Amortized costs are expenses that are distributed over a specific period. This topic describes how to query amortized costs and explains the cost amortization rules.
Feature description
You can amortize the subscription and pay-as-you-go costs of cloud resources over a service period based on specific amortization rules. You can then view these amortized costs from two perspectives (amortization period and billing cycle) and across three dimensions (instance, product, and cost center).
Two perspectives:
View by amortization period: View the amortized costs for each amortization month. The amortized costs for a single amortization month may come from orders or bills in different billing cycles.
View by billing cycle: View the cost amortization details for orders or bills within a specified billing cycle. The costs from orders or bills in a single billing cycle may be amortized over different amortization months.
Three dimensions:
By instance: View a summary of amortized costs by resource instance.
By product: View a summary of amortized costs by product.
By cost center: View a summary of amortized costs by cost center.
View amortized cost bills
In the Expenses and Costs console, choose Cost > Cost Allocation > Amortized Cost. On the page that appears, select a data scope.
Customize columns: On the Amortized Cost page, you can click the
icon to customize and save the columns. On the page that appears, select the fields that you want to view, clear the fields that you do not want to view, and then click Save. Custom columns affect only the fields that you query in the console and do not affect exported reports.Export billing data: On the Amortized Cost page, you can click the
Export button. If you set the Export Data by Scope parameter to Current List, only the billing data of the accounts that you select in the Enterprise/Organization/Account section on the page is exported. If you set the Export Data by Scope parameter to All Items, the billing data of all accounts that the current logon account has permissions for is exported. You can go to the Export Records page to download the file.
Amortization rules
Scenario 1: Amortization of equity assets
Scenario description: This scenario applies to the amortization of equity assets. Equity assets include reserved instances, savings plans, and various resource plans, such as Storage Capacity Units and PolarDB compute plans. After you purchase these equity assets, they become your assets and can be used to offset the usage of pay-as-you-go instances for specific cloud products.
Amortization rule: Amortization is based on usage. Usage can be a measurable quantity, such as bandwidth, traffic, call duration, or storage. The amortized amount is calculated based on the actual usage.
Amortization rule examples:
Example 1: Amortization of equity assets with a calendar month or dynamic month cycle
New purchase: A customer purchases a new SLS monthly resource plan for a total of 1,200 USD. The order number is A001, the purchase date is January 1, 2021, and the validity period is from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. The resource plan capacity is 100 compute units (CUs). The purchased SLS monthly resource plan generates 12 sub-resource plans within its 12-month validity period. The maximum deductible amount of each sub-resource plan is 100 CUs per month, and the amortization amount of each sub-resource plan is 100 USD (1,200 / 12 = 100).
The deduction details for January are as follows:
On January 5, 2021, a deduction of 30 CU occurs.
On January 7, 2021, a deduction of 40 CU occurs.
On January 11, 2021, a deduction of 25 CU occurs.
No deductions occur on other dates in January.
Based on the preceding deduction details, the daily amortized amounts for January are as follows:
If a deduction occurred on January 5, 2021, the amortized amount is 30 CU / 100 CU × 100 USD = 30 USD.
If a deduction occurred on January 7, 2021, the amortized amount is 40 CUs / 100 CUs × 100 USD = 40 USD.
If a deduction is made on January 11, 2021, the amortized amount is 25 CUs / 100 CUs × 100 USD = 25 USD.
On other dates in January, no deductions occur, so the amortized amount is 0.
The remaining usage is amortized on the last day of the month, January 31, 2021, because the total usage for the month was not fully deducted. The amortized amount is calculated as follows: (100 CUs - 30 CUs - 40 CUs - 25 CUs) / 100 CUs × 100 USD = 5 USD.
The deduction details for February are as follows:
On February 1, 2021, a deduction of 30 CU occurs.
On February 7, 2021, a deduction of 40 CU occurs.
No deductions occur on other dates in February.
Based on the preceding deduction details, the daily amortized amounts for February are as follows:
If a deduction occurs on February 1, 2021, the amortized amount is 30 CU / 100 CU × 100 USD = 30 USD.
If a deduction is made on February 7, 2021, the amortized amount is 40 CU / 100 CU × 100 USD = 40 USD.
On other dates in February, no deductions occur, so the amortized amount is 0.
On the last day of the month, February 28, 2021, the value of any unconsumed usage is fully amortized. The calculation is as follows: (100 CUs - 30 CUs - 40 CUs) / 100 CUs × 100 USD = 30 USD.
