Cloud · 1 min · Jun 25, 2026
The M365 licensing audit checklist
A short list that often saves 20-30% on Microsoft 365 spend in the first review.
By franklin
Most M365 estates we audit have a quiet 20-30% of unused or wrongly-tiered licences. Here is the checklist we run.
Inventory
- Pull all assigned licences from the admin centre
- Match to HR active-employee roster
- Flag accounts inactive > 60 days
Tier-fit
- F1/F3 for frontline staff using kiosk apps only
- Business Premium for SMB knowledge workers
- E3 only when Azure AD P1 / Intune / DLP needed
- E5 only when justified by Defender, Power BI Pro, audio conferencing or compliance add-ons
Add-ons hiding in plain sight
- Visio, Project, Power BI, Power Automate
- Defender for Office 365 P1 vs P2
- Teams audio conferencing