What happened
On June 17, 2026, Microsoft made an updated Microsoft Partner Agreement (MPA) available for preview in Partner Center. The MPA is the contract that governs how Cloud Solution Provider partners resell Microsoft cloud services.
For most partners, the revised agreement takes effect automatically on December 1, 2026, with no signature or acknowledgment needed. Partners may also accept it earlier in Partner Center, in which case it applies from the date of acceptance.
The exception is direct bill and distributor partners in France. Their agreement runs on a fixed annual term, so they must explicitly accept the new terms in Partner Center between December 1, 2026 and February 28, 2027. Microsoft warned that missing that window could let the agreement expire and interrupt their ability to transact.
Microsoft also released an updated CSP Program Guide, which applies to all direct bill and distributor partners from December 1, 2026, again with no action required. The company said both documents were revised to reflect current business practices and its commitments on privacy, security, compliance and transparency. Separate versions of the MPA are posted for direct bill and distributor partners and for indirect resellers, along with a summary of changes.
What it means for the books
An automatic effective date makes it easy for a contract change to pass unread. MSPs that resell Microsoft licensing can download the summary of changes for their partner type and file it with their vendor agreements, noting the December 1 date.
It is worth comparing any revised terms on billing, payment, customer agreements or data handling against the terms in the MSP's own client contracts, since those often mirror the vendor's obligations. Indirect resellers that buy through a distributor may also see related updates from that distributor and can review both together.
Firms with French entities or operations that bill Microsoft directly have a hard acceptance deadline of February 28, 2027, which belongs on the compliance calendar.
News is summarized in our own words from the source linked above, which has the full details.