Cost overview: where the money went, and what changed
The Cost overview shows what the selected scope cost over the selected dates, how that compares with the period just before, and which services, subscriptions and resource groups the money went to. This article explains every part of the page, how each figure is calculated and what it leaves out.
What the Cost overview is for
The Cost overview answers one question: where did the money go in this period, and what changed against the period before?
Open it when the Dashboard shows that spend moved and you want the full picture behind it, or when you prepare a month end or a cost review. It is the page for the person who owns the cloud bill, an engineering lead or a finance lead.
It leads to a decision about where to look next: the service, subscription or resource group that took the most money or grew the most. From there, the related pages show the daily shape and the individual costs.
To open it, select “Overview” under “Costs” in the sidebar.
Before you start
The page shows figures once an Azure connection has imported its cost data. Until then it shows “No cost data yet” and a link to Getting started, which walks you through connecting Azure and the first import.
Read the Getting started guide
Cost analytics is part of the Starter plan and every plan above it. On the Free plan the page shows a labelled sample instead of your data.
Choose the scope: subscription, currency and dates
The bar at the top of the page sets the scope. Every figure, table and list below it is calculated again for what you select.
- “Subscription”: “All subscriptions” or one subscription. The list holds the subscriptions that have recorded cost.
- “Currency”: shown only when the scope is billed in more than one currency. CostGuard holds no exchange rate, so it never adds two currencies. Every figure is in the one currency you select.
- The date range: “Last 7 days”, “Last 30 days” (the page opens with it), “Month to date”, “Previous month” or “Custom range”.
- “Refresh” reads everything again for the same scope.
When you have not chosen a currency, the page uses the one that most of your subscriptions with cost in the range are billed in. It counts subscriptions; it never compares amounts across currencies. Selecting a row under “By subscription” sets the subscription list to it as well.
Set a custom range
- Open the date range list and choose “Custom range”.
- Enter a date under “From” and a date under “To”. Both days are included.
- Select “Apply”. “Cancel” closes the fields and keeps the range you had.
Limits to know
A custom range covers at most 366 days, starts on or before its end date and cannot end after today. When a date does not fit, a message beside the fields says what to correct, and nothing is reloaded until you do.
How far the cost data reaches
“Cost data through” shows the latest day CostGuard holds cost for. Azure reports cost with a delay of a day or two, so the latest days can still change, and a range that ends today is not final yet.
Period summary: total, previous period and change
The first card sums up the selected period in four figures, all in the one currency of the scope.
- “Total spend”: the cost of the scope from the first to the last day of the range. The dates are under the figure.
- “Previous period”: the cost of the same scope over the same number of days just before the range, with its dates. For the last 30 days, that is the 30 days before them.
- “Change”: the difference between the two, in money and in percent. It reads “Not available” when the previous period had no cost or could not be read.
- “Daily average”: the total divided by the number of days in the range.
When the scope is also billed in other currencies, a line under the figures names them. Their cost is not in these figures; select that currency in the scope bar to see it.
Note
The change carries no colour. A rise is not a risk by itself and a fall is not a saving by itself: the table below shows which services moved.
Where the money went: every service, ranked
This table lists every Azure service with cost in the selected period, largest first. Nothing is cut off after a top ten: the last row is the smallest service that cost anything.
- “#” is the rank and “Service” the name Azure reports for the service.
- “Cost”: what the service cost in the period.
- “Share”: the service's part of the sum of all the services listed, as a bar and a percentage.
- “Previous period”: what the same service cost in the previous period of the same length.
- “Change”: the difference in money, with the percentage under it. “New” marks a service that had no cost in the previous period.
Under the table, “Billed in the previous period, not in this one:” lists the services that stopped costing anything, each with what it cost before. When the previous period could not be read, a note says so and the change per service is not shown.
Limits to know
The table covers one currency. A service billed in two currencies appears in the table of each currency, never as one added amount.
By subscription
This card shows how the period's spend splits across your subscriptions, largest first. It appears when the scope is “All subscriptions” and the workspace has more than one subscription.
Each row shows the subscription's cost in the currency of the page. The bar compares it with the largest subscription, which fills the bar. Select a subscription to narrow the whole page to it; set the list in the scope bar back to “All subscriptions” to return.
Top resource groups
This card lists the ten resource groups with the highest cost in the period, in the currency of the page, and says how many resource groups had cost in total. With “All subscriptions”, each row also names its subscription.
Cost that Azure reports without a resource group is listed as “Unassigned”. “View all” opens Cost by Resource Group, where every resource group is listed.
Go further
Two links at the bottom of the page lead on. Each page opens with its own settings, not the scope chosen here. “See the daily trend” opens Cost trend, which shows the spend day by day. “Group the cost your way” opens Cost Explorer, which lists the cost by service, resource group, resource, meter or subscription, each item against the period before.
What you may see instead of figures
While the figures load, grey placeholder bars stand where they will appear. After that, the page shows one of these instead of figures when there is nothing to show:
- “No cost data yet”, with “Open Getting started”: no connection has imported cost yet.
- “No cost in this range”: the workspace has cost data, but none of it falls in the selected range and scope.
- One card reads “This part could not be loaded right now.” while the rest of the page shows its figures. “Refresh” in the scope bar tries again.
- “The cost overview could not be loaded.”, with “Try again”: nothing could be read. Nothing was changed.
- A notice that your session has expired, with a link to sign in again. The page shows no figures until you do.
Sample data when your plan has no cost analytics
When your plan does not include cost analytics, the page shows a fixed example under the label “Sample data”, with the sentence “Your current plan does not include this feature. The figures shown here are an example, not your data.”
The sample holds a service table and the two cards, with figures that are the same for everyone. They are never your data, there is no scope bar, and nothing in the sample changes.
“Compare plans” opens the pricing page in a new tab. In the sidebar, “Overview” under “Costs” carries a lock and opens the plan options. CostGuard decides what your plan includes on the server; the sample is only how the page shows it.
What each plan includes
The table shows the first plan that includes each part of the page. Every plan above it includes it too.
| Feature | Free | Starter | Growth | Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A labelled sample of the page | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| The Cost overview with your own cost data | Not included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
Troubleshooting
The page says “No cost data yet”
You have no connection yet, or its first import has not finished. Open Getting started and follow the steps; the figures appear when the first import completes.
The last days look too low
Azure reports cost with a delay of a day or two. Check the date beside “Cost data through” in the scope bar. Days after it hold no cost yet, so a range that ends today reads lower than it will be.
The total is lower than you expect
Look under the four figures for a line that names other currencies. CostGuard does not convert between currencies, so cost billed in another currency is not part of the total. Select that currency in the scope bar to see it. Also check that the subscription list is set to “All subscriptions”.
The page says “No cost in this range”
The selected subscription has no recorded cost on the selected dates, or the range starts before your cost history does. Choose a wider range or all subscriptions.
A service is marked “New” although it ran before
“New” means the service had no cost in the previous period of the same length, not that it was just created. It may have been free in that period, or billed in another currency.
The “By subscription” card is missing
It appears only when the subscription list is set to “All subscriptions” and the workspace has more than one subscription. With one subscription selected, the whole page is already about that subscription.
The page shows sample data
Your plan does not include cost analytics. The table above shows which plan does, and the link under it opens the pricing page.