Which accounts are considered billable accounts in SaaS Alerts?

Overview

SaaS Alerts determines billable status separately from monitoring. Non-billable accounts are still fully monitored—they generate logs, trigger alerts, and appear in security reports. The billable flag only affects licensing costs, not monitoring scope.

With those principles in mind, the sections below explain which accounts are considered billable in SaaS Alerts and the criteria used across all monitored products.

NOTE  Billing rules are subject to change as SaaS Alerts continues to refine its policies. This document reflects the current implementation as of January 2026. Partners will be notified of any significant changes to billing criteria.

Quick reference: What's billable vs. monitored

Account type Billable Monitored (logs/alerts)
Standard licensed user Yes

Yes
Guest/external user

No

Yes
Non-licensed account No

Yes
Suspended (Google) No

Yes
Archived (Google) No

Yes
Shared/room mailbox

No

Yes
Service account

No

Limited
MSP domain user (MSP partners)

No

Yes

Global Administrator

Yes (always)

Yes

General billable criteria (all products)

An account is BILLABLE if ALL of the following are true:

  • Account is enabled: Sign-in is not blocked

  • Account is not deleted: No deletion timestamp

  • Account has a partner domain: Properly associated with a customer

  • Account is not a service account: Not a system/automation account

  • Passes product-specific checks: See product sections below

  • Does not match any billing exception: See Exceptions section

Microsoft 365 (MS365/Office 365)

Billable accounts

A Microsoft account is billable if:

  • Account is enabled (sign-in allowed)

  • Account has a paid license assigned (at least one non-trial SKU)

  • Account is not a guest/external user

  • Account does not match any email pattern exceptions

  • Account is not from the MSP's own domain (for MSP partners)

Non-billable Microsoft accounts

Category How identified Still monitored?
Guest/external account userType = 'Guest' or #ext# in UPN

Yes
Non-licensed account

isPaidLicense = false (no paid SKU assigned)

Yes
Sync account Email starts with "sync" or "adtoaadsyncserviceaccount"

Yes
Service account Flagged as service account

Limited
MSP domain user Email matches MSP's registered domain (MSP partners only)

Yes
Shared/room mailbox

Exchange mailbox type is not UserMailbox

Yes
Health mailbox

Email starts with "HealthMailbox"

Yes
System mailbox

Email starts with "SystemMailbox", "FederatedEmail", "Migration", "DiscoverySearchMailbox"

Yes

Microsoft Admin roles

All Microsoft admin roles are treated identically for billing purposes. Admin role assignment does NOT affect whether an account is billable.

The following admin roles are billable (if the account meets standard billable criteria) AND monitored:

  • Global Administrator

  • Privileged Role Administrator

  • User Administrator

  • Groups Administrator

  • Security Administrator

  • Security Reader

  • Compliance Administrator

  • Compliance Data Administrator

  • Exchange Administrator

  • SharePoint Administrator

  • Teams Administrator

  • Intune Administrator

  • Cloud App Administrator

  • Application Administrator

  • Billing Administrator

  • License Administrator

  • Service Support Administrator

  • Global Reader

  • Reports Reader

  • Any other admin role

IMPORTANT  Special case - Global Administrators: Global Admin accounts are always billable for ALL partner types, regardless of licensing status or other factors. This ensures that privileged accounts with tenant-wide administrative access are always monitored and accounted for.

Microsoft license determination

The system uses JSONata rules to evaluate Microsoft SKU assignments:

  • An account is considered "licensed" if it has at least one non-trial, paid SKU assigned

  • Trial SKUs alone do not count as licensed

  • If any assigned SKU is paid (even if other trial SKUs exist), the user is licensed

  • Common paid SKUs include: Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Office 365 E1/E3/E5, etc.

Exchange mailbox types (non-billable)

The following Exchange mailbox types are excluded from billing:

  • DiscoveryMailbox

  • EquipmentMailbox

  • LegacyMailbox

  • LinkedMailbox

  • LinkedRoomMailbox

  • RoomMailbox

  • SchedulingMailbox

  • SharedMailbox

  • TeamMailbox

NOTE  SaaS Alerts recommends that whenever possible these mailbox types should have direct sign-in blocked, and users should access the mailbox through group membership permissions. See Microsoft's documentation on managing shared mailboxes.

Google Workspace

Billable accounts

A Google Workspace account is billable if:

  • Account is active (not suspended)

  • Account is not archived

  • Account is not a service account

  • Account is not from the MSP's own domain (for MSP partners)

Non-billable Google accounts

Category How identified Still monitored?
Suspended account isSuspended = true

Yes
Archived account

isArchived = true

Yes
Service account Flagged as service account

Limited
MSP domain user Email matches MSP's registered domain

Yes

NOTE  Google archived accounts cannot sign in but are retained at reduced cost. These are non-billable in SaaS Alerts.

