How to Configure High Volume Email (HVE) in Microsoft 365 with Pay-As-You-Go Billing Policy
This guide walks through the correct process to create a Pay-As-You-Go billing policy and associate it with your HVE account in Exchange Online.
🔍 The Problem
⚠️ Error Messages You May See
- “To proceed with High Volume Email setup, you must link this account to a billing policy.”
- “No billing policy found. Please create or assign a billing policy before enabling HVE.”
🧠 Root Cause
Why does this happen?
High Volume Email (HVE) is a metered service in Microsoft 365. Microsoft requires a billing policy to track usage and apply charges. If no billing policy is configured in the tenant, the HVE account creation or activation step will fail — regardless of license assignment.
🛠️ Step-by-Step Resolution
Create a Pay-As-You-Go Billing Policy
Set up the billing policy first in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center before touching HVE configuration.
- 1Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center → admin.microsoft.com
- 2Navigate to Billing → Purchase services
- 3Select Pay-as-you-go and click Set up pay-as-you-go billing
- 4Configure: Azure subscription (existing or create new), billing scope, and resource group association if applicable
- 5Click Save to complete the billing policy setup
Verify the Billing Policy is Active
Confirm the policy was created successfully before proceeding to the HVE setup.
- 1Go to Billing → Your products in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
- 2Confirm Pay-As-You-Go is listed as active and linked to your tenant
✅ Expected Result
The Pay-As-You-Go billing policy appears under Billing → Your products with an Active status. You are now ready to configure HVE.
Configure the High Volume Email (HVE) Account
Create and link the HVE account in the Exchange Admin Center using the billing policy created above.
- 1Go to Exchange Admin Center (Modern) → admin.exchange.microsoft.com
- 2Navigate to Mail flow → High Volume Email
- 3Click Create HVE Account
- 4Select the billing policy created in Step 1 when prompted
- 5Define sender details, configure permitted recipients and sending limits
- 6Complete the setup and save
Validate HVE Functionality
Send a test email using the HVE SMTP endpoint to confirm the setup is working correctly.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| SMTP Server | smtp-hve.office365.com |
| Port | 587 (TLS) |
| Authentication | Required |
Optional — PowerShell Verification
Verify mail flow readiness and accepted domain configuration via Exchange Online PowerShell.
# Connect to Exchange Online Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName admin@yourdomain.com # Check transport configuration Get-TransportConfig | Format-List # Check accepted domains and mail flow readiness Get-AcceptedDomain
💡 Note
HVE-specific PowerShell cmdlets may not be fully exposed depending on your tenant’s rollout stage. Most HVE configuration is GUI-driven via the Exchange Admin Center and Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
💡 Best Practices & Recommendations
- ✅ Always use dedicated accounts for High Volume Email — avoid reusing shared mailboxes
- ✅ Monitor usage regularly to avoid unexpected billing charges on the Pay-As-You-Go plan
- ✅ Apply least privilege access — avoid using Global Admin credentials for HVE configuration unless necessary
- ✅ Use HVE only for internal messaging scenarios such as system alerts and notifications, as designed
- ✅ For multi-region or multi-geo tenants, ensure your Azure billing subscription region aligns with your tenant configuration to avoid provisioning issues
📚 References & Further Reading
- 🔗 Manage High Volume Email for Microsoft 365 — Microsoft Learn
- 🔗 Exchange Admin Center Overview — Microsoft Learn