Accenture caps monthly Claude budget at $29 per employee

Accenture will now centrally fund only $29 a month per employee for Claude, 404 Media reported. The policy took effect October 1.

That is a sharp drop for workers who had been spending far more. One employee, who said they use Claude Code extensively to build an AI accelerator used by multiple clients, told reporter Joseph Cox their "monthly usage is usually around $500 to $1,000." Their reaction: "Honestly, this is disappointing." At least one worker's access was revoked outright.

The internal note, titled "Claude Enterprise Users: Important Updates to Licensing and Usage Costs," tells staff that "all costs are consumption-based." Anyone who burns through the $29 has to find a specific project or team willing to charge the overage against its budget. Premium plans, the memo notes, come with $250 in token usage a week, but many employees are not on that plan. In an internal chat 404 Media saw, one asked how to speed up a premium upgrade that "appears to be blocked on the support page."

An Accenture spokesperson told the outlet the firm's approach is to "provide the right tool for the right work" and that it continues to invest in AI. The memo adds that "Claude Enterprise will continue to be available based on role and business need," and that "License allocations are reviewed periodically."