The calculation for other months is similar and is not described in this topic.
Based on the preceding example:
View amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective:
If you view the amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective for the January 2021 billing cycle for order A001:
For the January 2021 amortization period, the initial amortized amount is 0, the amortized amount for the current period is 100, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,100.
For the February 2021 amortization period, the initial amortized amount is 100, the amortized amount for the current period is 100, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,000.
If you view the amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective for the billing cycle of February 2021, no data is found because the billing cycle for order A001 is January 2021.
View amortized costs from the amortization period perspective:
If you view the amortized costs from the amortization period perspective for the amortization period of January 2021 for order A001:
For the billing cycle of January 2021, the initial amortized amount is 0, the amortized amount for the current period is 100, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,100.
If you view the amortized costs from the amortization period perspective for the amortization period of February 2021 for order A001:
For the billing cycle of January 2021, the initial amortized amount is 100, the amortized amount for the current period is 100, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,000.
Summary of the amortization rule: For resource plans with a calendar month or dynamic month cycle, the service period is divided into multiple sub-resource plans. The amortized amount for each sub-resource plan is the total amount divided by the number of sub-resource plans. The amortization rule for each sub-resource plan is amortization based on usage, which means costs are amortized based on actual deduction details. At the end of the service period for each sub-resource plan, any unused portion is amortized on the last day of that service period.
Example 2: Amortization of decreasing-total equity assets
New purchase: A customer purchases a monthly deductible Object Storage Service (OSS) resource plan. The plan has a total capacity of 1,200 CU and a total amount of 1,200 USD. The order number is A001, the purchase date is January 1, 2021, and the validity period is from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.
The deduction details for January are as follows:
On January 5, 2021, a deduction of 30 CU occurs.
On January 7, 2021, a deduction of 40 CU occurs.
On January 11, 2021, a deduction of 25 CU occurs.
No deductions occur on other dates in January.
Based on the preceding deduction details, the daily amortized amounts for the purchase order are as follows:
On January 5, 2021, if a deduction is made, the amortized amount is calculated as follows: 30 CU / 1,200 CU × 1,200 USD = 30 USD.
For a deduction on January 7, 2021, the amortized amount is 40 CU / 1,200 CU × 1,200USD = 40USD.
January 11, 2021: The amortized amount is 25 CUs / 1,200 CUs × 1,200 USD = 25 USD.
On other dates in January, no deductions occur, so the amortized amount is 0.
The deduction details for February are as follows:
On February 1, 2021, a deduction of 30 CU occurs.
On February 7, 2021, a deduction of 40 CU occurs.
No deductions occur on other dates in February.
Based on the preceding deduction details, the daily amortized amounts for the purchase order in February are as follows:
For a deduction on 2021-02-01, the amortized amount is 30 CU / 200 CU × 1200 USD = 30 USD.
For a deduction on February 7, 2021, the amortized amount is given by: 40 CU / 200 CU × 1,200 USD = 40 USD.
On other dates in February, no deductions occur, so the amortized amount is 0.
Assume no deductions occur in other months. The daily amortized amount for those months (excluding the last day of the validity period) is 0.
The remaining amount of the resource plan is amortized on December 31, 2021, the last day of the validity period, because the plan was not fully used. The amortized amount is calculated as follows: (1,200 CU - 30 CU - 40 CU - 25 CU - 30 CU - 40 CU) / 1,200 CU × 1,200 USD = 1,035 USD.
Based on the preceding example:
View amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective:
If you view the amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective for the January 2021 billing cycle for order A001:
For the January 2021 amortization period, the initial amortized amount is 0, the amortized amount for the current period is 95, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,105.
For the February 2021 amortization period, the initial amortized amount is 95, the amortized amount for the current period is 70, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,035.
If you view the amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective for the billing cycle of February 2021, no data is found because the billing cycle for order A001 is January 2021.
View amortized costs from the amortization period perspective:
If you view the amortized costs from the amortization period perspective for the amortization period of January 2021 for order A001:
For the billing cycle of January 2021, the initial amortized amount is 0, the amortized amount for the current period is 95, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,105.
If you view the amortized costs from the amortization period perspective for the amortization period of February 2021 for order A001:
For the billing cycle of January 2021, the initial amortized amount is 95, the amortized amount for the current period is 70, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,035.
Summary of the amortization rule: The amortization rule for decreasing-total resource plans is amortization based on usage. This means costs are amortized based on actual deduction details. At the end of the service period, any unused portion is amortized on the last day of the service period.
