Introducing Cost Management + Billing

Azure provides some very good cost management services directly in the Azure portal. As mentioned earlier, Azure Advisor analyzes our usage and makes recommendations on how we can save money. As shown in Figure 12.7, the Subscription overview blade provides a rich view in terms of current spending and forecasts.

The blade also provides the ability to download your invoices:

Figure 12.7 – Subscription billing overview

Let us review each of the tiles on the overview blade, as follows:

1. Latest billed amount—This displays the amount of the last invoice. The current invoice can be downloaded using the Download button, and a list of historical invoices can be retrieved by clicking View invoices.
2. Invoices over time—This displays a historical view of the last 4 months' invoices.
3. Shortcuts—This provides some shortcut links that allow you to email the invoices and view your...