Can't create a billing account while activating the Microsoft 365 E5 Sandbox through Developer subscription

MT 0 Reputation points
2026-10-20T15:50:24.7733333+00:00

Hi All,

I have joined the M365 developer program using my corporate account.

As a mandate for creating the Microsoft 365 E5 sandbox a billing account needs to be created.

When I try to create the billing account, I get the attached message.

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I have already tried to create the same using my personal outlook account, but it seems the personal accounts are no more allowed to create the developer subscription accounts.

Has anyone ran into the similar issue, and if someone can help in resolving this?

Thanks in advance!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Development | Microsoft 365 Developer Program
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  1. Lin V 1,965 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-10-20T17:14:14.1966667+00:00

    Hi MT,

    According to the current Microsoft Learn documentation, a valid billing account is now required to provision a Microsoft 365 E5 Developer sandbox and this requirement cannot be bypassed. Both eligible individual billing accounts and organizational billing accounts are supported.

    If you're attempting to use an organizational billing account, you may want to first verify that the billing account meets the prerequisites documented by Microsoft (accepted MCA, active billing profile/invoice section, and an active Azure subscription with an Azure plan). For reference: Set up a Microsoft 365 developer sandbox subscription.

    If all documented billing-account requirements are already met and the issue persists, you may want to contact Microsoft Support by visiting the Microsoft 365 Developer Program portal and select Support. The support team may be able to investigate whether there are any backend issues related to the billing-account creation process or provide additional guidance based on the information available for your account.

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    If you need to contact Microsoft regarding this issue, it may be helpful to provide:

    • A screenshot of the error page.
    • The exact steps performed before the error occurred.
    • Any error messages displayed during the billing-account creation process.
    • The SID, CV, and TID values shown on the error page.

    I hope this helps point you in the right direction.

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