Example 3: Amortization of fixed-total equity assets
Purchase: A customer purchases a new reserved instance using the all upfront payment method for a total of 1,200 USD. The order number is A001. The purchase is made at 00:00:00 on January 1, 2021, and the validity period is from 00:00:00 on January 1, 2021 to 24:00:00 on December 31, 2021. After the reserved instance is purchased, it takes effect. The reserved instance automatically matches pay-as-you-go instances on an hourly basis and deducts the hourly bills of the pay-as-you-go instances. Costs are amortized regardless of whether the reserved instance can match pay-as-you-go instances within the hour.
The hourly amortized amount on January 1 is 1,200 / (12 × 31 × 24) = 0.13.
The total amortized amount for January is 96.72.
The calculation for other time periods is similar and is not described in this topic.
Based on the preceding example:
View amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective:
If you view the amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective for the January 2021 billing cycle for order A001:
For the January 2021 amortization period, the initial amortized amount is 0, the amortized amount for the current period is 96.72, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,103.28.
If you view the amortized costs from the billing cycle perspective for the billing cycle of February 2021, no data is found because the billing cycle for order A001 is January 2021.
View amortized costs from the amortization period perspective:
If you view the amortized costs from the amortization period perspective for the amortization period of January 2021 for order A001:
For the billing cycle of January 2021, the initial amortized amount is 0, the amortized amount for the current period is 96.72, and the remaining amount to be amortized is 1,103.28.
The fixed total amount allocation rule allocates usage based on actual deductions. Any usage that remains unallocated within a billing cycle is allocated at the end of that billing cycle.
Scenario 2: Amortization for subscription products
Scenario description: This scenario applies to the amortization of products with a subscription billing method, such as subscription ECS instances, subscription RDS instances, and subscription Anti-DDoS instances.
Amortization rule: Linear amortization. Costs are evenly distributed over the validity period. The daily amortized amount is the order amount divided by the number of days in the order's validity period.
Amortization rule examples:
Example 1: Purchase > Unsubscription
Purchase: A customer purchases a monthly subscription Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance for 60 USD at 13:10:00 on January 1, 2022. The order number is A001 and the validity period is from January 1, 2022 to January 31, 2022.
Based on the linear amortization logic, the amortization result for the purchase order is as follows:
Effective January 1, 2022, if usage on the day of purchase is less than 24 hours, the amortized amount is 0 USD.
From January 2 to January 31, 2022, the daily amortized amount is 60/30 = 2 USD, and the total amortized amount is 60 USD.
Unsubscription: Following the preceding example, the customer unsubscribes.
If the customer unsubscribes on January 16, 2022, the amortization result for the original purchase order is as follows:
On January 1, 2022, the amortized amount is 0 USD because the usage on the day of purchase was less than 24 hours.
From 2022.01.02 to 2022.01.15, the daily amortized amount is 60/30 = 2USD. The cumulative amortized amount is 28USD.
On January 16, 2022, the user unsubscribes from the instance. The remaining amount is amortized at one time on the current day. The amortization amount on the current day is 60 - 0 - 2 × 14 = 32 USD.
A refund generates a refund order with a negative amount. If the refund order amount is -30, the amortization result for this refund order is as follows:
On January 16, 2022, the amortized amount for the day is -30 USD.
Example 2: Purchase > Early renewal > Upgrade
New purchase: At 13:10:00 on January 1, 2022, a customer purchased a monthly subscription Elastic Compute Service (ECS) product for 60 USD. The order number is A001 and the validity period is from January 1, 2022 to January 31, 2022.
Based on the linear amortization logic, the amortization result for the purchase order is as follows:
On January 1, 2022, the amortized amount is 0 USD because the instance was used for less than 24 hours on the day of purchase.
From January 2, 2022 to January 31, 2022, the daily amortized amount is 60 / 30 = 2 USD, and the total amortized amount is 60 USD.
To continue from the previous example and renew in advance:
If the user renews the instance on January 16, 2022, a renewal order A002 is generated. The subscription amount is 60 USD, and the service period is from February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022.
On January 16, 2022, because the service period of the renewal order is in the future, the amortization result is as follows:
From January 16 to January 31, the daily amortized amount is 0.
From February 1, 2022, the daily amortized amount is 60 USD / 28 = 2.14 USD.
Upgrade: Following the preceding example, the customer upgrades the instance on January 20, 2022.
Upgrade orders A001-1 and A002-1 are generated for the original orders A001 and A002, respectively.
