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Choose the role family for the task
An EA enrollment has its own administrative hierarchy for billing, usage visibility, and subscription creation. Azure RBAC controls authorization to Azure resources, while Microsoft Entra roles control directory objects and identity administration. A person may need permissions from more than one family to complete a task.
- EA roles: administer enrollment accounts, departments, billing-related visibility, and subscription creation.
- Azure RBAC roles: grant access to Azure resources, such as compute and storage.
- Microsoft Entra roles: administer directory identities and other directory resources.
Microsoft Learn defines Azure RBAC as “an authorization system built on Azure Resource Manager that provides fine-grained access management to Azure resources, such as compute and storage.” See Microsoft’s comparison of Azure roles, Microsoft Entra roles, and classic subscription administrator roles.
Which EA roles are available?
| Role | What it can do | Scope or boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise Administrator | Manage accounts and Account Owners, other enterprise and department administrators, notification contacts, usage across accounts, and subscription creation under active enrollment accounts. Also has broad reservation and savings-plan permissions. | Broad enrollment administration. This role does not by itself grant Azure resource management access. |
| Enterprise Administrator (read only) | View certain enrollment information, including reservation and savings-plan information. | Cannot manage enrollment settings or make purchases through this role alone. |
| EA purchaser | Purchase Azure services and view usage and unbilled charges across accounts. | Microsoft says this role is currently enabled only for service principal name access; it does not manage accounts. |
| Department Administrator | Administer a department and perform permitted department and account tasks; view relevant departmental information. | Limited to the administrator’s department. A read-only variant is available. |
| Department Administrator (read only) | View department-level information. | Cannot perform department management actions. |
| Account Owner | Create and manage subscriptions, manage subscription role assignments, and view subscription usage. | EA account role, with one Account Owner per account. It is not the same as Azure RBAC Owner. |
Microsoft’s EA role documentation provides the role permissions and boundaries. It describes the Enterprise Administrator or Account Owner as able to create an EA subscription; an Enterprise Administrator can create one under any active enrollment account.
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Notification Contact is a separate function
A Notification Contact receives enrollment-related usage notifications. Microsoft describes this as an enrollment function, separate from the six-role list. Receiving notifications does not, by itself, make someone an enrollment administrator or grant Azure resource permissions.
EA Account Owner versus Azure RBAC Owner
The similar names refer to different permissions. An EA Account Owner operates at the account and subscription-administration level of the enrollment. Azure RBAC Owner is a resource authorization role: at subscription scope, Microsoft documents it as a way to make a user an administrator of that subscription, with broad access to resources and the ability to assign RBAC roles.
Rank #2
For resource administration, use Azure RBAC and select the narrowest suitable scope and permission for the work. Microsoft’s guidance on Azure RBAC and directory administrator roles explains the distinction; its RBAC best practices cover assigning access at an appropriate scope.
How to choose an EA role
- Identify the object being administered. If it is the enrollment, department, or EA account, choose an EA role. If it is a resource or subscription authorization, use Azure RBAC. For directory objects, use Microsoft Entra roles.
- Match the role to the necessary action. Viewing information, managing enrollment users, creating subscriptions, purchasing, and assigning resource access are distinct tasks.
- Limit scope and write access. Prefer a read-only role when visibility is sufficient, and a department- or account-level role when broad enrollment administration is unnecessary.
- Check identity and eligibility rules before assignment. Enrollment role assignment requirements can change, and the current portal and Microsoft documentation are authoritative for a specific enrollment.
Where EA roles are managed
EA customers and partners use Cost Management + Billing in the Azure portal to manage enrollments. The exact controls available depend on enrollment permissions. Microsoft’s EA role guide describes the role responsibilities.
Legacy subscription administrator names and current status
Account Administrator, Service Administrator, and Co-Administrator are legacy Azure subscription administrator terms, not additional EA roles. Microsoft’s role reference says classic administrator roles were fully retired as of May 2026. It also records that automatic subscription-scope Owner assignment for remaining public-cloud Service Administrator and Co-Administrator assignments began in December 2025. For current resource access, use Azure RBAC rather than relying on the retired classic roles. See Microsoft’s classic-role and Azure role reference.
As of October 8, 2026, Microsoft’s EA role page says that, starting October 15, 2026, new EA billing role assignments must use Work or School accounts managed through Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft says existing personal Microsoft account assignments are not impacted at this time. Because the stated start date is upcoming on October 8, check the current EA role documentation before making an assignment.
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