Under usage-based billing, your enterprise's included AI credits are pooled and shared across all licensed users. Without budget controls in place, a single heavy user or automated agent session can consume a disproportionate share of the pool early in the billing cycle, leaving less for everyone else.
This tutorial walks you through the recommended setup steps in order. Complete them as soon as usage-based billing is available for your enterprise.
Before you begin, make sure you understand how the four budget controls work and how the system evaluates them. See Budgets for usage-based billing.
Observação
If your enterprise was using Copilot before June 1, 2026, you are on a promotional period (June–August 2026) where your included AI credits are higher than the standard amounts. When the promotional period ends on September 1, 2026, the shared pool will be smaller. Use this period to understand your team's baseline consumption and adjust your spending limits before the transition. See Cobrança baseada em uso para organizações e empresas for the standard and promotional amounts.
Step 1: Set a universal user-level budget
The universal user-level budget (ULB) is the single most important control. It caps how much any one user can consume per billing cycle—from both the shared pool and any additional metered usage—and applies automatically to every licensed user in your enterprise.
Set the universal ULB above the per-license value (US$ 19 for Copilot Business, US$ 39 for Copilot Enterprise). Setting it above the per-license value lets pooling work as intended: heavier users can draw from lighter users' unused portions, rather than being capped at exactly their own license value.
For step-by-step instructions, see Definir orçamentos para controlar gastos com produtos limitados.
Step 2: Identify your power users and set individual overrides
Once you have a universal ULB in place, review your AI usage dashboard to identify your heaviest consumers. Users who consistently need more capacity than the universal default—for example, developers running frequent agent sessions or working with large codebases—may be blocked unnecessarily if their limit is too low.
For these users, set an individual user-level budget override. Individual overrides take precedence over the universal default. You can increase or decrease the limit for a specific user without affecting anyone else.
Dica
If you're setting up budgets for the first time and don't yet have usage data, start with a universal ULB that feels reasonable for your organization and revisit after your first billing cycle. Your AI usage dashboard will give you the data you need to tune individual overrides.
Step 3: Set an enterprise spending limit
The enterprise spending limit caps your total metered charges after the shared pool is exhausted. It doesn't affect how users draw from the pool, it only applies once the pool runs out and usage moves to pay-as-you-go.
See Sizing your spending limits for guidance on calculating the right amount for your enterprise.
Step 4: Enable "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" on every spending limit
By default, reaching a spending limit sends a notification but does not stop usage. Charges continue to accrue without a cap until you manually intervene.
To turn your spending limit into a hard stop, enable "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" on every spending limit you create: enterprise-level and cost center-level. When enabled, metered usage is blocked when the limit is reached rather than allowed to continue. User-level budgets don't require this step—they always enforce a hard stop automatically.
Importante
Without "Stop usage when budget limit is reached" enabled, your spending limits are alerts only, not guardrails. Always enable it when creating a spending limit.
Step 5: Monitor regularly
Once your budgets are in place, check your AI usage dashboard at least monthly. Look for:
- Users getting blocked early in the cycle: Your universal ULB is too restrictive, or that a power user needs an individual override.
- Metered charges appearing unexpectedly: The pool is being exhausted before the end of the cycle. Consider whether usage patterns have changed and whether your spending limits need adjusting.
- Pool lasting all month with no blocked users: This is the target state. Your budgets are well-sized.
Next steps
- To go deeper on budget configuration for your organization's structure, see Optimizing your budget configuration.