Salesforce

Billable accounts

A Salesforce account is billable if:

  • Account is enabled

  • Account is not a service user type

  • Account is not deleted

Non-billable Salesforce accounts

The following Salesforce user types are excluded:

  • AutomatedProcess

  • CloudIntegrationUser

  • CsnOnly

  • Service accounts

Slack

Billable accounts

A Slack account is billable if:

  • Account is enabled

  • Account is not deleted

  • Account is not a service account

Dropbox

Billable accounts

A Dropbox account is billable if:

  • Account is enabled

  • Account is not deleted

  • Account is not a service account

RMM and MSP tools

The following integrations are never billable for MSP partners:

  • Datto RMM

  • Syncro RMM

  • N-central

  • Kaseya VSA

  • Kaseya VSA 10

  • ConnectWise Automate

  • IT Glue

  • NinjaOne

Reason: These are management tools for MSP operations, not end-user licensing.

NOTE  For MME/IIT partners, MSP tools ARE billable.

Billing exceptions (email patterns)

The following email patterns are automatically excluded from billing across all products:

Pattern Description Example
HealthMailbox* Microsoft health monitoring

HealthMailbox123abc@contoso.com
QBDataServiceUser*

QuickBooks service accounts

QBDataServiceUser01@contoso.com
*@app.sherpadesk.com SherpaDesk MSP accounts

support@app.sherpadesk.com
package_* Bulk Intune enrollment

package_abc123-def456@contoso.com
adtoaadsyncserviceaccount* AD sync service

adtoaadsyncserviceaccount@contoso.onmicrosoft.com
room*, shared*, noreply*, donotreply*, no-reply*

Shared/room mailboxes

shared.mailbox@contoso.com
SystemMailbox*, FederatedEmail*, Migration*, DiscoverySearchMailbox*

System mailboxes

SystemMailbox{GUID}@contoso.com

MSP partner benefits

NFR (Not-For-Resale) domain

Each MSP partner receives one NFR domain—the same domain used to register their SaaS Alerts account. All users under this domain are excluded from billing.

Example: If an MSP registers with msp-company.com, all users with emails ending in @msp-company.com or @msp-company.onmicrosoft.com are non-billable.

MSP tools exception

MSP administrative tools (RMM, documentation, etc.) are never billable for MSP partners, allowing MSPs to monitor their own operational infrastructure without incurring per-user costs.

MME (Mid-Market Enterprise) partners

MME/IIT partners have different billing rules:

1. No NFR domain exclusion: All domains are billable

2. No MSP tools exclusion: MSP tools users are billable

3. Guest accounts still non-billable: External/guest users remain non-billable

NOTE  Global Admins are always billable for ALL partner types (MSP and MME/IIT alike).

Other frequently asked questions

Are guest accounts still monitored?

Yes. Guest/external accounts are non-billable but continue to generate full audit logs and security alerts. This is essential for security monitoring of external collaborators and potential threats.

Do non-licensed accounts generate logs and alerts?

Yes. The isBillable flag is strictly for billing purposes. Non-licensed accounts are still:

  • Fully monitored for security events

  • Generating audit logs

  • Triggering alerts based on configured rules

  • Visible in dashboards and reports

Why might we see no logs for a newly non-billable account?

If you notice missing logs for accounts that recently became non-billable, this is likely a separate issue unrelated to billable status. Possible causes:

  • Account was disabled (sign-in blocked)

  • Account was deleted

  • Sync delay after license removal

  • API connectivity issues

Action: Open a support ticket to investigate missing logs.

Are admin accounts treated differently?

Admin accounts follow the same billable rules as regular accounts. However, Global Administrator accounts are always billable for all partner types, regardless of license status. This ensures privileged accounts with tenant-wide access are always tracked.

What about other products (not listed)?

For any product not specifically listed, the general billable criteria apply:

  • Account must be enabled

  • Account must not be deleted

  • Account must not be a service account

  • Account must not be from the MSP's domain (for MSP partners)

Technical reference

Billable status priority

Billing exceptions are evaluated in this order:

  1. Email pattern exceptions (highest priority): Always non-billable

  2. Guest/external users: Always non-billable

  3. Global Administrators: Always billable (all partner types)

  4. License status: Non-licensed = non-billable

  5. Exchange mailbox type: Non-user mailboxes = non-billable

  6. Standard checks: Account enabled, not deleted, not service account, not MSP domain

Related systems

  • Billing reports: Aggregate billable counts at partner and customer levels

  • Billing snapshots: Historical records of billable user counts

  • License sync: Regular sync with vendor APIs to update license status

Support

For questions about billing status or missing accounts, contact SaaS Alerts support with:

  • Partner ID

  • Customer/organization name

  • Specific user emails in question

  • Expected vs. actual billable status