Getting started

This section provides information that you need to get started with using the AWS Cost Management console.

Sign up for an AWS account

If you do not have an AWS account, complete the following steps to create one.

To sign up for an AWS account

1. Open https://portal.aws.amazon.com/billing/signup.

2. Follow the online instructions.

   Part of the sign-up procedure involves receiving a phone call and entering a verification code on the phone keypad.

   When you sign up for an AWS account, an AWS account root user is created. The root user has access to all AWS services and resources in the account. As a security best practice, assign administrative access to an administrative user, and use only the root user to perform tasks that require root user access.

AWS sends you a confirmation email after the sign-up process is complete. At any time, you can view your current account activity and manage your account by going to https://aws.amazon.com/ and choosing My Account.

Create an administrative user

After you sign up for an AWS account, secure your AWS account root user, enable AWS IAM Identity Center, and create an administrative user so that you don't use the root user for everyday tasks.

Secure your AWS account root user

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console as the account owner by choosing Root user and entering your AWS account email address. On the next page, enter your password.

   For help signing in by using root user, see Signing in as the root user in the AWS Sign-In User Guide.

2. Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your root user.

   For instructions, see Enable a virtual MFA device for your AWS account root user (console) in the IAM User Guide.

Create an administrative user

1. Enable IAM Identity Center.

   For instructions, see Enabling AWS IAM Identity Center in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

2. In IAM Identity Center, grant administrative access to an administrative user.

   For a tutorial about using the IAM Identity Center directory as your identity source, see Configure user access with the default IAM Identity Center directory in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

Sign in as the administrative user

• To sign in with your IAM Identity Center user, use the sign-in URL that was sent to your email address when you created the IAM Identity Center user.

  For help signing in using an IAM Identity Center user, see Signing in to the AWS access portal in the AWS Sign-In User Guide.

Attach the required IAM policy to an IAM identity

AWS account owners can provide permissions to specific users who need to view or manage the Billing and Cost Management data for an AWS account. To start activating access to the Billing and Cost Management console, see IAM tutorial: Delegate access to the billing console in the IAM User Guide.

For more information about IAM policies specific to Billing and Cost Management, see Using identity-based policies (IAM policies) for Billing and Cost Management.

For a list of Billing and Cost Management policy examples, see Billing and Cost Management policy examples.

Review your bills and usage

Use features in the Billing console to view your current AWS charges and AWS usage.

To open the Billing console and view your usage and charges

1. Sign into the AWS Management Console and open the Billing and Cost Management console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/billing/.

2. Choose Bills to see the details for your current charges.

   Choose Payments to see your historical payment transactions.

   Choose AWS Cost and Usage Reports to see reports that break down your costs.

For information about Billing console features, see the Billing User Guide.

For more information about setting up and using AWS Cost and Usage Reports, see the AWS Cost and Usage Reports User Guide.

Set up your AWS Cost Management features

Review the process that's needed to activate your AWS Cost Management features.

• AWS Cost Explorer: Enabling Cost Explorer

• AWS Budgets: Best practices for AWS Budgets

• AWS Budgets reports: Reporting your budget metrics with budget reports

• AWS Cost Anomaly Detection: Setting up your anomaly detection

• Savings Plans: Getting started with Savings Plans in the Savings Plans User Guide

What do I do next?

Now that you have AWS Cost Management set up, you're ready to use the features available to you. The rest of this guide helps you navigate your journey using the console.

Using the Billing and Cost Management API

Use the AWS Billing and Cost Management API Reference to programmatically use some AWS Cost Management features.

Learn more

You can find more information about AWS Cost Management features including presentations, virtual workshops, and blog posts on the Cloud Financial Management with AWS page.

You can find virtual workshops by choosing the Services drop-down and selecting your feature.

Getting help

There are several resources that you can use if you want to learn more about or need help with any of the AWS Cost Management features.

AWS Knowledge Center

All AWS account owners have access to account and billing support free of charge. You can find answers to your questions quickly by visiting the AWS Knowledge Center.

To find your question or request

1. Open AWS Knowledge Center.

2. Choose Billing Management.

3. Scan the list of topics to locate a question that is similar to yours.

Contacting AWS Support

Contacting AWS Support is the fastest and most direct method for communicating with an AWS associate about your questions. AWS Support doesn't publish a direct phone number for reaching a support representative. You can use the following process to have an associate reach out to you by email or phone instead.

Only personalized technical support requires a support plan. For more information, visit AWS Support.

To open an AWS Support case where you specify Regarding: Account and Billing Support, you must either be signed into AWS as the root account owner, or have IAM permissions to open a support case. For more information, see Accessing AWS Support in the AWS Support User Guide.

If you closed your AWS account, you can still sign in to AWS Support and view past bills.

To contact AWS Support

1. Sign in and navigate to the AWS Support Center.

2. Choose Create case.

3. On the Create case page, choose Account and billing and fill in the required fields on the form.

4. After you complete the form, under Contact options, choose either Web for an email response or Phone to request a telephone call from an AWS Support representative. Instant messaging support isn't available for billing inquiries.

To contact AWS Support when you can't sign in to AWS

1. Recover your password or submit a form at AWS account support.

2. Choose an inquiry type in the Request information section.

3. Fill out the How can we help you? section.

4. Choose Submit.