AWS billingconductor documentation change
Summary
Clarified pro forma billing mechanics, added details about billing transfer scenarios, Free Tier handling, and Reserved Instances/Savings Plans allocation differences between standalone and billing transfer modes.
Security assessment
Changes focus on billing process transparency, feature limitations (e.g., Free Tier exclusion), and operational differences between billing modes. No evidence of addressing vulnerabilities, access controls, or security incidents.
Diff
diff --git a/billingconductor/latest/userguide/understanding-proforma.md b/billingconductor/latest/userguide/understanding-proforma.md index ba9349acf..9890c447b 100644 --- a//billingconductor/latest/userguide/understanding-proforma.md +++ b//billingconductor/latest/userguide/understanding-proforma.md @@ -9 +9,3 @@ GlossaryUnderstanding your pro forma billing data -This section clarifies the differences between the pro forma bill, generated by AWS Billing Conductor, and the standard AWS bill. When you create a billing group, the AWS Billing Conductor computation generates a pro forma bill for that billing group using your custom pricing configuration. There are several fundamental differences between pro forma bill compared to the standard AWS bill. +The pro forma billing data is an alternate version of the billing data. This version is the output of your configuration through Billing Conductor resources (pricing plans, pricing rules, and custom line items) applied to either a subset of accounts in the AWS Organizations (standard billing groups) or to an entire organization (billing transfer billing group) for customized showback or chargeback purposes. + +###### Important @@ -11 +13,3 @@ This section clarifies the differences between the pro forma bill, generated by -The pro forma billing data is like an alternate version of the billing data. It is isolated from the AWS bill, and doesn't reflect the actual charges that are due each month. You can also consume pro forma bills as a part of your own chargeback workflows outside of AWS, however, this use case is not currently supported by AWS Billing Conductor. +The pro forma data differs from the data shown in your AWS bill and doesn't reflect the actual charges due to AWS each month. + +This section clarifies the differences between the pro forma bill, generated by AWS Billing Conductor, and the standard AWS bill. When you create a billing group, the AWS Billing Conductor computation generates a pro forma bill for that billing group using your custom pricing configuration. There are several fundamental differences between pro forma bill compared to the standard AWS bill. @@ -24 +28 @@ This section defines key terms used throughout AWS Billing Conductor so you can -The billing data that is generated for each billing group. AWS Billing Conductor computation takes the usage accrued by the billing group accounts and applies the custom rates that are defined by the billing group's pricing plan. The billing data is then vended downstream to the [integrated services](./service-integrations-support-proforma.html). If an account in a billing group views their costs through one of these services, they see the pro forma billing data instead of the standard AWS billing data. +The billing data that is generated for each billing group. Billing data is generated for each billing group type: standard billing groups configured when using Billing Conductor as a standalone service, and billing transfer billing groups configured when using billing transfer with Billing Conductor. AWS Billing Conductor computation takes the usage accrued by the billing group accounts and applies the custom rates that are defined by the billing group's pricing plan. The billing data is then vended downstream to the [integrated services](./service-integrations-support-proforma.html). If an account or AWS Organizations in a billing group views their costs through one of these services, they see the pro forma billing data instead of the standard AWS billing data. @@ -62,0 +67,9 @@ Each billing group's pro forma bill is computed as if the accounts within the gr +###### Note + + * These differences apply only when using Billing Conductor as a standalone service. When using billing transfer with Billing Conductor, the reserved instances, Savings Plans, and volume discounts are calculated based on the entire AWS Organizations. This calculation method is used because the entire organization is included in the billing group. As a result, the reserved instance and Savings Plans benefits are always visible to organizations transferring their bills. + + * Free Tier credits are not supported in pro forma billing for billing transfer users. + + + + @@ -67 +80,3 @@ The following line item types are excluded from the pro forma domain: - * Support charges + * Free Tier credits + + * Support plans charges (Enterprise, Business, Developer) @@ -74,0 +90,2 @@ The following line item types are excluded from the pro forma domain: + * Refunds + @@ -86 +103 @@ Along with these factors, it is possible for the billing group margin to be a ne -You can adjust the pricing rates by [creating pricing rules](./create-pricingrule.html) and associating them to a [pricing plan](./create-pricingplan.html). Then, that pricing plan can be applied to your billing group. Any markup or discount pricing rule is calculated against the public AWS On-Demand rates. If you apply an empty pricing plan to your billing group, then the pricing rates default to the public AWS On-Demand rates. +You can adjust the pricing rates by [creating pricing rules](./create-pricingrule.html) and associating them to a [pricing plan](./create-pricingplan.html). Then, that pricing plan can be applied to your billing group. Any markup or discount pricing rule is calculated against the Billing Conductor base rates (rates exclusive of