Power BI Reconciliation Tool

This page describes the functions and features of the Power BI Reconciliation Tool for Microsoft Services. Indirect and direct Microsoft CSPs can use this tool to cross-check the charges between the interworks.cloud platform and Microsoft. It compares what Microsoft charges to the CSP against the cost of the invoice items our platform has generated.

The services that can be reconciled from the tool are the following:

  • Legacy Office 365 and Dynamics offers

  • New Commerce Experience offers (with Commercial & Public Sector qualifications)

  • Azure Plans

  • Software subscriptions

The reconciliation is made per Microsoft subscription. The subscriptions that will be reconciled are the superset of the Microsoft subscriptions billed either from our system or from Microsoft in the same reconciliation period. Suppose that for the same period:

  • Our system has billed 10 Microsoft subscriptions

  • In MS reconciliation files, there are charges for 12 subscriptions

  • Only 7 of the subscriptions are common in both systems

The tool will reconcile 15 subscriptions: the 7 common subscriptions + 3 subscriptions billed from our system but not from Microsoft + 5 subscriptions billed from Microsoft but not from our system.

The reconciliation tool can be used only for subscription that are billed in the same currency Microsoft bills you. This means that customer’s base currency must be the currency you are billed from Microsoft.

Reconciliation Algorithm


This section explains the algorithm the tool uses to show the results and how the calculations are made.

The algorithms for selecting the correct items and calculating the coverage factor for the given reconciliation period are common for platform invoice items and Microsoft reconciliation file items.

  1. The selected Reconciliation Period is the key filter that starts the algorithm. The tool calculates and filters the appropriate invoice items based on the reconciliation period.

    1. For platform invoices: We collect invoice items that do not belong to canceled invoices. We collect the analytical items since the analytical lines are always linked with a single subscription.

    2. For Microsoft reconciliation lines: We collect all items that are part of the reconciliation period

  2. For the platform charges, the tool filters invoice items based on the reconciliation period by checking the invoice item's Start or End Date. For example, for the reconciliation period 01/01/2023 - 31/01/2023, the tool will collect the following items:

    1. Items that belong to invoices created between 01/12/2022 - 30/04/2023

      1. We collect the invoices created at least one month before the reconciliation period because they might have items that charge days in the reconciliation period.

      2. We collect the invoices created at most three months after the end of the reconciliation period for covering scenarios where charges were missing and were created later.

    2. The invoice item's start or end date is in the reconciliation period. Paradigms of valid invoice items for the period 01/01/2023 - 31/01/2023 are:

      1. Item for the period 14/12/2023 - 13/01/2023

      2. Item for the period 05/01/2023 - 23/01/2023

      3. Item for the period 19/01/2023 - 18/01/2024

  3. The tool calculates how many days of the invoice item’s billing period belong to the reconciliation period for defining the coverage factor. Due to the varying number of days in a month, we assume that a month always has 30 days and a year always has 365 days. If, for example, an invoice item is for the period 22/12/2022 - 21/01/2023 and the reconciliation period is from 01/01/2023 - 31/01/2023, the coverage factor will be 21 (days in recon period) / 30 = 0,7.

  4. This coverage factor is then multiplied by the item's total cost to calculate the cost for the specific reconciliation period.

  5. Since the calculations are done per Microsoft Subscription (based on Microsoft’s ID), the cost per Microsoft subscription for the given reconciliation period is calculated by aggregating all the costs of all items for this subscription.

  6. The two final costs (platform's and Microsoft’s) are compared, and the difference is displayed in the “Cost Difference” column.

Reconciling Azure Plan Subscriptions

To reconcile Azure plan subscriptions, the reconciliation period must be one or more full calendar month(s). If a different reconciliation period is specified, the Azure Plan option will not be displayed in the list of Microsoft Product Types.

e.g.:

  • January 1st to January 31st is a full calendar month, and the option will be available.

  • February 1st to April 30th is 3 full calendar months, and the option will be available.

  • May 1st to August 15th contains a fraction of a calendar month, and the option will not be available.

  • August 15th to August 30th is a fraction of a calendar month, and the option will not be available.

Azure Plan Subscriptions do not show any values for Unit Cost or Unit Price. These fields are redundant for Azure plan subscriptions, since only the totals are required in order to perform the reconciliation.

Type of Discrepancies


The tool can identify the following discrepancies since, in all the scenarios below, the total cost for a given subscription for a given period will be different between the two systems:

  1. Differences in the unit cost between our platform and Microsoft

  2. Different charge periods

  3. Differences in the number of licenses charged or refunded

  4. Missing charges in one of the two systems

Prerequisites for Activating the Reconciliation Tool


The activation can be done by your Customer Success Manager or by contacting our support department. To complete the activation, we will need from you:

  1. The credentials of an API user and your authentication keys - We suggest creating a new one specifically for the reconciliation application. We will use this user to collect invoices from your inteworks.cloud organization.

  2. A Power BI Pro user. This is the user we will invite to our Power BI Reconciliation application. You can have more than one user accessing the application, but all your users must hold a Power BI Pro license.

  3. The Microsoft reconciliation files for the last two months. The files must be unedited, as downloaded from the MPC, and in .csv format. Please check Upload your Microsoft Reconciliation Files for the naming of the files.

Upload your Microsoft Reconciliation Files


The reconciliation files obtained from MPC must be uploaded to the Sharepoint link provided by Customer Support. Please ensure that the following naming convention is followed:
Do not open or edit the files you will download from Microsoft Partner Center. The files must be unedited, as downloaded from the MPC, and in .csv format.

  • For NCE subscriptions:
    MONTHYEAR_MSRECON_NCE

  • For legacy subscriptions:
    MONTHYEAR_MSRECON_Legacy