A billing view is an AWS resource that defines a segment of AWS cost management data, such as cost and usage data.
There are three types of billing views: primary billing view, custom billing view, and billing group billing view. The primary billing view represents the default set of cost management data associated with an account. Custom billing views can be created by customers, and represent a filtered view of the cost management data for your account. Once created, a custom billing view can be shared with other accounts in an organization, giving these accounts access to the filtered cost management data defined in the view using AWS Cost Explorer. Billing group billing views represent the pro forma cost and usage data associated with a billing group for customers using AWS Billing Conductor, and can be used to create Cost and Usage Reports (CUR) and a view of Bills page using pro forma cost and usage data.
Different Billing and Cost Management tools support different types of billing view. All tools support primary billing views which represent your account’s default set of cost management data. Custom billing views can be accessed using the Billing and Cost Management homepage and Cost Explorer. You can use your custom Cost Explorer reports and forecast your AWS cost and usage based on the data in a custom billing view. Billing group billing views can be accessed using the Bills page, and be used to generate pro forma Cost and Usage Reports (CUR).
Custom billing views enable you to provide business unit-level visibility of cost management data to application and business unit owners within your organization without granting access to the management (payer) account. By creating and sharing custom billing views, you can share cost management data spanning multiple member accounts within AWS Cost Explorer which can be accessed from member accounts. Application and business unit owners can now analyze their AWS spend without needing to manually aggregate costs across multiple member accounts.
You can get started using custom billing views by navigating to the Billing View tab in the Cost Management Preferences page in the AWS Billing and Cost Management console, or by calling the billing view APIs in the AWS CLI/SDKs. You can also access the Billing View tab by choosing “Create new view” from the Choose billing view dropdown in the top left navigation. From here you can create a custom billing view filtered by cost allocation tags or accounts and then share it with member accounts in your organization.
Custom billing views allow you to define a filtered set of cost management data as an AWS resource. These custom billing view resources can be shared with other member accounts in your AWS Organization, giving these accounts access to the cost management data defined in the billing views using AWS Billing and Cost Management tools. Custom billing views can be shared from the AWS Billing and Cost Management console, or by using AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM).
When you log into the AWS Billing and Cost Management console, you will be accessing your primary view by default. To select a custom billing view, choose the Choose billing view dropdown in the top-left of the navigation pane. By choosing a custom billing view, the data presented in the Billing and Cost Management homepage, Cost Explorer, Cost Explorer reports and forecasts will be filtered to the cost management data defined in the custom billing view.
Billing group billing views are created when a billing group is created using AWS Billing Conductor, a customizable billing service that allows you to customize your billing data to match your desired showback or chargeback business logic. To learn more, visit AWS Billing Conductor.