Alternative Methods for Daily Cost Usage Alerts in Azure

Question

2 (6).png Daily Cost Alert emails have been enabled for Production and Non-Production Subscriptions.

Until May 13th, daily cost usage graphs based solely on usage were received, providing a clear picture of any daily cost spikes. However, since May 14th, the daily emails now include graphs with Purchases, Refunds, and Usage, making it difficult to identify spikes based purely on usage.

Attempts to resolve this issue included:

• Saving a view with the filter ChargeType: Usage and re-subscribing to daily emails, but the same graph is still received.
• Creating a new Cost Analysis view with Charge Type: Usage.
• Applying the correct filters and saving the view.
• Re-subscribing to the daily cost alert using the updated view.

Despite these steps, the alert email continues to include all cost components.

Is there an alternative method to receive only the Cost Usage View in the daily alert emails, or is there any chance to solve the above issue? Research has not yielded any articles indicating that the portal has been updated.

Answer 1

Hi Mohana Reddy,

As you mentioned, you have tried different ways to see the usage details daily. Despite these efforts, the alert emails still include all cost components until May 13th. However, from May 14th onwards, the emails include all the details.

I suggest you check if there were any modifications made to the usage details usually,

Azure Cost Analysis views allow you to filter by ChargeType, but when you subscribe to daily emails, the ChargeType includes all values such as usage, purchase, refund, and unused reservation and savings plan costs by default.

FYR : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/costs/group-filter

As a Work around you can try below steps, to receive only usage-based cost data daily, you can automate the process using PowerShell   

You can use the Get-AzConsumptionUsageDetail cmdlet to fetch daily usage data.

# Login to Azure
Connect-AzAccount

# Set your subscription context
Set-AzContext -SubscriptionId "<your-subscription-id>"

# Get usage details for yesterday
$startDate = (Get-Date).AddDays(-1).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")
$endDate = (Get-Date).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")
$usageData = Get-AzConsumptionUsageDetail -StartDate $startDate -EndDate $endDate | Where-Object { $_.ChargeType -eq "Usage" }

# Export to CSV
$usageData | Export-Csv -Path "C:\Reports\DailyUsage_$startDate.csv" -NoTypeInformation 

Automate with Task Scheduler

Save the script as a .ps1 file.

Use Windows Task Scheduler to run it daily.

Optionally, attach a script to email the CSV using Send-MailMessage.

Send Email with Filtered Report

Send-MailMessage -From "******@yourdomain.com" -To "******@yourdomain.com" -Subject "Daily Usage Report" -Body "Attached is your usage-only cost report." -SmtpServer "smtp.yourdomain.com" -Attachments "C:\Reports\DailyUsage_$startDate.csv"

Please check and let us know if you still face any issues or have any additional queries.
We are happy to assist.

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