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Properly Setting Up Your Azure Account  

When Microsoft issues Azure credits to startups, the credit offer is always issued to an individual and tied to that person’s Microsoft Account (MSA) (for example, sally.sue@gmail.com). This is expected and required. 

However, if no additional setup is completed after activating the credits, the Azure environment may remain: 

  • Owned only by an individual
  • Missing a company identity
  • Difficult to manage as your team grows
  • Misaligned with Microsoft support, billing, and future go-to-market opportunities 

The goal of this guide is to help you ensure that: 

  • Your company (for example, Contoso Ltd.) is clearly established in Microsoft
  • Administrative control isn't dependent on a single person
  • Your Azure tenant, usage, and identity are properly configured for scale
  • You're set up correctly for future Microsoft partnership and GTM motions 

Note: if this wasn’t completed before you began building on Azure, it’s important to take care of it as soon as possible—and definitely before joining CAIPP and creating a Partner Center account to begin your go-to-market journey with Microsoft.

What You'll Accomplish by Following These Steps 

By completing the steps below, your startup will: 

  • Retain the required individual-based credit activation
  • Establish a company-backed Entra ID tenant (formerly called Azure Active Directory).
  • Use a custom company domain (for example, @contoso.com)
  • Ensure the individual who activated credits has the correct admin permissions
  • Avoid common Azure support and account ownership issues
  • Reduce the likelihood of support tickets during onboarding.

Prerequisites 

Before starting, confirm that: 

  • You have received the email informing you of your Microsoft for Startup credit offer or are able to see that you have a credit offer ready to redeem in the Microsoft for Startup Portal.
  • One individual (for example, a founder) has access to the email address used for credit activation
  • Your company owns (or plans to own) a domain name (for example, contoso.com)

Step-by-Step Setup Guide 

Step 1: Activate the Azure Sponsorship Offer
The individual who received the credit offer must activate it using their Microsoft Account (MSA). An MSA is a personal login—created with an email address such as gmail.com, hotmail.com, or live.com—used to sign into Microsoft consumer and individual service accounts. It's tied to an individual, not a company. 

  • Example: sally.sue@gmail.com
  • This step must be done by an individual (not a company account) 

Follow the activation instructions for the Azure Credit Offer 

Please Note: If you’re unsure which Microsoft account (MSA) was used to activate your credits, you can identify it by following these steps: 

  1. Go to the Azure Portal. 
  2. Try signing in with any Microsoft account you may have used (for example, a personal email address). 
  3. Once signed in, open Subscriptions. 
  4. Look for a subscription type such as Azure Sponsorship.

If a sponsorship subscription appears, the account you used to sign in is the MSA that was used to activate your credits. 

If you're unable to determine which account was used to activate your credits, you can also submit a support ticket to the Microsoft for Startups Support Team, and they'll help identify the account for you. 

If you need to move your credits to a different account, you'll need to complete an entitlement transfer by submitting a support ticket to the Microsoft for Startups Program Support Team. 

Expected result:

  • An Entra Tenant is created and linked to the MSA, but the Entra Tenant verified or associated with your company
  • Azure subscription is created and linked to the Entra Tenant with the MSA as the Owner
  • Credits are successfully applied the subscription linked to the billing profile associated with your Entra Tenant, associated with your MSA.
    • Note: If you have an existing pay‑as‑you‑go subscription, credits won't be applied. If you used the same MSA to activate your credit offer To use your credits on that subscription, you'll need to link your subscriptions to the same billing profile. You can request this to be done by submitting an Azure support request.  

Important: Don't start building workloads yet. Complete the steps below first.

Step 2: Create a Second Administrative Account
Next, you should create a second administrative account—either for yourself or a cofounder—and elevate its permissions to administrator level to prevent potential lockout. This is commonly referred to as a “break-glass account.” 
Instructions: Add or change Azure subscription administrators 

Expected result:

  • Secondary Administrator should be elevated to Global Admin and has the privileges to update accounts and permissions
  • You’re able to log into Azure using either the MSA or the Break-Glass Account

Step 3: Add Your Company Custom Domain to Azure 
Next, you’ll associate your company’s identity with your Azure tenant by adding a custom domain.

This ensures your Azure environment reflects your organization, not just the individual. 

Instructions: Manage user domains
What you’ll do:

  • Add your company domain (for example, contoso.com) to Azure Active Directory (Entra ID) 
  • Verify domain ownership via DNS

Expected result:

  • Your Azure tenant now recognizes your company domain
  • You can create users like admin@contoso.com

Step 4: Update Users to Corporate Domain  Now, ensure the individual who activated the credits is formally added as a user in the Azure tenant. 
*Note: Do NOT update the MSA UPN, only update the secondary administrator (Break-Glass) account 

Instructions: Create or delete users 
  What you’ll do:

Expected result: 

  • The individual is recognized as a member of the Corporate Tenant
  • Access is no longer implicit or fragile
  • New users can be added via their corporate email IDs.
  • Your corporate Domain is the Primary Domain in Entra.  

Final Checklist (Quick Reference) 

Before you start building on Azure, confirm: 

  • Azure credits are activated
  • Company custom domain is added and verified
  • Individual MSA is added as a tenant user
  • Proper admin permissions are assigned 
    If all boxes are checked — you're ready to build! 

FAQ

What does following this guide prevent?

Following this guide helps you avoid: 

  • Azure subscriptions locked to a former employee
  • Support cases blocked due to unclear ownership
  • GTM and co-sell delays with Microsoft
  • Identity and access issues as your team scales 

Who at the startup should do this? 

  • Startup founders
  • Early engineering leads
  • Anyone responsible for cloud, security, or partnerships 

What if I can't remember which account I used to activate my credit offer?

If you're unable to determine which account was used to activate your credits, you can also submit a support ticket to the Microsoft for Startups Support Team, and they'll help identify the account for you.

What if I need to move my credits to a different account?

If you need to move your credits to a different account, you'll need to submit an entitlement transfer request by submitting a support ticket to the Microsoft for Startups Program Support Team.

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