Difference between Azure amortized cost vs actual cost calculations

Products

• CloudHealth

Issue/Introduction

What is the difference between Azure amortized cost vs actual cost calculations?

Resolution

Factors to consider when comparing the Amortized vs Actual cost are as follows:

• Monthly RI/SP is billed based on the average of 730 hours in a month per year, but the amortization occurs based on actual usage, i.e., the actual hours in a month.
  Hence, you get more amortized cost (Benefit) in the months that have 744 hours and less amortized cost in months that have 720 hours.
• Amortized cost includes the Unused RI or Savings Plan cost, which may also affect your total amortized cost.  Using the Charge Type filter to view the same is recommended.
• The new amortized costs report represents the data collected directly from Azure through cost management API without any additional calculations.