Artifact signing: "This subscription cannot be used for organization identity validation as the billing account type associated with it does not indicate ownership by an organization."

Question

Artifact signing: "This subscription cannot be used for organization identity validation as the billing account type associated with it does not indicate ownership by an organization."

Matthijs van de Vijver 0

Hello,

When trying to apply for an identity validation in artifact signing, I get the following error: "This subscription cannot be used for organization identity validation as the billing account type associated with it does not indicate ownership by an organization." I think I need to have a Microsoft Customer Agreement. However, no matter where I try I cannot seem to get in touch with support to get this done.

This error only appeared after two failed validations because I made an error in the domain name. I deleted these validations and tried to go through with a new one but now I am getting stuck.

Shubham Sharma 15,675 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-20T08:26:25.88+00:00

Matthijs van de Vijver

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Could you please share the validation id in private message.
Manage Growth Radius 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T13:09:43.32+00:00

I have the same problem, signed up with a domain account, the company address and company card. All fine until the public identity step and it says This subscription cannot be used for organization identity validation as the billing account type associated with it does not indicate ownership by an organization.
Matthijs van de Vijver 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T16:36:26.1666667+00:00

Hi @Shubham Sharma ,

Thank you for the fast reply.

Unfortunately there is no validation ID to share, since I deleted the previous validations, and I am getting this error while creating a new one. The error occurs before getting a validation ID.
Ed Salisbury 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T20:56:47.53+00:00

Same issue here! +1

1 answer

Your answer

Shubham Sharma 15,675 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-20T08:26:25.88+00:00

Matthijs van de Vijver

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Could you please share the validation id in private message.
Manage Growth Radius 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T13:09:43.32+00:00

I have the same problem, signed up with a domain account, the company address and company card. All fine until the public identity step and it says This subscription cannot be used for organization identity validation as the billing account type associated with it does not indicate ownership by an organization.
Matthijs van de Vijver 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T16:36:26.1666667+00:00

Hi @Shubham Sharma ,

Thank you for the fast reply.

Unfortunately there is no validation ID to share, since I deleted the previous validations, and I am getting this error while creating a new one. The error occurs before getting a validation ID.
Ed Salisbury 0 Reputation points

2026-05-20T20:56:47.53+00:00

Same issue here! +1

Answer 1

Meha-MSFT 1,460 Microsoft Employee Moderator

Adding onto what Q&A assist has already generated:

To create a billing account that represents your organization:

Sign up for a new Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) at https://azure.microsoft.com using your work email (not a personal Microsoft account). During signup, enter your organization's legal business name, address, and tax ID — this becomes your billing account identity.
Create a subscription under that new organizational billing account.
Create your Artifact Signing resource in that subscription. When you go to Identity Validations → New Organization Validation, the billing account details (org name, address) will auto-populate from the billing profile.

Key points:

The billing account type is set at creation and cannot be changed from Individual to Organization afterward
If you already have resources in an individual account, you can transfer the subscription to the new organizational account
The legal name on the billing account is what will appear on your certificate, so ensure it matches your business registration exactly

If you're unsure what type your current billing account is, check Cost Management + Billing → Billing accounts — it will show the account type.

Ed Salisbury 0 Reputation points

2026-05-21T02:04:08.1333333+00:00
Sign up for a new Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) at https://azure.microsoft.com using your work email (not a personal Microsoft account). During signup, enter your organization's legal business name, address, and tax ID — this becomes your billing account identity.

This is not possible.... If you go through the flow....

Go to azure.microsoft.com, click on "Get Started with Azure" -- that seems to be the correct link?
Click "Pay as you go" - I'm assuming
It brings you to the Microsoft Sign-in page
I click on the "No Account, create one!" link
I choose sign in with a different account (so that I don't log in with my current one)
I click on the "New to Microsoft -- create an account" link
I enter my "work email" -- an email address associated with my company
I verify the email address -- on the next screen, it asks for country and birthdate, which I add
On the next page, it says "Add your name" -- I enter my first and last name
Then I"m asked to "Prove I'm a Human" - did that
Then it asks me to set up a passkey - I do
It then says "Create an Azure account with pay-as-you-go-pricing -- it has has profile information -- I choose "For use in connection with an organization, university, research group, NGO
-- I put my first and last name in the boxes, and my organization name for the org name, and united states for the organization country, I make sure the email is correct, and added the business phone number.

NOTE: On this page, on the tooltip for the Organization name:
What organization name should I provide?

If you're planning to use your Azure account in connection with a company, university, research group, or NGO, please provide that organization name. Note: You'll still be the individual owner of this account - and not the organization you're affliated with. You can always update this if your organization affiliation changes.

This right here indicates that no matter what we do with this flow, it is *NOT owned by an organization!

Regardless, I click Next. -- NOWHERE IN THIS FLOW DOES IT ASK FOR TAX IDs!*

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Artifact signing: "This subscription cannot be used for organization identity validation as the billing account type associated with it does not indicate ownership by an organization."

1 answer

Your answer