How to Assign the Billing Account Contributor Role in Azure

The Billing Account Contributor role allows users to manage billing operations without granting full ownership permissions. This role is essential for implementing proper separation of duties in Azure cost management, enabling finance teams and cost analysts to access and manage billing data while maintaining security boundaries.

This guide explains how to assign the Billing Account Contributor role to users, service principals, and groups across different Azure billing account types including Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA), Enterprise Agreement (EA), and Microsoft Partner Agreement (MPA).

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Billing Account Owner or Billing Account Administrator permissions on the billing account
• Access to the Azure portal (portal.azure.com)
• The email address or object ID of the user, group, or service principal you want to grant access to
• Understanding of your billing account type (MCA, EA, or MPA)
• For service principals: Application (client) ID and tenant ID

Understanding the Billing Account Contributor Role

The Billing Account Contributor role provides the following permissions:

• View and download invoices and usage data
• Create and manage cost exports
• Access Cost Management and billing data
• Create and manage budgets and alerts
• View and edit billing profiles and invoice sections (MCA)
• Cannot change billing account ownership
• Cannot delete the billing account
• Cannot modify payment methods without additional permissions

Step-by-Step Guide

Method 1: Assign Role via Azure Portal

Step 1: Navigate to Cost Management + Billing

1. Sign in to the Azure portal
2. Search for Cost Management + Billing in the top search bar
3. Click on Cost Management + Billing from the results

Step 2: Select Your Billing Scope

1. In the left navigation, click on Billing scopes
2. Select the billing account where you want to assign permissions
3. Click on Access control (IAM) in the left menu

Step 3: Add Role Assignment

1. Click + Add at the top of the page

2. Select Add role assignment

3. In the Role tab:

   • Search for "Billing Account Contributor"
   • Select Billing Account Contributor
   • Click Next

4. In the Members tab:

   • Select User, group, or service principal
   • Click + Select members
   • Search for the user, group, or service principal by name or email
   • Select the member from the results
   • Click Select
   • Click Next

5. In the Review + assign tab:

   • Review your selections
   • Click Review + assign

Step 4: Verify the Assignment

1. Navigate back to Access control (IAM)
2. Click on the Role assignments tab
3. Search for the user or group you just added
4. Verify the role shows as Billing Account Contributor

Method 2: Assign Role via Azure PowerShell

# Install the Az.Billing module if not already installed
Install-Module -Name Az.Billing -Scope CurrentUser -Force

# Connect to Azure
Connect-AzAccount

# Define variables
$billingAccountName = "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012:12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012_2019-05-31"
$userEmail = "[email protected]"
$roleDefinitionName = "Billing Account Contributor"

# Get the user's object ID
$user = Get-AzADUser -UserPrincipalName $userEmail
$userObjectId = $user.Id

# Create the role assignment
New-AzRoleAssignment `
  -ObjectId $userObjectId `
  -RoleDefinitionName $roleDefinitionName `
  -Scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$billingAccountName"

# Verify the assignment
Get-AzRoleAssignment `
  -ObjectId $userObjectId `
  -Scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$billingAccountName"

Method 3: Assign Role via Azure CLI

# Sign in to Azure
az login

# Define variables
BILLING_ACCOUNT="12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012:12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012_2019-05-31"
USER_EMAIL="[email protected]"
ROLE="Billing Account Contributor"

# Get the user's object ID
USER_OBJECT_ID=$(az ad user show --id $USER_EMAIL --query id -o tsv)

# Create the role assignment
az role assignment create \
  --assignee-object-id $USER_OBJECT_ID \
  --role "$ROLE" \
  --scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$BILLING_ACCOUNT"

# Verify the assignment
az role assignment list \
  --assignee $USER_OBJECT_ID \
  --scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$BILLING_ACCOUNT" \
  --output table

Method 4: Assign to Service Principal (for Automation)

For automated cost management tools and scripts, assign the role to a service principal:

# Define variables
$billingAccountName = "your-billing-account-name"
$servicePrincipalId = "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012"  # Application ID
$roleDefinitionName = "Billing Account Contributor"

# Assign role to service principal
New-AzRoleAssignment `
  -ObjectId $servicePrincipalId `
  -RoleDefinitionName $roleDefinitionName `
  -Scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$billingAccountName"

Assigning at Different Scopes

Billing Profile Scope (MCA only)

For more granular control, assign at the billing profile level:

# Billing profile scope
az role assignment create \
  --assignee-object-id $USER_OBJECT_ID \
  --role "Billing Profile Contributor" \
  --scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$BILLING_ACCOUNT/billingProfiles/$BILLING_PROFILE"

Invoice Section Scope (MCA only)

For department-level billing management:

