Skip to main content

Finance Tools Tips

More info: AWS Cost Management

AWS Budgets​

  1. Set up budgets early: Set up budgets early to avoid the need to retroactively apply categories to existing costs.
  2. Use meaningful names for budgets.
  3. Use automation to set up budgets: Use automation tools like AWS CloudFormation and AWS Lambda to automatically create budgets based on predefined rules and patterns.
  4. Monitor your budgets regularly: Monitor your budgets regularly to ensure that you stay within your cost targets and adjust them based on changing business needs.
  5. Set up alerts for budget overages: Set up alerts for budget overages to avoid surprise bills and take corrective action before it's too late.
  6. Set up budget notifications: Set up budget notifications to stay informed about your budget status and take action to optimize your costs and resources.
  7. Use budget forecasts: Use budget forecasts to forecast your future costs and budget more accurately, enabling you to avoid overages and optimize resource allocation.
  8. Set up budget reports: Set up budget reports to get more granular insights into your budget usage and optimize your resource allocation.
  9. Use budget filters: Use budget filters to focus on specific services, resources, or cost categories, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.
  10. Use multiple budgets: Use multiple budgets to track costs by business unit, application, or environment, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.
  11. Use the AWS Budgets API: Use the AWS Budgets API to automate your budget management and integrate it with your existing workflows and systems.
  12. Use budget history and forecast data: Use budget history and forecast data to identify areas of cost optimization and take action to reduce your costs and improve resource utilization.
  13. Use budget rollover: Use budget rollover to carry over unused budget amounts to the next period, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.
  14. Set up budget pacing alerts: Set up budget pacing alerts to track your actual spend against your planned spend, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.
  15. Use AWS Organizations for budget management: Use AWS Organizations to consolidate your billing and budget management across multiple accounts, enabling you to optimize your cost management and resource allocation.
  16. Use budget categories: Use budget categories to categorize your costs by application, environment, or business unit, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.
  17. Use budget customizations: Use budget customizations to set up unique budget scenarios that align with your specific business needs, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.

Tagging​

  1. Name well: Use clear and descriptive names for your tags to make it easy to understand and manage your costs.
  2. Start tagging early: Start tagging your resources as soon as they are created to avoid the need to retroactively apply tags to existing resources.
  3. Use a standardized tagging policy: Use a standardized tagging policy across your organization to ensure consistent and effective use of tags.
  4. Use automation to tag resources: Use automation tools like AWS CloudFormation and AWS Config to automatically tag resources based on predefined rules.
  5. Tag resources at different levels: Tag resources at different levels like account, region, VPC, or instance to enable more granular cost allocation and resource management.
  6. Use tag-based cost allocation reports: Use tag-based cost allocation reports to analyze and allocate costs by application, environment, or business unit, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.
  7. Monitor untagged resources: Monitor and identify untagged resources and apply tags to them, enabling you to accurately track and allocate costs.
  8. Use tags to optimize reserved instances: Use tags to associate reserved instances with specific applications, environments, or business units, enabling you to optimize reserved instance purchases and avoid over-provisioning.
  9. Use tags to optimize savings plans: Use tags to associate savings plans with specific applications, environments, or business units, enabling you to optimize savings plan purchases and avoid over-provisioning.
  10. Use tags for automation: Use tags to automate cost optimization tasks like stopping or terminating unused resources, reducing the storage capacity of unused EBS volumes, or deleting unused snapshots.
  11. Use tags for security and compliance: Use tags to associate resources with specific security or compliance requirements, enabling you to ensure that your resources meet regulatory or internal policies.
  12. Audit and review your tagging strategy: Regularly audit and review your tagging strategy to ensure that it remains relevant and effective, and adjust it based on changing business needs.

AWS Cost and Usage Report​

  1. Cost Categories hierarchy: Understand the Cost Categories hierarchy and how it applies to your organization to effectively categorize your costs.
  2. Meaningful names for Cost Categories: Use clear and descriptive names for your Cost Categories to make it easy to understand and manage your costs.
  3. Start using Cost Categories early: Start using Cost Categories as soon as possible to avoid the need to retroactively apply categories to existing costs.
  4. Use automation to categorize costs: Use automation tools like AWS Glue and AWS Lambda to automatically categorize your costs based on predefined rules and patterns.
  5. Regularly audit and review your Cost Categories: Regularly audit and review your Cost Categories to ensure that they remain relevant and effective.
  6. Monitor your Cost Categories usage: Monitor your Cost Categories usage and adjust them as necessary to ensure that they align with your business objectives and cost optimization goals.
  7. Optimize reserved instances: Use Cost Categories to associate reserved instances with specific applications, environments, or business units.
  8. Ooptimize savings plans: Use Cost Categories to associate savings plans with specific applications, environments, or business units.
  9. Forecasting: Use Cost Categories to forecast your future costs and budget more accurately.
  10. Allocate shared costs: Use Cost Categories to allocate shared costs across multiple business units or applications.
  11. Compliance and security: Use Cost Categories to associate resources with specific security or compliance requirements.

