auto-renew a professional services subscription. A change order is a new private offer.
• Tax by category. The category “determines the tax code associated with your service,” and Microsoft doesn’t disclose the rate for each. Take tax questions to your own adviser.

How are services priced, and how long can the term run?

Microsoft prices services at a flat rate on terms of up to five years, or up to 120 months on a private offer built with absolute pricing; Google prices them as a flat fee, with or without usage.

On Microsoft, a professional service plan offers 1-month, one-year and multiyear durations up to five years, each with one billing frequency and a price in USD. A services private offer is built as a new plan with absolute pricing, because Microsoft’s price-adjustment option excludes professional services. For “SaaS and Professional Services private offers created with absolute pricing,” Microsoft allows custom terms “from 1 to 120 months,” generally available since its July 6, 2026 announcement; annual billing needs a term that’s a multiple of 12 months. A private plan is a separate construct with its own cap: “The maximum contract duration for private plans is three years.” How odd-length terms bill and renew is covered in Microsoft Marketplace custom contract lengths.

On Google Cloud, services use a flat fee or a flat fee with usage; the usage-based model “isn’t available for professional services products.” Pricing approval “takes up to four business days,” so Google recommends submitting your pricing model before the rest of your setup. Technical integration is required only when pricing includes usage. Once pricing is published, you can change it after 30 days, and an increase takes an additional 45 days to take effect. Charging for time spent or materials brings in the usage-based billing terms of the Product Specific Terms.

Whether either listing shows a price at all is a separate decision, covered in marketplace listing without public pricing.

What does each marketplace charge on a services deal?

Microsoft charges its 3% standard store service fee; Google has no services-specific rate and sets its share by deal type and total contract value (TCV). Microsoft’s commercial transactions page says it “charges a 3% standard store service fee when customers purchase your transact offer,” and lists professional services among its transact offer types.

Google’s Vendor Net Revenue Schedule, effective April 21, 2025, sets what you keep on a private offer:

Google deal type	TCV (USD)	You keep
Private offer, new deal	Under $1M	97%
Private offer, new deal	$1M to under $10M	98%
Private offer, new deal	$10M and over	98.5%
Channel shift, migration or native renewal	Any	98.5%

The schedule names no product types, so a services private offer falls into the same rows as software. Its “migration” is a deal type, a new private offer replacing an off-marketplace contract for the same product as its workload moves onto Google Cloud, not a migration service. You declare the deal type on the offer, and Google can ask for documentation to confirm it.

How does Fours handle services offers on Microsoft and Google Cloud?

On Google Cloud, Fours creates the professional-services private offer with its statement of work attached; on Microsoft, Fours records each services purchase as an entitlement.

Google Cloud. Fours’ Professional Service Offer form takes the buyer’s GCP Billing Account ID and organization name, the customer and provider contacts, the plan, an expiry date, the statement of work, the EULA and the deal type. Payment is Prepay, with an installment schedule and a commit price, or Postpay, with a monthly flat fee; either can carry a usage discount, and auto-renew is optional. Fours decides whether a statement of work is required from the product’s marketplace listing type, the same thing Google enforces the rule on, so an offer sent through the Fours API or from Salesforce without one is refused before it reaches Google, while you can still fix it. The full field list is in how to create a Google Cloud professional services offer in Fours.

Microsoft. Once the buyer accepts the services private offer and completes the purchase, Fours creates an entitlement from Microsoft’s order data, one per subscription; previously, an accepted professional-services order created none. Its status follows Microsoft’s order status: active is Active, a failed payment (Microsoft’s warning status) is Suspended, and an expired or cancelled subscription is Cancelled. Until the buyer completes the purchase, the accepted offer carries a pending_purchase sub-status. See what Fours creates when a Microsoft buyer completes a purchase.

Frequently asked questions

Can you sell professional services on Microsoft Marketplace from outside the US, UK or Canada?

Not as a transactable offer. Microsoft requires a seller ID in the US, UK or Canada, and a customer billing account with a sold-to address in one of those countries. Elsewhere, only a listing-only service for Microsoft software is available, and nothing transacts through it.

Do Microsoft Marketplace professional services count toward a customer’s MACC?

No. Microsoft says professional services aren’t Azure benefit-eligible, and purchases don’t count toward a customer’s Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC). If a buyer wants the marketplace route to draw down their commitment, tell them before procurement starts.

Can marketplace professional services be delivered on-site?

No, on either marketplace. Microsoft says professional services “must be offered virtually” and can’t be offered at the customer’s location. Google restricts them to remote delivery and prohibits on-site engagements and their expenses, such as travel or hospitality.

Does Google Cloud Marketplace charge a different fee for professional services?

No. Google’s Vendor Net Revenue Schedule has no services-specific rate. Your share depends on deal type and total contract value: 97% to 98.5% on a new private offer, and 98.5% on a channel shift, migration or native renewal.

Do you need a statement of work to sell services on Google Cloud Marketplace?

Yes. Google’s Marketplace Product Specific Terms require a statement of work for each professional-services listing and private offer, describing the work and the customer charges. A product EULA is optional. In Fours, you attach it on the Professional Service Offer form.

Can a reseller sell your professional services?

On Google Cloud, yes: a Google Cloud reseller can create the private offer and send it to the customer. On Microsoft, not through a multiparty private offer. Microsoft says professional services aren’t supported there yet, and gives no timeline.

Takeaways

• Microsoft and Google Cloud sell professional services only through private offers, and neither allows on-site work. Microsoft needs a US, UK or Canadian seller ID and customer billing account; Google needs both parties in the United States.
• On Microsoft, services don’t count toward MACC or go through multiparty private offers, and custom 1–120-month terms apply to private offers created with absolute pricing.
• On Google Cloud, every services listing and private offer needs a statement of work, regulated services are excluded, and the fee follows deal type and contract value, with no separate rate for services.

Fours creates Google Cloud professional-services private offers with the statement of work Google requires, and records Microsoft services purchases as entitlements beside the rest of your marketplace deals. See how it fits your services motion in Fours’ private offer management.