# Invoice section scope
az role assignment create \
  --assignee-object-id $USER_OBJECT_ID \
  --role "Invoice Section Contributor" \
  --scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$BILLING_ACCOUNT/billingProfiles/$BILLING_PROFILE/invoiceSections/$INVOICE_SECTION"

Best Practices

1. Use Groups Instead of Individual Users

Assign roles to Azure AD groups rather than individual users for easier management:

# Create a group for billing contributors
$groupName = "Azure-Billing-Contributors"
$group = Get-AzADGroup -DisplayName $groupName

# Assign role to group
New-AzRoleAssignment `
  -ObjectId $group.Id `
  -RoleDefinitionName "Billing Account Contributor" `
  -Scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$billingAccountName"

2. Implement Just-In-Time Access

Use Azure AD Privileged Identity Management (PIM) for time-limited access:

• Configure eligible assignments instead of permanent ones
• Require justification for activation
• Set maximum activation duration (e.g., 8 hours)
• Enable approval workflow for sensitive billing accounts

3. Apply Principle of Least Privilege

Assign roles at the most specific scope necessary:

• Use Invoice Section Contributor for department-level access
• Use Billing Profile Contributor for business unit access
• Reserve Billing Account Contributor for organization-wide needs

4. Document Role Assignments

Maintain documentation of who has billing access and why:

# Export all billing role assignments to CSV
Get-AzRoleAssignment -Scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$billingAccountName" |
  Select-Object DisplayName, SignInName, RoleDefinitionName, Scope |
  Export-Csv -Path "billing-role-assignments.csv" -NoTypeInformation

5. Enable Audit Logging

Ensure activity logs are enabled to track billing changes:

# Configure diagnostic settings for billing account
$billingAccountId = "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$billingAccountName"
$logAnalyticsWorkspaceId = "/subscriptions/<subscription-id>/resourceGroups/<rg-name>/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/<workspace-name>"

Set-AzDiagnosticSetting `
  -ResourceId $billingAccountId `
  -WorkspaceId $logAnalyticsWorkspaceId `
  -Enabled $true `
  -Name "BillingAccountAuditLogs"

6. Regular Access Reviews

Schedule quarterly reviews of billing permissions:

# List all users with billing roles
Get-AzRoleAssignment -Scope "/providers/Microsoft.Billing/billingAccounts/$billingAccountName" |
  Where-Object { $_.RoleDefinitionName -like "*Billing*" } |
  Format-Table DisplayName, RoleDefinitionName, SignInName

Troubleshooting

Issue: "You do not have permission to add role assignment"

Cause: You lack Billing Account Owner or Administrator permissions.

Solution:

1. Verify your current role:

   Get-AzRoleAssignment -SignInName "[email protected]" |
     Where-Object { $_.Scope -like "*billingAccounts*" }
   

2. Contact your Billing Account Owner to grant you Owner permissions or have them assign the role on your behalf

Issue: "Cannot find billing account"

Cause: Incorrect billing account name or insufficient permissions.

Solution:

1. List available billing accounts:

   az billing account list --output table
   

2. Verify you have access to the billing account:

   az billing account show --name $BILLING_ACCOUNT
   

Issue: "User not found in directory"

Cause: User doesn't exist in Azure AD or incorrect email address.

Solution:

1. Verify the user exists:

   az ad user show --id [email protected]
   

2. For guest users, ensure they've accepted the B2B invitation
3. Use the user's object ID instead of email:

   az role assignment create --assignee-object-id <object-id> --role "Billing Account Contributor" --scope <scope>
   

Issue: Role assignment succeeds but user cannot access billing data

Cause: Permissions can take up to 30 minutes to propagate.

Solution:

1. Wait 30 minutes and try again
2. Have the user sign out and sign back in
3. Clear browser cache
4. Verify the assignment exists:

   Get-AzRoleAssignment -ObjectId $userObjectId
   

Issue: Service principal cannot access Cost Management API

Cause: Service principal needs additional API permissions.

Solution:

1. Grant the service principal the Billing Account Contributor role
2. Ensure the service principal has the correct API permissions in Azure AD:
   • Navigate to Azure AD > App registrations > Your app > API permissions
   • Add "Azure Cost Management" API permissions
   • Grant admin consent

Next Steps

After assigning the Billing Account Contributor role, consider these related tasks:

1. Set up cost exports: How to Enable Cost Management Export to Azure Storage
2. Create budgets and alerts: How to Set Up Cost Alerts and Budgets in Azure
3. Configure IAM for cost data: How to Grant IAM Roles for Azure Cost Management Data Export
4. Secure billing data: How to Secure Cost Management Data in Azure Storage and Synapse

Related Resources

• Azure billing roles documentation
• Azure RBAC built-in roles
• Manage access to billing information