Cost and Usage Reports​

  1. Understand your usage and costs: Use AWS Cost and Usage Report to understand your usage and costs across your entire AWS infrastructure, enabling you to identify areas of optimization and potential cost savings.
  2. Use AWS Cost Explorer with the Cost and Usage Report: Use AWS Cost Explorer with the Cost and Usage Report to get more granular insights into your usage and costs.
  3. Use custom cost reports: Use custom cost reports to analyze your costs by service, resource, tag, or other dimensions to get more granular insights and optimize resource allocation.
  4. Use third-party tools to analyze Cost and Usage Reports: Use third-party tools like CloudCheckr, Cloudability, or others to further analyze your Cost and Usage Reports for additional insights and cost-saving opportunities.
  5. Use the detailed report option: Use the detailed report option to get more detailed usage and cost data for each AWS service, enabling you to optimize your resource allocation and avoid overages.
  6. Use the aggregated report option: Use the aggregated report option to get a summary view of your AWS usage and costs, enabling you to track trends and optimize resource allocation.
  7. Use the hourly report option: Use the hourly report option to get more granular insights into your AWS usage and costs, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.
  8. Use the custom report option: Use the custom report option to create custom reports based on your specific business requirements, enabling you to optimize resource allocation and avoid overages.
  9. Use the report delivery option: Use the report delivery option to receive your Cost and Usage Reports via email or S3 bucket, enabling you to automate your cost management and integrate it with your existing workflows and systems.
  10. Use the savings plan and reserved instance recommendations: Use the savings plan and reserved instance recommendations in your Cost and Usage Reports to identify opportunities for cost savings.
  11. Monitor your usage and cost anomalies: Monitor your usage and cost anomalies using Cost and Usage Reports to detect unusual patterns and take corrective action to optimize your costs and resources.
  12. Use the Cost and Usage Report API: Use the Cost and Usage Report API to automate your cost management and integrate it with your existing workflows and systems.

AWS Application Cost Profiler​

  1. Understand your application costs: Use AWS Application Cost Profiler to understand your application costs across your entire AWS infrastructure.
  2. Use custom cost allocation rules: Use custom cost allocation rules to allocate costs by application, environment, or business unit.
  3. Use Cost Explorer with Application Cost Profiler: Use Cost Explorer with Application Cost Profiler to get more granular insights into your application costs and optimize your resource allocation.
  4. Use the aggregated cost view: Use the aggregated cost view to get a summary view of your application costs.
  5. Use the custom tagging option: Use the custom tagging option to tag your applications based on your specific business requirements.
  6. Monitor your application cost trends: Monitor your application cost trends using Application Cost Profiler to identify trends and take action to optimize your costs and resources.
  7. Use the forecasting option: Use the forecasting option to forecast your future application costs and budget more accurately.
  8. Use the utilization data: Use the utilization data to identify underutilized resources and take action to optimize your resource allocation and avoid overages.
  9. Use the instance type recommendations: Use the instance type recommendations to identify opportunities to optimize your resource allocation and avoid over-provisioning.
  10. Use the rightsizing recommendations: Use the rightsizing recommendations to identify instances that are over or underutilized and optimize your resource allocation.
  11. Use the custom rules option: Use the custom rules option to create custom rules based on your specific business requirements.
  12. Use the Application Cost Profiler API: Use the Application Cost Profiler API to automate your cost management and integrate it with your existing workflows and systems.

AWS Service Catalog​

  1. Create product templates with cost optimization in mind: When creating product templates in AWS Service Catalog, ensure that they are optimized for cost by using the right instance types, storage options, and other resources.
  2. Leverage AWS CloudFormation stacks: Use AWS CloudFormation stacks to create Service Catalog products and update them when needed, streamlining the product creation process and reducing costs.
  3. Use tagging to track usage and costs: Use tagging to track the usage and costs of Service Catalog products.
  4. Use AWS Cost Explorer with Service Catalog: Use AWS Cost Explorer to gain additional insights into your Service Catalog costs.
  5. Set up Service Catalog approvals: Set up approvals for Service Catalog products to ensure that users are only provisioning resources that they actually need, reducing unnecessary costs.
  6. Use AWS Organizations to manage Service Catalog: Use AWS Organizations to manage Service Catalog products across multiple accounts.
  7. Use AWS Marketplace products: Use AWS Marketplace products in Service Catalog to quickly and easily provision third-party software with built-in cost savings features.
  8. Use AWS Service Catalog Connector for ServiceNow: Use the AWS Service Catalog Connector for ServiceNow to streamline Service Catalog usage and costs management from within the ServiceNow interface.
  9. Use AWS Service Catalog AppRegistry: Use AWS Service Catalog AppRegistry to track your application and resource dependencies and optimize your resource allocation, resulting in cost savings.
  10. Monitor Service Catalog usage patterns: Monitor your Service Catalog usage patterns to identify areas of optimization and potential cost savings.
  11. Use AWS Service Catalog APIs: Use AWS Service Catalog APIs to automate your Service Catalog management and integrate it with your existing workflows and systems.
  12. Use AWS Service Catalog portfolio sharing: Use AWS Service Catalog portfolio sharing to share your products across accounts.