Multi Cloud Billing Hub¶

Welcome to your central billing command center! The CloudPi Multi-Cloud Billing Hub offers a comprehensive solution for managing and analyzing billing data across various Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). This hub allows you to create tailored billing views to monitor expenditures based on different dimensions like services, service groups, and user-defined cost tags.

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Key Features¶

Billing Analysis - Delivers insights to optimize your cloud spending with multiple analysis types

Customizable Billing Views - Easily configure views based on specific dimensions to better understand your cloud expenses

Invoice Customization and Delivery - Customize and automatically generate invoices tailored to your organizational needs

Managed Cloud Services Provider Support - Receive specialized billing services designed for Managed Cloud Service Providers

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Billing Analysis¶

Billing Analysis delivers insights to optimize your cloud spending. It provides powerful visualization and tabular views to help teams understand cost patterns, detect anomalies, and identify optimization opportunities.

Accessing Billing Analysis¶

1. From the left navigation menu, click on Billing Hub
2. Select Billing Analysis
3. The Billing Analysis page opens with Quick Filters and visualization options

Quick Filters¶

The Quick Filters bar at the top of the page covers the most-used controls. You set them once, click Apply, and the chart and table refresh.

Filter	Options	Notes
Analysis Type	Cost / Anomaly / Trend / Comparative / Budget / Optimization / Preset	See Analysis Types below for what each does
Cloud Service Provider	All Providers / AWS / Azure / GCP	Filters resources to one provider or shows all
Projects	Multi-select from your assigned projects	At least one project is required
Cost Type	Billed Cost / Effective Cost / List Cost	Defaults to your workspace setting; can be overridden here
Granularity	Daily / Weekly / Monthly	How time-series data is bucketed
Date Range	7d / 30d / 60d / 90d / Custom	Maximum range is 120 days
Limit	5 / 10 / All	Top N items by cost; remaining items rolled up under "Others"
PRIMARY Group By	Service Name, Account, Region, etc.	Main grouping dimension. Marked with a star icon since it drives the chart

Auto-hide on Apply — A toggle on the right of the Quick Filters bar. When on, the filter panel collapses after you click Apply, freeing up screen space for the chart and table.

Filter selections persist as you move between pages within the same session, so you do not lose your setup if you navigate away and come back.

Click Advanced Filters in the sidebar (left) to access additional dimension-specific filters — see Advanced Filters.

Analysis Types¶

The Analysis Type dropdown provides seven different ways to look at your billing data. Each type drives a different chart, a different default set of dimensions, and (for some types) a different summary panel.

1. Cost Analysis¶

Resource-level cost detail with time-series visualization. This is the everyday workhorse view: pick a primary dimension (Service Name, Account, Region, etc.) and you get a chart of costs over the date range, plus a detailed table grouped by that dimension.

What's on the page:

• Chart — Bar / Stacked / Area / Line. Click the chart-type buttons in the top-right corner of the chart to switch between them. Each series corresponds to one value of the Primary Group By (e.g., one bar per service).
• Detailed Data table — one row per dimension value, plus a Grand Total row. The columns visible are configurable via the Columns dropdown above the table; you can add Region, Account, or any other dimension as additional columns.
• Search this page — quick filter inside the table.
• Pagination — Rows per page (default 10) and standard page navigation.

Use Cost Analysis when you want to break down spend by an arbitrary dimension over a time window — what services cost most this month, which accounts grew the most, where is regional cost concentrated, and so on.

2. Anomaly Analysis¶

Detect unusual spending patterns and cost spikes across your cloud environment.

Features:

Cost Trend: Service - Area chart showing monthly cost breakdown by service (Top 10)

• Displays Billed Cost over time with color-coded services
• Interactive legend - click on service names to show/hide specific services
• Services include: Virtual Machines, Virtual Network, Load Balancer, Azure SQL Database, Azure Private Link, Storage Accounts, etc.

Detailed Data Table:

Below the chart, a detailed table shows:

Service - Name of the cloud service

Billed Cost (by month) - Cost for each month

Spike - Indicates if there was a cost spike

Total - Total billed cost for the service

3. Trend Analysis¶

Monthly cost trends with moving average and cumulative totals to understand spending patterns over time.

Features:

Cost Trend Chart - Line chart showing monthly trend analysis

Actual Cost - Real spending for each period

Cumulative - Running total of costs over time

Moving Average - Smoothed trend line to identify patterns

Detailed Data Table:

Service - Name of the cloud service

Actual - Actual cost for the period

Mov Avg - Moving average cost

Cumulative - Cumulative total cost

4. Comparative Analysis¶

Compare costs across multiple time periods to identify changes and growth patterns.

