Creating and Managing Budgets in Azure Cost Management

Budgets in Azure Cost Management help you plan for and manage your organizational spending on Azure services. They enable you to proactively monitor costs, set spending limits, and receive alerts when thresholds are exceeded. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of creating, configuring, and managing budgets in the Azure portal.

Prerequisites

  • Understand the different Azure account types and scopes that support budgets, including Azure RBAC, Enterprise Agreement, Individual, and Microsoft Customer Agreement scopes.
  • Ensure you have the necessary permissions to create, modify, and view budgets. Owners can manage budgets, while Contributors and Readers can view and modify budgets they have access to.
  • If you have a new Azure subscription, it may take up to 48 hours before you can use all Cost Management features, including budgets.

Creating a Budget in the Azure Portal

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
  2. Navigate to the scope where you want to create a budget, such as a subscription or resource group.
  3. In the menu, select Budgets.
  4. Click Add to create a new budget.
  5. In the Create budget window:
    • Verify the correct scope is selected.
    • Add any filters to target specific costs, such as resource groups or services.
    • Enter a name for the budget and choose a reset period (monthly, quarterly, or annual).
    • Set the expiration date for the budget.
    • Adjust the budget amount based on the suggested threshold and forecasted costs.
  6. Click Next to configure budget alerts for actual and forecasted costs.

Configuring Budget Alerts

  1. For actual cost alerts, set at least one cost threshold (percentage of the budget) and the corresponding email addresses to receive notifications.
  2. For forecasted cost alerts, configure a threshold percentage of the budget to receive advanced notification when spending trends are likely to exceed the budget.
  3. Review the alert settings and click Create to finalize the budget.

Managing Budgets

  • View your budgets and current spending in the Cost Analysis section of the Azure portal.
  • Edit existing budgets by selecting them and modifying the budget amount, alerts, or other settings.
  • Create budgets programmatically using PowerShell, Azure CLI, Terraform, or the Budgets REST API.
  • Integrate budgets with Azure Monitor Action Groups to trigger custom actions, such as mobile push notifications, when budget thresholds are met.
  • Monitor budgets in the Azure mobile app, which supports viewing budgets for subscriptions and resource groups.

Best Practices for Budgets

  • Align budget reset periods with your organization’s billing cycles for better visibility and management.
  • Use filters to create targeted budgets for specific services, resource groups, or other cost dimensions.
  • Set realistic budget amounts based on historical spending and forecasted growth.
  • Configure both actual and forecasted cost alerts to proactively manage your costs.
  • Review and adjust budgets regularly as your Azure usage and costs evolve.

By leveraging budgets in Azure Cost Management, you can effectively plan, monitor, and control your organization’s cloud spending. Stay on top of your costs and receive timely alerts to ensure your Azure environment remains within your desired spending limits.

To learn more, check out the Azure Cost Management documentation.