If you manage individual and team accounts on platforms like GitHub Copilot, you may unknowingly create licensing conflicts. Subscriptions can overlap and result in charges accruing for duplicate accounts. With multiple team members participating, you may even group your users inappropriately. When you are an organization that is rapidly expanding, you could run into many account conflicts, which can become concerning.
Here is a clear process to resolve your issue, keep track of your licenses, and avoid conflicts in the future.
✅ Step 1: Identify the Source of the Licensing Conflict
The first step to resolving any licensing conflict is to understand how a user is getting billed in different ways for the same capability – knowing where the overlap is. Oftentimes, developers have activated an individual Copilot subscription prior to being added to a team account, which can create confusion in billing and can eliminate the developers access to the Copilot capability. There should either be duplicate user entries or redundant plans in the GitHub Billing Page that allows you to start untangling where the conflict is occurring.
- Log in to both the individual and team Copilot accounts
- Check for duplicate user emails or overlapping license assignments
- Review billing history and subscription tier for both accounts
✅ Step 2: Confirm Which Account Should Be Primary
You’ll also need to think about which subscription should be the main account for each of your users. Most organizations will generally want to centralize under a team or enterprise plan, but sometimes retaining a personal account is sensible. Clarifying this avoids account conflicts and enables better license management.
- Decide whether the user should stay on the individual plan or move to the team license
- Verify who owns the billing rights (individual vs organization admin)
- Ensure compliance with internal policies for tool usage
✅ Step 3: Merge or Deactivate Redundant Accounts
If a user is active on both plans, you should deactivate the plan to avoid paying for the same use case twice. GitHub will not do a true merger of accounts, but they can work with you to transfer licenses or delete users. It is always good practice to deactivate the plan that is not necessary or manageable in your workflow.
- Cancel or transfer the individual license to avoid double billing
- Use GitHub’s “Account Merging” support if emails overlap
- Remove redundant users from one of the subscriptions
✅ Step 4: Reassign Licenses Using Admin Tools
Good means tidy license management. After resolving conflicts, ensure invoice is sent to the correct people who have the correct plan. The GitHub admin panel allows you to see who has what licenses, and you can renassign them as needed. This allows maximum potential use of licenses while avoiding unseen costs.
- Go to your organization settings > Manage Team Licenses
- Assign or reassign seats as needed
- Double-check that removed users are no longer linked to active subscriptions
✅ Step 5: Monitor Ongoing Account Activity
Having fixed the issue now doesn’t mean you’ve fixed it permanently. By regularly reviewing your accounts and use, you can prevent these types of licensing conflicts in the future, meaning laying low for periods of time and having visibility of account usage regularly can prevent confusion about what is installed and used specifically to your organization. Many companies have a simple review monthly to ensure account conflicts don’t fester.
- Use audit logs to track user activity and license changes
- Schedule monthly reviews of active users and plans
- Watch for alerts on account upgrades or unauthorized changes
✅ Step 6: Build a Centralized License Management Policy
Having a documented internal policy can eliminate ambiguity related to account merges and license assignment. Choose how you will manage upgrades, removals, and inter-plan conflicts. Clear guidelines, and a documentable decision-making process along with a centralized interface, will simplify license management as you scale.
- Create guidelines on who gets team vs individual licenses
- Assign a license manager or IT admin for oversight
- Maintain a shared record of all tool subscriptions
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