Consolidated Billing

aws/billing aws/cost-management

💡 Definition

Consolidated Billing is a feature of AWS Organizations that allows you to treat multiple AWS accounts as one for billing purposes. You receive a single bill for all accounts, and the Management Account pays for all charges.

🔑 Key Concepts

Single Bill: Simplifies payment and accounting.
Volume Discounts: Usage from all accounts is combined. For tiered pricing services (like S3 or data transfer), this combined usage can push you into cheaper tiers faster.
Shared Reservations: RIs and Savings Plans purchased in one account can apply to usage in other accounts (if sharing is enabled).

⚙️ How it Works

Enable: Use AWS Organizations to link accounts.
Aggregate: AWS treats all member accounts as a single entity for billing calculations.
Pay: The Management Account is charged.

🎯 Use Cases

Corporations: One bill for Development, Testing, and Production accounts.
Cost Savings: Maximizing volume discounts and RI utilization across teams.
Simplified Admin: Reducing the number of invoices to process.

💰 Pricing Model

Free: Feature of AWS Organizations.

📝 Exam Tips (CLF-C02)

Key benefit: Volume Discounts (combining usage).
Key benefit: One Bill.
The Management Account is responsible for payment.

See Also: * AWS Organizations * Reserved Instances