Stop Wasting Money on Microsoft 365 Security and Copilot Add-Ons

Microsoft 365 is good value when every licence is doing a job. The trouble is that licences are easy to add and easy to forget. Over a year or two, most small businesses end up paying for seats nobody uses, add-ons they already had, and Copilot licences that were opened once.

None of this is hard to fix. It just needs someone to look.

What you already pay for

Before buying any security or AI add-on, check what your plan includes. At the time of writing (October 2026), Microsoft UK lists Microsoft 365 Business Premium at £16.90 per user per month ex VAT on an annual subscription. It includes:

• Microsoft Defender for Business, endpoint protection for your devices.
• Microsoft Intune, to manage and secure laptops and phones.
• Microsoft Entra ID P1, which adds Conditional Access to control how and where people sign in.
• Microsoft Purview, for labelling and protecting sensitive information.
• Copilot Chat, which Business Basic, Standard and Premium all include.

If you’re on Business Premium and also paying for a separate device management tool or another product that does the same job, that should be a deliberate decision, not an accident. Sometimes a separate tool is the right choice. Often it’s left over from before you upgraded.

Where the money goes

Licences nobody is assigned to

You pay for the number of licences on the subscription, not the number of people using them. Spare licences left over after a leaver, or bought “just in case”, cost the same as ones in use. Compare the number you pay for with the number assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin centre.

Leavers who still have a licence

This is the most common one. When someone leaves, Microsoft’s guidance is to remove their licence and then reduce the number of licences on the subscription. Removing or deleting the user frees the licence for someone else, but the bill only goes down when you lower the licence count.

If you need to keep their email, convert the mailbox to a shared mailbox first. A shared mailbox can hold up to 50 GB without a licence. It does need one if it’s larger, needs an archive, or has to be on litigation hold, which matters if you keep client records for legal reasons.

Shared mailboxes and service accounts with a full licence

Reception, accounts and info@ mailboxes rarely need a paid licence. Check that they’re set up as shared mailboxes, with sign-in blocked, rather than as licensed user accounts.

Copilot licences nobody opens

Copilot is the newest place for waste, and one of the more expensive. At the time of writing, Microsoft UK lists Microsoft 365 Copilot Business at £16.10 per user per month ex VAT on an annual plan, with a first-year promotional price of £13.80 on offers taken out between 1 July and 31 December 2026.

The Copilot usage report, under Reports, then Usage, in the admin centre, shows how many people have a licence, how many actually used Copilot, and each person’s last activity date. Move licences from people who don’t use them to people who will, or stop paying for them at renewal.

Buying Copilot the expensive way

Check how you’re buying it. Microsoft UK lists Business Premium with Copilot at £24.60 per user per month as a single plan. On listed prices, that costs less than Business Premium (£16.90) plus the Copilot Business add-on (£16.10). Paying monthly instead of yearly also costs more: Microsoft lists the add-on at £19.32 a month.

The wrong plan for the person

Not everyone needs the same plan. But be careful here. Business Premium’s device protection is often the reason a laptop holding client data is safe. Downgrading to save a few pounds can leave a gap, so only change someone’s plan when it genuinely fits how they work.

Commit carefully

Microsoft’s annual subscriptions renew automatically, and Microsoft gives a 7-day window to cancel for a prorated refund. After that, plan on the commitment running until renewal. So:

• Trial Copilot with a few people before committing to more.
• Put renewal dates in the diary a month ahead, and review numbers before they renew.
• Don’t buy licences for people who haven’t started yet.

A quarterly licence check

1. Compare licences paid for with licences assigned, for every subscription.
2. Check every leaver from the last three months has had their licence removed and the count reduced.
3. Check shared mailboxes and service accounts aren’t using paid licences they don’t need.
4. Review the Copilot usage report and reassign unused licences.
5. List every security add-on and third-party tool, and check it isn’t duplicating your plan.
6. Note upcoming renewal dates.

Our IT consulting includes Microsoft licence reviews, checking your licences are right and that you’re not paying for ones you don’t use. If you’d rather it was looked after all the time, licence management is part of our managed IT support. For practical next steps on your IT, security and Microsoft 365, try our free IT Assessment.