On Azure billing, how do I change the currency?

Zanoni Labuschagne 50 Reputation points
2026-07-13T16:27:47.9566667+00:00

Hey community. My company is based in South Africa. Up to the beginning of last month, all our invoices were coming in ZAR. From end of June 2026, invoices changed to USD. I have gone through the material on Learn, as well as used Co-pilot, but I cannot get it back to ZAR. The Cost Analysis can switch, but I need invoices in ZAR for our finance team to pay the invoice.

How do I get it back to ZAR?

Cost Management
Cost Management

A Microsoft offering that enables tracking of cloud usage and expenditures for Azure and other cloud providers.

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Christos Panagiotidis 3,551 Reputation points
2026-07-14T08:10:08.6866667+00:00

Hi, the currency selector in Cost Analysis only changes the display; it does not change the invoice currency. Invoice currency belongs to the billing account/profile and is generally fixed by the agreement, market, and billing address. Since yours changed from ZAR to USD at a specific date, compare the billing-account ID, agreement type, and billing profile on an invoice before and after the change—this often reveals a migration or newly created profile. Open a free Billing support request and attach both invoice numbers, asking them to confirm why the profile currency changed and whether a correctly configured ZAR billing profile/agreement is available. Do not create a replacement subscription until finance and Billing confirm the tax and currency consequences.

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Jerald Felix 18,760 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2026-07-14T01:43:55.1566667+00:00

Hello Zanoni Labuschagne,

Greetings! Thanks for raising this question in the Q&A forum.

The root cause here is that billing currency is not a Cost Analysis display setting, it is a property of the billing account and billing profile that gets locked in at the time that billing account was created, based on the billing address and agreement type at signup. Cost Analysis lets you toggle the currency purely for how figures are displayed to you on screen, but this has no effect on what currency your actual invoice is generated and charged in. If your invoices changed from ZAR to USD starting end of June 2026, this almost always means the billing account itself changed, commonly because a Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) billing profile was created or migrated to replace a prior agreement type (such as an expiring Enterprise Agreement or a CSP relationship), and the new billing profile was provisioned with USD instead of ZAR.

Here is how to check and correct this.

  1. Confirm your billing account type and currency

Go to

Azure Portal > Cost Management + Billing > Billing scopes

Select the relevant billing account, then check Properties. Note the Type field, it will show Microsoft Online Services Program, Enterprise Agreement, Microsoft Customer Agreement, or Microsoft Partner Agreement, and the Currency field will show what is actually locked in for that account.

  1. Check if a new billing profile was created

Under

Billing scopes > select Billing account > Billing profiles

If you see a second billing profile that did not exist before end of June, this confirms a new profile was provisioned, and the currency for that new profile is what your recent invoices are pulling from. This typically happens automatically when Microsoft transitions accounts to the Microsoft Customer Agreement.

  1. Currency cannot be edited on an existing billing profile

There is no portal control to change currency on a billing profile once it is created, this is by design since currency is fixed at billing profile creation time based on the legal address entered. Editing the address afterward does not retroactively change the currency of an already provisioned profile.

  1. If you purchase through a CSP or Microsoft partner

If your subscription is transacted through a Cloud Solution Provider rather than directly from Azure.com, currency and invoicing are controlled entirely by that partner, not by Microsoft directly. Contact your CSP partner first, since they may be able to correct the billing profile currency on their side or clarify why the change occurred.

  1. If you purchase directly and believe this was an unintended change

If you did not request this change and you purchase directly through Azure.com under an MCA, open a billing support request so Microsoft can review whether the profile was migrated in error and whether a new billing profile with ZAR can be created and your subscriptions moved to it. Currency correction on an existing profile is not self-service and requires the billing support team.

Azure Portal > Help + Support > Create a support request > Issue type: Billing

If this answer helps you kindly accept the answer which will help others who have similar questions.

Best Regards,

Jerald Felix.

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  1. Zanoni Labuschagne 50 Reputation points
    2026-07-20T15:08:18.89+00:00

    Thanks. I see it has been changed MCA, with no option to change currency. I will open a support ticket with Microsoft.

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  2. Suchitra Suregaunkar 16,780 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-07-14T09:50:43.6933333+00:00

    Hello Zanoni Labuschagne

    The Cost Analysis currency toggle is display-only it just changes how figures appear on screen and has no effect on the currency your invoice is actually issued in. The invoice currency is a fixed property of your billing profile.

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    So the currency is locked in when the billing profile is created, based on the sold-to address and agreement type at that point.

    Why yours suddenly changed from ZAR to USD at end of June 2026:

    An invoice currency doesn't flip on its own a new billing profile was almost certainly provisioned for your account, and that new profile was created in USD. The most common trigger is a transition from a previous agreement (EA, MOSP, or CSP) to a Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA), which is documented here:

    Please note that for new customers signing up directly on Azure.com under MCA, the agreement is transacted in USD in most regions which is likely why the new profile came through in USD:

    Microsoft Customer Agreement FAQ.

    How to confirm this on your side:

    1. Open Azure portal → Cost Management + Billing → Billing scopes, select the billing account, and check Properties note the Type (MOSP / EA / MCA / MPA) and the Currency field.
    2. Under the same billing account, open Billing profiles. If there's a profile that didn't exist before end of June, that's the USD one your recent invoices are coming from.
    3. Compare an old ZAR invoice and a new USD invoice the billing account ID, agreement type, and billing profile ID printed on each will confirm what changed.

    How to get invoices back in ZAR:

    Since the currency on an existing billing profile cannot be edited in the portal, the only supported path is to have your subscriptions billed under a ZAR-configured billing profile/agreement. South Africa is a supported MCA country, so a ZAR MCA profile is possible when transacted through a Microsoft seller or CSP partner (not via direct Azure.com signup, which is USD-only).

    Steps:

    1. Open a Billing support request from the Azure portal (Help + support → New support request → Issue type: Billing). Attach one old ZAR invoice number and one new USD invoice number and ask billing to:
    • Confirm which event caused the profile currency to change on that date, and
      • Advise on setting up a ZAR billing profile (via a Microsoft seller or CSP partner for South Africa) and initiating a product/billing-ownership transfer to it.
    1. Once the ZAR profile is available, use the documented transfer process to move your subscriptions:

    One important heads-up before you transfer: When a transfer involves a currency change (e.g., USD → ZAR), any savings plans do not transfer, and monthly reservations are canceled at the next monthly payment. So please download your usage/cost data and invoices first, and review reservation/savings-plan impact with your finance team before proceeding.

    The USD invoice PDF is the legal payable document and cannot be reissued in ZAR after the fact. For internal reconciliation only, your finance team can use Cost Analysis → Invoice details view with the currency toggle set to ZAR, then export.

    Hope this gives you a clear path forward. Please raise the Billing support ticket as the immediate next step only the Billing team can inspect the profile change on your account and set up the ZAR profile/transfer for you.

    If you found the comment helpful, please consider clicking "Upvote it".

    Thanks,

    Suchitra.

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