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Extend your Microsoft 365 subscription end date with an Extended Service Term (EST)

If your Microsoft 365 subscription is about to end, you can extend your subscription with an Extended Service Term (EST) to get extra time to decide about renewal without disrupting your service. This option provides month-to-month continuation while you determine your organization's subscription needs.

If you don't renew your subscription by the renewal date, you can now select a paid EST option. EST lets you continue service on a month-to-month basis until you cancel or convert to a standard subscription.

This article applies only to customers with a Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) billing account type. You can only convert to an EST subscription if you have a subscription bought under an MCA billing account.

Before you begin

  • Find out what type of billing account you have.

  • You must have an MCA billing account type and have the billing account owner or contributor role, or the billing profile owner or contributor role to complete the tasks in this article.

    Note

    If you're the person who signed up for the subscription, you're automatically a billing account owner.

Available options when your subscription ends

When a subscription reaches the end of its term, you have three options for what to do next.

  1. Renew on time

    To continue your subscription without service interruption, renew your subscription before the end date. To learn how to renew your subscription, see Manage recurring billing in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

    You can make scheduled changes to your subscription term as needed.

  2. Cancel at the end of your subscription term

    When you cancel at the end of your existing subscription term, there are no extra charges. The subscription ends immediately on the subscription end date. Your data is retained for 90 days and then permanently deleted, following the standard subscription lifecycle. To learn how to cancel your subscription, see Cancel your subscription in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

  3. Extend your service with a paid Extended Service Term (EST) subscription

    You can convert to a monthly, paid EST subscription to maintain your services while you decide whether to renew. At any time, you can cancel the EST subscription or convert back to a standard subscription. Charges for EST subscriptions are prorated, so you only pay for the days you use the subscription. To learn how to buy an EST subscription, see Convert to an Extended Service Term subscription, in the next section.

    Pricing for an EST subscription is 3% higher than the standard subscription monthly rate.

    Note

    While you have an EST subscription, you can't change the number of licenses in your subscription. You also can't change the EST subscription type. For example, you can't change from a Microsoft 365 Business Basic Extended Service Term to a Microsoft 365 Business Standard Extended Service Term.

Convert to an Extended Service Term subscription

To convert to an EST subscription, you must currently have an active subscription. If your subscription already expired, you must reactivate it. For more information, see Reactivate your subscription in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

  1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.

    • If you’re using the Simplified view, select Billing.
    • If you’re using the Dashboard view, go to the Billing > Your products page.

  2. Select the subscription that you want to manage.

  3. On the subscription details page, select Edit recurring billing.

  4. In the Renew or cancel this subscription panel, select Schedule a change to an extended service term.

  5. In the Change to an extended service term panel, review the details and select Change Plan.

  6. The Renew Subscription panel opens. Select Yes to schedule the change to convert to an Extended Service Term subscription at the end of the term.

You can review these changes in the Scheduled Changes section on the selected subscription details page.

Understand the differences between regular subscriptions and EST subscriptions

An EST subscription functions similarly to a standard subscription but there are a few differences. The following table explains the capabilities available for EST subscriptions.

Manage Actions Regular subscription EST subscription
Change quantity Yes No
Change term Yes No
Change billing plan Yes No
Set a scheduled change on renewal Yes Yes
Cancel Yes Yes
Renew Yes Yes
Convert to EST Yes N/A
Disable at term end Yes Yes
Reactivate Yes Yes

Related content

Manage recurring billing in the Microsoft 365 admin center (article)
Cancel your subscription in the Microsoft 365 admin center (article)
What happens to my data and access when my Microsoft 365 for business subscription ends? (article)

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