If you've been using Microsoft Copilot to draft emails and summarise meetings, it's likely become part of your team's daily workflow. Now Microsoft has made it much more capable: Copilot can take on whole tasks from start to finish, not just help with them.
That's good news for a stretched team, and it comes with a new way of paying for the bigger jobs.
Microsoft originally planned to switch Copilot credits on by default from 1 December 2026, but that date has been pushed back. Between January and March 2027, new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licences will come with pay-as-you-go credits switched on by default, up to $40 (around £30) per user, per month. For a 50-person business on the defaults, that's up to $2,000 (around £1,480) a month.
The delay gives you a little more time to set limits that match how you'll actually use it.
The reassuring part is that your licence still covers everyday Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Only the new task-based features use credits, and Microsoft gives you the controls to cap and monitor that spend from day one.
Why I'm writing this
I've spent over 25 years in IT, and today my focus is endpoint management: the devices, accounts and settings that Copilot relies on. I've seen first-hand how strongly those foundations influence both the value you get from Copilot and what you end up paying.
Below, I'll explain what's changed, what it could cost and how to stay in control.
Copilot can now do the work, not just help with it
Until recently, Copilot has mostly been an assistant. You ask, it answers, you do the rest. The new features Microsoft announced in September change that:
- Copilot Cowork takes a task from start to finish. Ask it to prepare you for a customer meeting, and it pulls together your emails, files and calendar, then hands back a briefing note, a slide deck and a draft follow-up email.
- Copilot Code turns a plain-English idea into a working tracker, dashboard or simple app.
- Autopilot (was Scout) is a digital teammate that keeps work moving in the background, within the permissions you set.
For a small business, that could mean hours back every week on the jobs nobody enjoys: chasing updates, preparing reports, sorting out the calendar.
Because these features do more work, Microsoft has introduced a new pricing model for them.
How you pay for It
Your licence covers everyday Copilot, while credits pay for the heavier lifting.
Your existing per-user licence still covers day-to-day Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. The new task-based features, such as Cowork, use Copilot Credits at $0.01 (under 1p) each.
Like a utility meter, bigger jobs use more credits, so a full meeting pack built from dozens of files costs more than a quick request.
You can buy credits in two ways:
- Pay-as-you-go: you're billed only for what you use. This is the best place to start because it shows what real usage looks like.
- Prepaid credits: these cost less, with discounts for buying a year up front, and suit businesses once usage becomes predictable.
What changes in early 2027
Between January and March 2027 (Microsoft's FY27 Q3), new Copilot Business licences will have credits switched on by default, with a cap of 4,000 credits ($40) per user, per month.
That lets your team try the new features without a separate billing setup, but it also means spending can start without anyone choosing it.
The table below shows the maximum that credits could add to your bill if every user reached the default cap.
| Team Size | Maximum Per Month | Maximum Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 10 users | $400 (approx. £300) | $4,800 (approx. £3,550) |
| 25 users | $1,000 (approx. £740) | $12,000 (approx. £8,880) |
| 50 users | $2,000 (approx. £1,480) | $24,000 (approx. £17,760) |
| 100 users | $4,000 (approx. £2,960) | $48,000 (approx. £35,520) |
These are ceilings, not forecasts, and many users won't reach the cap.
Your administrator can also:
- Raise or lower the cap
- Set different limits for different people
- Restrict who can use credit-based features
- Switch credits off entirely
If you make no decision, Microsoft's defaults apply.
If you decide first, your settings do.
How to monitor and control costs
Microsoft makes the meter easy to watch. Its built-in controls cover the essentials:
| Control | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Spending limits | Caps spend for the whole business, for teams or for individuals |
| Access controls | Decides who can use credit-based features |
| Usage alerts | Emails whoever you choose as usage nears a limit |
| Cost dashboard | Shows who is using credits, on what, and how usage is trending |
| User visibility | Shows each person how many credits a task used and how many they have left |
Users are warned before they reach a limit, and everyday Copilot keeps working regardless.
Nothing gets quietly billed, and nothing gets quietly switched off.
A sensible starting point
If you're not sure where to begin:
1. Start with a small pilot group on a modest cap.
2. Send alerts to someone in IT or finance who will act on them.
3. Review usage monthly and adjust the limits.
Before you switch anything on: A readiness checklist
In my experience, new technology rarely causes the biggest problems; old permissions do.
Copilot can see anything a user already has access to, so years of forgotten sharing will surface quickly. That's simply how most Microsoft 365 environments grow over time.
Work through this checklist with your IT team or provider.
☐ MFA is on for every user
A compromised account exposes everything that user can reach through Copilot.
☐ Old SharePoint and OneDrive links have been reviewed
Pay particular attention to historic "anyone with the link" shares and forgotten project folders.
☐ Sensitive information is identified and labelled
Make sure access is restricted to the people who need it.
☐ Permissions follow least privilege
People should only see what they genuinely need.
☐ Staff know how to use Copilot well
That includes checking its work before anything goes to a customer and knowing where human judgement stays essential.
☐ Someone owns Copilot governance
This covers spending controls, permission reviews and ongoing oversight.
A word on AI models in the UK
Copilot uses models from more than one provider.
In the UK, Anthropic's Claude models are switched off by default. Copilot Cowork runs on OpenAI's GPT models, so you can start using it without changing any settings.
Your administrator can switch Claude on for the whole business or for chosen teams. Claude remains covered by Microsoft's contractual and data protection commitments.
However, Claude currently sits outside Microsoft's EU Data Boundary. If you have regulatory, contractual or data residency requirements:
- Assess it carefully before switching it on
- Pilot it with a small group
- Record why you made the decision
How Babble helps
Getting real value from Copilot depends on everything around it: identity, security, permissions, licensing and adoption. That's where we come in.
We’ll work alongside your existing MSP or IT team to implement Copilot and configure it correctly for your organisation, rather than replacing them. Your account manager will then check in regularly to make sure everything stays aligned.
| What We Do | What It Means for You |
|---|---|
| Supply | Copilot licences and credits on one clear bill, alongside the rest of your Microsoft 365 if you already buy it from us. |
| Set Up | We tighten permissions and security first, then configure Copilot, spending limits, access and alerts to suit your business. |
| Get Your Team Using It | We help you identify high-value use cases, train a small group of champions and roll out from there. |
| Keep It in Check | We can review usage and costs, flag anything unusual and tell you when prepaid credits would save your money |
New to Copilot? You may be eligible for Microsoft's 30-day trial for up to 25 users. We'll set it up, agree what success looks like and make sure nothing renews unless you want it to.
Decide before the defaults decide for you
The new Copilot features are a real step forward.
The businesses that benefit most will be the ones that set their limits and tidy their foundations before the change arrives in January.
A good place to start is a free SmartCheck scan of your Microsoft 365. It reviews your security and sharing settings, flags critical misconfigurations and spots inactive licences.
You'll know what to fix, where you could save money and what needs attention before Copilot adds anything new to the bill.
Get the foundations right, and Copilot becomes a capability your business can rely on, with costs you control.
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