Account Administrator (AA) –
The Account Administrator (AA) is a legacy role in Microsoft Azure that holds full control over the Azure subscription’s billing and account-level settings. This role predates the Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) model and primarily exists for managing billing and subscription details in the Azure Account Center.
Key Responsibilities:
- Manage Azure subscriptions:
- Create new subscriptions
- Cancel or delete existing subscriptions
- Control billing settings:
- Update payment methods
- View and download invoices
- Set or change spending limits
- Assign or change Service Administrators
- Transfer subscription ownership to another Microsoft account
Difference Between Key Roles:
| Role | Scope | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Account Administrator | Account-level | Manages billing, subscriptions, and high-level settings |
| Service Administrator | Subscription-level | Manages services/resources within a subscription |
| Owner (RBAC Role) | Resource-level (via RBAC) | Full control over specific resources (can delegate access) |
| Global Administrator (Microsoft Entra / Azure AD) | Tenant-level | Manages users, groups, and directory-level settings |
Where it operates:
- Primarily in the Azure Account Center (https://account.azure.com)
- Also visible in Azure portal, but limited to billing/subscription control
Notes:
- Each Azure subscription has one Account Administrator.
- Microsoft has been shifting toward using Microsoft Entra roles and Azure RBAC for most management tasks.
- The Account Administrator uses a Microsoft account (MSA) or work/school account.