For order A001-1, the service period is from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022, the service duration is 12 days, and the amount is 48. Based on the linear amortization logic, the daily amortized amount from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022 is 48 / 12 = 4 USD.
For order A002-1, the service period is from February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022 (28 days), and the amount is 80. According to the linear amortization logic, no cost is amortized from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022, and the amortized amount is 0 USD. From February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022, the daily amortized amount is 80 / 28 = 2.85 USD.
The linear amortization for the original orders A001 and A002 remains unchanged, following the purchase and early renewal logic.
Negative orders A001-2 and A002-2 are generated for the original orders A001 and A002, respectively.
For order A001-2, the service period is from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022, the service duration is 12 days, and the amount is -31. According to the linear amortization logic, the daily amortized amount from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022 is -31 / 12 = -2.58 USD.
For order A002-2, the service period is from February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022 (28 days), and the amount is -60. Based on the linear amortization logic, the daily amortized amount is 0 USD from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022. The daily amortized amount from February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022 is -60 USD / 28 = -2.14 USD.
Example 3: Purchase > Early renewal > Downgrade
Purchase: A customer purchases a subscription-based Elastic Compute Service (ECS) product for 60 USD at 13:10:00 on January 1, 2022. The order number is A001, and the service is valid from January 1, 2022 to January 31, 2022.
Based on the linear amortization logic, the amortization result for the purchase order is as follows:
On January 1, 2022, the amortized amount is 0 USD because the usage on the day of purchase was less than 24 hours.
From January 2, 2022 to January 31, 2022, the daily amortization amount is 60 / 30 = 2 USD, and the total amortization amount is 60 USD.
Early renewal: Following the preceding example, the customer renews early.
If the user renews the instance on January 16, 2022, a renewal order A002 is generated. The subscription amount is 60 USD, and the service period is from February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022.
On January 16, 2022, because the service period of the renewal order is in the future, the amortization result is as follows:
From January 16 to January 31, the daily amortized amount is 0.
Starting from February 1, 2022, the daily amortized amount is 2.14 USD (60 USD / 28).
Downgrade: Following the preceding example, the customer downgrades the instance on January 20, 2022.
Downgrade orders A001-1 and A002-1 are generated for the original orders A001 and A002, respectively.
Order A001-1: The service period is from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022 (12 days). The amount is 12. Based on linear amortization, the daily amortized amount is 12 / 12 = 1 USD.
For order A002-1, the service period is from February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022 (a duration of 28 days), and the amount is 40. Based on the linear amortization logic, the daily amortized amount from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022 is 0 USD, and the daily amortized amount from February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022 is 40 / 28 = 1.42 USD.
The linear amortization for the original orders A001 and A002 remains unchanged, following the purchase and early renewal logic.
Negative orders A001-2 and A002-2 are generated for the original orders A001 and A002, respectively.
Order A001-2: The service period is from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022, for a duration of 12 days, and the amount is -31. Based on the linear amortization logic, the daily amortized amount from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022 is -31 / 12 = -2.58 USD.
For order A002-2, the service period is from February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022 (a duration of 28 days), and the amount is -60. According to the linear amortization logic, the order is not amortized from January 20, 2022 to January 31, 2022, and the daily amortized amount is 0 USD. From February 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022, the daily amortized amount is -60 / 28 = -2.14 USD.
Scenario 3: Amortization for pay-as-you-go products
Scenario description: This scenario applies to the amortization of products with a pay-as-you-go billing method, such as pay-as-you-go Application Load Balancer instances and pay-as-you-go ECS instances.
Amortization rule: One-time amortization. The cost is amortized at a single point in time. The daily amortized amount is equal to the bill amount.
Amortization rule examples:
Example 1: Pay-as-you-go with hourly billing
A customer uses a pay-as-you-go product for a service period from 23:00:00 to 23:59:59 on January 1, 2022. The bill number is A001, and the amount payable is 2 USD. Therefore, the amortized amount for January 1, 2022 is 2 USD.
Example 2: Pay-as-you-go with monthly billing
A customer uses a pay-as-you-go product. The service period is from 00:00:00 on January 1, 2022 to 23:59:59 on January 31, 2022. The bill number is A001, and the amount is 1,000 USD. The bill is generated at the start of February 2022, usually between February 1 and February 3. The amortization data is available only after the detailed bill is generated. After the bill is issued, this amount is amortized to January 31, 2022. The corresponding amortized amount is 1,000 USD.