Features:

3-Month Comparison - Compare costs across three consecutive months (e.g., Nov 2025 → Dec 2025 → Jan 2026)

Comparative Analysis Chart - Grouped bar chart showing period comparison for top dimensions

Interactive legend - Show/hide specific months

Detailed Data Table:

Service - Name of the cloud service

Month 1 Cost - Cost for first comparison month

Month 2 Cost - Cost for second comparison month

Difference ($) - Dollar difference between periods

Change (%) - Percentage change (highlighted in red for increases, green for decreases)

Month 3 Cost - Cost for third comparison month

The table highlights significant changes: - Red badges indicate cost increases (e.g., +411.62%) - Green badges indicate cost decreases (e.g., -85.04%)

5. Budget Analysis¶

Track budget consumption and compare actual spending against allocated budgets. Use this view to see at a glance whether projects are on track, where forecasted spend will land, and which periods are over or under budget.

What's on the page:

A fiscal-year selector (e.g., FY 2026 (Jan–Dec)) in the top-right scopes everything below to that fiscal period.

Budget Performance Overview — four KPI cards:

Card	Shows
Total Budget	Total allocated budget for the period
Total Cost	Current actual spend, with an On Track / Off Track badge based on pace vs. budget
Total Forecast	Forecasted spend for the remainder of the period
Projected Cost	Total expected spend for the full period (current + forecast). A warning icon appears if the projection exceeds the budget

Budget Utilization — progress bar showing spend as a percentage of budget (e.g., $336.8 / \(500.0 (67%)* with *\)163.28 remaining).

Budget vs Spend chart — a multi-series line chart spanning the fiscal year. Four series:

• Budget — the allocated monthly budget line
• Spend — actual spend per month (already incurred)
• Forecast — predicted spend for upcoming months
• Projected — total trajectory line combining actual and forecast

Click any series in the legend to show or hide it.

Budget Variance Details — table at the bottom showing one row per budget period (or per project, depending on the budget definition):

Column	Description
Period	Project or period name
Budget Allocated	Budget assigned to this period
Spend	Actual spend so far
Forecast	Predicted remaining spend
Projected Cost	Total projected spend
Variance Amount ($)	Dollar difference between budget and projected cost
Variance Percentage (%)	Percentage difference
Remaining Budget	Budget left if projection holds
Status	Under Budget / On Track / Over Budget badge

The All Statuses filter above the table lets you narrow to only Over Budget rows when reviewing problem areas.

Use Budget Analysis when you want to monitor financial performance against allocated budgets, identify projects trending over budget before they breach, and review month-by-month variance for FinOps reporting.

6. Optimization Analysis¶

Identify cost optimization opportunities and track realized savings.

Features:

Optimization Savings Summary Cards:

Potential Savings - Total opportunity identified for cost reduction

Realized Savings - Amount captured through automation (with "Achieved" badge)

Remaining Opportunity - Available savings still to capture

Realization Rate - Percentage of potential savings achieved (with Fair/Good/Excellent rating)

Alert Banner: When significant optimization opportunities are available, an alert displays: "You have $X in remaining optimization opportunities. Your current realization rate is X%. Implementing these recommendations could significantly reduce your cloud costs."

Top Savings Opportunities: - Horizontal bar chart showing top 9 dimensions with highest potential savings - Services ranked by potential savings amount

Optimization Savings Breakdown Table:

Service - Name of the cloud service

Potential Savings - Identified savings opportunity

Achieved Savings - Savings already realized

Remaining Opportunity - Savings still available to capture

7. Preset Analysis¶

Preset Analysis lets you open a pre-configured report dashboard rather than starting from scratch. CloudPi ships with several built-in system preset views for common use cases (e.g., "Monthly cost by service", "Top spending accounts last 30 days"), and any custom views you save also appear here.

What's on the page:

• A list of available presets — system presets first, then your custom saved views
• Each preset shows the analysis type, primary grouping, and date range it was saved with
• Selecting a preset loads its full configuration (filters, chart, dimensions) instantly

Notes:

• System presets are read-only. To customise one, open it and use Save as New to create your own copy.
• Custom views you own can be edited or deleted from this list — see Managing Billing Views below.

Use Preset Analysis when you want to start from a known good configuration without setting filters by hand, or when your team has a standard set of reports you want everyone to use.

Advanced Filters¶

Quick Filters cover the most common controls. The Advanced Filters sidebar (left side of the page) lets you narrow the analysis further by specific dimension values.

The sidebar header shows the count of available filters (for example, Specific Filters (12 Available)). Each filter is a multi-select dropdown — pick one or more values to include only data matching those values.