negotiated discounts, Partner program discounts, credits, free tier credits, tax and support plan charges). If you apply an empty pricing plan to your billing group, then the pricing rates default to the Billing Conductor base rates. @@ -92 +109,3 @@ You can then [create custom line items](./create-cli.html) to add credits or fee -The payer account is always be able to view the standard AWS bill because they are responsible for paying these charges to AWS. They can also view the pro forma bill for each of their billing groups on the **Bills** page and AWS Cost and Usage Report. +When using Billing Conductor as a standalone service, the payer account can always view the standard AWS bill because they are responsible for paying these charges to AWS. They can also view the pro forma bill for each of their billing groups on the **Bills** page and AWS Cost and Usage Report and Cost Explorer. + +When using Billing Conductor with billing transfer, the bill transfer account can always view the standard AWS bill because they are responsible for paying these charges to AWS. They can also view the pro forma bill for each of their billing groups on the Bills page, , and Cost Explorer. @@ -96 +115 @@ For more information, see [Viewing your billing group details](./viewing-abc.htm -Accounts that are associated to a billing group can see the pro forma data when they view their bill details through an integrated service. The primary account has cross-account visibility, and can see the pro forma billing data for all of the accounts in the billing group. Other accounts in the billing group can see the pro forma billing data for their own account. For the full list of services that support pro forma data views, see [AWS services that support pro forma costs](./service-integrations-support-proforma.html). +Accounts that are associated to a billing group can see the pro forma data when they view their bill details through an integrated service. When using Billing Conductor as a standalone service, the primary account has cross-account visibility, and can see the pro forma billing data for all of the accounts in the billing group. Other accounts in the billing group can see the pro forma billing data for their own account. For the full list of services that support pro forma data views, see [AWS services that support pro forma-based billing view costs](./service-integrations-support-proforma.html). @@ -99,0 +119,2 @@ Accounts that are associated to a billing group can see the pro forma data when +The following considerations about Free Tier behavior in pro forma billing apply when using Billing Conductor as a standalone service or with billing transfer. + @@ -114,0 +136,5 @@ Billing Conductor removes most free trials from the pro forma data. However, we +**Free Tier for accounts signing up after July 2025** + + +Accounts that sign up after July 2025 receive Free Tier credits when they choose their account plan. These credits don't appear in the pro forma billing by default. To include these credits in the pro forma billing, the payer account or bill transfer account must use the custom line item functionality in Billing Conductor. + @@ -117 +143 @@ Billing Conductor removes most free trials from the pro forma data. However, we -You can't reconcile the costs generated for a billing group's pro forma bill, based on the costs in the standard AWS bill. For example, you can't derive the pro forma cost for an account by subtracting private discounts and taxes charged in the standard AWS bill. For more information on why, see What's the difference between pro forma billing data and standard AWS billing data? and How Free Tier applies in the pro forma domain. +You can't reconcile the costs generated for a billing group's pro forma bill, based on the costs in the standard privately negotiated AWS bill. For example, you can't derive the pro forma cost for an account by subtracting private discounts and taxes charged in the standard AWS bill. For more information on why, see What's the difference between pro forma billing data and standard AWS billing data? and How Free Tier applies in the pro forma domain. @@ -119 +145 @@ You can't reconcile the costs generated for a billing group's pro forma bill, ba -### How are reserved instances and Savings Plans allocated in the pro forma domain? +### How are Reserved Instances and Savings Plans allocated in the pro forma domain? @@ -121 +147,3 @@ You can't reconcile the costs generated for a billing group's pro forma bill, ba -If a reserved instance (RI) or Savings Plans is bought by an account outside of your billing group, it is excluded from your billing group's pro forma bill entirely. If the RI or Savings Plans is bought by an account within your billing group, the benefits first apply to any eligible usage that accrues within the purchasing billing group account. Remaining benefits are distributed to the other accounts within the group. +This section applies only when using Billing Conductor as a standalone service. For users using billing transfer, the reserved instances and Savings Plans apply exactly as they do in the standard billing domain because there is a one-to-one mapping between the billing group and the AWS Organizations transferring its bills. + +When using Billing Conductor as a standalone service, if an account outside your billing group purchases a reserved instance (RI) or Savings Plans, it is excluded from your billing group's pro forma billing. If an account within your billing group purchases an RI or Savings Plans, the benefits first apply to any eligible usage that accrues within the purchasing account. Any remaining benefits are distributed to other accounts within the group. @@ -126,0 +155,2 @@ RI and Savings Plans discount sharing preferences made at the payer level have n +This section applies only when using Billing Conductor as a standalone service. +