Reconciliation ReferenceId date updates

On this page4 sections

1. What's changing
2. Why this change is happening
3. Partner impact
4. Required partner action

Impacted audience

Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) direct bill partners and distributors.

Effective June 15, 2026, the ReferenceId attribute in Billed Reconciliation and Unbilled Reconciliation files will be updated to use a structured JSON format.

What's changing

• The ReferenceId value will be updated to the following structured JSON format:

{ "osId": "ab12Cdef-GiJ3-ab12-Cdef-ab12CdefGiJ3", "id": "ab12CdefGiJ3", "v": 2 }

Date update Microsoft is updating the effective date for the previously announced change to the ReferenceId attribute in reconciliation files.

• Original effective date: April 15, 2026
• New effective date: June 15, 2026

This change applies to:

• Billed Reconciliation files
• Unbilled Reconciliation files

The change was originally announced on March 11, 2026. Based on partner feedback requesting additional time for readiness, Microsoft is extending the timeline to help partners plan, test, and deploy updates.

Why this change is happening

This update is part of Microsoft’s broader effort to standardize identifiers and improve traceability across billing and reconciliation workflows.

Specifically, the structured ReferenceId:

• Improves consistency when correlating records across billing systems
• Enables version awareness, reducing ambiguity as reconciliation formats evolve
• Lays the groundwork for future enhancements without requiring disruptive changes

This approach aligns with Microsoft’s ongoing focus on strengthening partner supportability and system reliability, as outlined in the Validate your support capabilities and prepare for the future of partner support (UfP) announcement.

Partner impact

• Partners who parse or process ReferenceId as a string must update their logic to handle the JSON structure.
• Billing logic, pricing, charges, and invoice totals are not impacted.
• Download locations and access methods remain unchanged.

Required partner action

• Review and update any reconciliation processing or reporting solutions to support the new ReferenceId JSON format before June 15, 2026.