Specific filters¶

Filter	Filters by
Service name	Cloud service (e.g., Virtual Machines, Storage Accounts)
Region	Cloud region (e.g., westus, us-east-1)
Availability zone	Specific AZ within a region
Billing account id	Top-level billing account
Charge category	Charge classification (Usage, Tax, Refund, etc.)
Service category	Logical service grouping (Compute, Storage, Networking, etc.)
Sub account id	Subaccount, subscription, or GCP project ID
Sub account name	Friendly name of the subaccount
Resource id	Specific cloud resource identifier
Resource name	Friendly name of the resource
SKU id	Cloud provider SKU
Publisher	Service publisher (relevant on Azure for marketplace items)
Usage type	Usage type code (e.g., BoxUsage, NodeHours)

The available filters and their values depend on the Cloud Service Provider and Projects you selected in Quick Filters — values load dynamically based on what's in scope.

Tag filters¶

Below the specific filters is a Tag Filters section. Unlike the dimension filters above, tag filters are independent of the Primary / Secondary grouping — selecting tag-based filters narrows the data to resources that match the tag values regardless of how the data is grouped on the chart.

1. Pick a Tag key from the dropdown (e.g., Environment, Owner).
2. Select one or more values for that tag.
3. Repeat for additional tag keys if needed.

Applying and resetting filters¶

• Apply Filters at the bottom of the sidebar commits all your selections — chart and table refresh.
• Reset All at the top or bottom clears every filter back to its default empty state.
• All filter conditions combine with AND logic — a resource must match every filter to appear in results.
• Selected filters persist in session storage as you navigate between pages.

Managing Billing Views¶

A billing view is a saved configuration — analysis type, all Quick and Advanced filters, projects, and grouping — that you can reload in one click. Use views to standardise reporting and avoid reconfiguring the same setup every session.

Save As View¶

1. Configure your desired filters (analysis type, projects, date range, group by, advanced filters).
2. Click Save As View in the top right.
3. Enter a name for the view.
4. Click Save.

The view is persisted and immediately appears in the Select a billing view dropdown. The full filter set is captured: workspace context, projects, analysis type, granularity, group by, and every advanced filter value.

Select a Billing View¶

1. Click the Select a billing view dropdown in the top right.
2. Choose a view from the list. System presets appear first, then your custom views.
3. The page reloads with all of the saved filters applied exactly as they were when you saved the view.

Update an Existing View¶

1. Load the view you want to change from Select a billing view.
2. Modify any filter — the UI shows an unsaved changes indicator next to the view name.
3. Click Update to overwrite the view with the new configuration.

The same view is updated in place — no duplicate is created.

Save as New (from a System Preset)¶

System preset views are read-only. If you load a preset and then change anything:

1. The Save button changes to Save as New instead of Update.
2. Enter a new name for your custom copy.
3. Click Save.

This keeps the original system preset intact and creates your own copy that you can update freely.

Delete a Custom View¶

1. Open the view menu next to the view's name in the dropdown.
2. Click Delete.
3. Confirm in the dialog.

You can only delete views you own (custom views you created). System presets cannot be deleted.

Understanding the Interface¶

Chart Interactions:

Legend Toggle - Click on items in the legend to show/hide specific data series

Hover - Hover over chart elements to see detailed values

Pagination - Use pagination controls in tables (Rows per page, Page navigation)

Data Export:

• Click the download icon in the Detailed Data section to export table data

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Shared Costs Management¶

The Shared Costs page allows you to view and manage shared cost allocations between projects. This ensures that expenses related to shared services (e.g., infrastructure, regions) are fairly distributed across relevant projects.

Create a Shared Cost¶

Use this flow to create a new shared cost allocation between projects.

Steps:

1. Click on + Create Shared Cost - Opens the Add Shared Cost form

2. Select Billing View - Choose the billing view you want to apply the shared cost to

3. Select Time Period - Choose from available options such as Yearly, Monthly, etc.

4. Add Target Projects:

5. Select the Project that will share the cost
6. Specify the Percentage (%) of cost to allocate

7. Click the + icon to add multiple projects if needed

8. Enter Note - Provide context or reasons for the shared cost (e.g., shared infrastructure, cross-team usage)

9. Click Save - Finalize the shared cost entry. The status will be set to Pending until accepted

Key Actions¶

Project Filter: - Use the Select Project dropdown to filter shared costs related to a specific project

Shared Cost List:

View the list of shared cost entries with details such as:

Billing Name - The service or resource category being shared (e.g., Service name, Regions)

Shared Projects - Shows the allocation direction (e.g., NPDDDev → CPDev)

Note - Additional information (e.g., "This resource is part of a shared infrastructure and is utilized by multiple teams")

Status - Indicates if the shared cost is Accepted (green) or Pending (yellow)

Time Period - The duration the shared cost is active (start and end dates)

Actions - Options to view more details or perform actions like edit or delete

View Shared Cost Details¶

Allows users to view specific details of an existing shared cost allocation.

Steps:

1. In the Shared Costs Page, locate the shared cost entry
2. Click on the Actions menu (three dots) next to the entry
3. Select View to see detailed information like:
4. Billing View and Service Name
5. Allocated Projects and their share percentages
6. Notes explaining the purpose of sharing
7. Time Period and Status (Accepted / Pending)

Additional Action for Pending Status:

If the status is Pending, the user will have the option to: - Accept the shared cost - Reject the shared cost

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Views and Reports¶

The Views and Reports page allows you to create and manage billing view reports based on your configured billing views. Generate reports for specific time periods to analyze costs across projects and services.

Key Features:

Report Generation - Create reports for specific billing views and time periods

Report Management - View, edit, download, and share billing view reports

Project Filtering - Filter billing views by project for easier navigation

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Navigating the Views and Reports Page¶

The Views and Reports page displays all your billing views and provides tools to create and manage reports.

Page Components:

Page Header - "Views and Billing View Reports" with description "Create and manage billing view reports for billing views."

Project Filter - Dropdown in the top right to filter billing views by project (e.g., HRApplication)

Billing View Table - Main table displaying:

• Billing View name - Name of the billing view
• Project Name - Associated project(s), with badge showing multiple projects (e.g., "3 projects")
• Status - Current status (Active shown in green badge)
• Actions - Icons for viewing reports, creating reports, and deleting billing views

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Billing View Reports¶

View all reports that have been generated for a specific billing view.

Steps to View Reports:

1. Locate the billing view in the table
2. Click the Eye icon in the Actions column
3. The Billing View Reports panel opens showing all reports for that billing view
4. Click the View Report icon (eye icon) next to the report you want to view
5. The report details page opens with full billing information

Billing View Reports Panel:

The panel displays a table with the following information for each report:

• Report Number (e.g., BR-00008)
• Reporting Period (date range, e.g., 2025-11-30 - 2025-12-30)
• Created By (username, e.g., CloudPi Admin)
• Date Created (timestamp)
• Status (Active in green badge)
• Actions (View Report, Edit Notes icons)

Panel Actions:

• Download - Download icon in top right to export reports
• Share - Share icon in top right to share reports with others
• Plus (+) - Create a new report from within the panel
• Close - Close the Billing View Reports panel

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Create Billing View Report¶

Generate a new report for a billing view by specifying the reporting period.

Steps to Create Report:

1. Locate the billing view in the table
2. Click the Plus (+) icon in the Actions column
3. The Create Billing View Report dialog opens showing:
4. Billing View - Name and associated projects
5. Reporting Period - Date range selector with Start date and End date fields
6. Select the start date and end date for your report
7. Click Continue to generate the report, or Cancel to abort

The system generates a report containing all billing data for the selected billing view within the specified time period.

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View Report Details¶

Access the full details of a generated report including costs, notes, and export options.

Steps to View Report:

1. Open the Billing View Reports panel (Eye icon)
2. Click the Eye icon next to the report you want to view
3. The report details page opens with:

Report Header:

• Report number (e.g., BR-00008)
• Status badge (Active in green)
• Billing View name and associated projects

Reporting Period Card:

• Start Date
• End Date

Report Details Card:

• Created At (timestamp)
• Created By (username)

Billing View Summary Table:

• Project Name - Project associated with the costs
• Service Name - Cloud services used (e.g., Virtual Machines, Storage Accounts)
• Billed Cost - Cost for each service
• Sub Total - Sum of all line items
• Grand Total - Final total cost

Additional Options:

• Notes - Text field to add context or comments (max 500 characters)
• Set Currency - Dropdown to select currency (e.g., United States Dollar)
• Preview & Download - Blue button to preview and download the report
• Cancel - Return to previous view

Report Actions (Top Right):

• Download - Export the report
• Share - Share the report with others
• Plus (+) - Create a new report

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Edit Report Notes¶

Add or modify notes on a report to provide additional context or documentation.

Steps to Edit Notes:

1. Open the Billing View Reports panel
2. Click the Pencil (Edit) icon next to the report
3. The report details page opens with the Notes field active
4. Enter or update notes (up to 500 characters)
5. Select currency if needed
6. Click Preview & Download to save changes

Notes are useful for documenting:

• Reason for the report
• Special circumstances during the reporting period
• Budget allocations or approvals
• Internal tracking information

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Delete Billing View¶

Remove a billing view when it's no longer needed. This action affects the billing view itself, not individual reports.

Steps to Delete:

1. Locate the billing view in the table
2. Click the Trash icon in the Actions column
3. A confirmation dialog appears
4. Confirm deletion to remove the billing view

Note: Deleting a billing view may affect associated reports. Ensure you've downloaded any needed reports before deletion.

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