Amortized cost-Expenses and Costs-阿里云帮助中心

How it works

Distribute subscription and pay-as-you-go cloud resource costs over their service periods using defined allocation rules. View the data from two perspectives and group it by three dimensions.

Two perspectives
- Amortization period: Costs aggregated by the amortization month. A single month may include costs from orders or bills of different billing cycles.
- Billing month: How costs from a specific billing month are allocated across amortization months.
Three dimensions
- By instance: Allocated costs grouped by resource instance.
- By service: Allocated costs grouped by service.
- By financial unit: Allocated costs grouped by financial unit.

View amortized bills

In the Expenses and Costs console, navigate to Cost > Cost Allocation > Allocated Cost, and select the data range that you want to query.

At the top of the page, you can filter the data by Billing Month/Allocation Month, Asset/Resource Instance ID, and Enterprise/Organization/Account. The table includes columns such as Billing Month, Amortization Status, Amortization Month, Service Name, fee type, discount amount, and Amortized Payable Amount.

Customize columns: On the Amortized cost page, click the Customize Columns icon. Select the columns to display, clear unwanted columns, and click Save. This affects only the console display, not exported reports.
Export bills: On the Amortized cost page, click the Export icon. Exporting for selected accounts includes only filtered accounts. Exporting for all accounts includes every account you can access. Go to the Export Details page to download the file.

Amortization rules

Scenario 1: Equity asset amortization

Use cases: Applies to equity assets such as Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, and resource plans (for example, Storage Capacity Unit (SCU) or PolarDB compute plans). After purchase, an equity asset offsets pay-as-you-go fees for supported services.
Amortization rule: Usage-based amortization. Costs are allocated based on metered usage, such as bandwidth, traffic, call duration, or storage.
Amortization rule examples:

Example 1: Amortization for periodic equity assets (calendar month or dynamic month)

Purchase: A user purchases a monthly Simple Log Service (SLS) resource plan for a total of 1,200. The order number is A001, the purchase date is January 1, 2021, and the plan is valid from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, with a capacity of 100 Compute Units (CUs). This annual plan is divided into 12 monthly sub-plans. Each sub-plan has a maximum deductible usage of 100 CUs per month, and its monthly amortized cost is 1,200 / 12 = 100 .

The deduction details for January are as follows:
- January 5, 2021: 30 CUs deducted.
- January 7, 2021: 40 CUs deducted.
- January 11, 2021: 25 CUs deducted.
- No other usage was deducted in January.

Based on these deductions, the daily amortized amounts for January are as follows:

January 5, 2021: The amortized amount is (30 CUs / 100 CUs) * 100 = 30.
January 7, 2021: The amortized amount is (40 CUs / 100 CUs) * 100 = 40.
January 11, 2021: The amortized amount is (25 CUs / 100 CUs) * 100 = 25.
On other days in January, the amortized amount is 0.
On January 31, 2021, the last day of the month, the unused portion of the monthly cost is amortized. The amount is ((100 CU - 30 CU - 40 CU - 25 CU) / 100 CU) * 100 = 5.

The deduction details for February are as follows:
- February 1, 2021: 30 CUs deducted.
- February 7, 2021: 40 CUs deducted.
- No other usage was deducted in February.

Based on these deductions, the daily amortized amounts for February are as follows:

February 1, 2021: The amortized amount is (30 CUs / 100 CUs) * 100 = 30.
February 7, 2021: The amortized amount is (40 CUs / 100 CUs) * 100 = 40.
On other days in February, the amortized amount is 0.
On February 28, 2021, the last day of the month, the unused portion is amortized. The amount is ((100 CU - 30 CU - 40 CU) / 100 CU) * 100 = 30.

The process is similar for the remaining months.

Summary:

Viewing costs from the billing month perspective:
- If you view the costs for the billing month of January 2021 (for order A001):
  - For the amortization period of January 2021: Initial amortized amount is 0, current amortized amount is 100, and remaining amount to be amortized is 1,100.
  - For the amortization period of February 2021: Initial amortized amount is 100, current amortized amount is 100, and remaining amount to be amortized is 1,000.
- If you view the costs for the billing month of February 2021, no data is found because order A001 belongs to the January 2021 billing cycle.
Viewing costs from the amortization period perspective:
- If you view the costs for the amortization period of January 2021 (for order A001):
  - The data shows a billing month of January 2021, with an initial amortized amount of 0, a current amortized amount of 100, and a remaining amount to be amortized of 1,100.
- If you view the costs for the amortization period of February 2021 (for order A001):
  - The data shows a billing month of January 2021, with an initial amortized amount of 100, a current amortized amount of 100, and a remaining amount to be amortized of 1,000.

Rule summary: A periodic resource plan is divided into multiple sub-plans based on the service cycle. The cost of each sub-plan is the total cost divided by the number of sub-plans. Within each sub-plan's service period, the cost is allocated based on actual usage (usage-based amortization). Any unamortized cost for a sub-plan is allocated on the last day of its service period.

Example 2: Amortization for decreasing-total equity assets

Purchase: A user purchases an OSS resource plan with a total capacity that is depleted by usage. The plan provides 1,200 CUs for 1,200. The order number is A001, the purchase date is January 1, 2021, and the plan is valid from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021.

The deduction details for January are as follows:
- January 5, 2021: 30 CUs deducted.
- January 7, 2021: 40 CUs deducted.
- January 11, 2021: 25 CUs deducted.
- No other usage was deducted in January.

Based on these deductions, the daily amortized amounts for the order are as follows:

January 5, 2021: The amortized amount is (30 CUs / 1,200 CUs) * 1,200 = 30.
January 7, 2021: The amortized amount is (40 CUs / 1,200 CUs) * 1,200 = 40.
January 11, 2021: The amortized amount is (25 CUs / 1,200 CUs) * 1,200 = 25.
On other days in January, the amortized amount is 0.

The deduction details for February are as follows:
- February 1, 2021: 30 CUs deducted.
- February 7, 2021: 40 CUs deducted.
- No other usage was deducted in February.

Based on these deductions, the daily amortized amounts for February are as follows:

February 1, 2021: The amortized amount is (30 CUs / 1,200 CUs) * 1,200 = 30.
February 7, 2021: The amortized amount is (40 CUs / 1,200 CUs) * 1,200 = 40.
On other days in February, the amortized amount is 0.

Assume no deductions occur in the other months. The daily amortized amount for those months is 0, excluding the last day of the validity period.
On December 31, 2021, the last day of the validity period, the entire remaining cost is amortized. The amount is ((1,200 - 30 - 40 - 25 - 30 - 40) / 1,200) * 1,200 = 1,035.

Summary:

Viewing costs from the billing month perspective:
- If you view the costs for the billing month of January 2021 (for order A001):
  - For the amortization period of January 2021: Initial amortized amount is 0, current amortized amount is 95, and remaining amount to be amortized is 1,105.
  - For the amortization period of February 2021: Initial amortized amount is 95, current amortized amount is 70, and remaining amount to be amortized is 1,035.
- If you view the costs for the billing month of February 2021, no data is found because order A001 belongs to the January 2021 billing cycle.
Viewing costs from the amortization period perspective:
- If you view the costs for the amortization period of January 2021 (for order A001):
  - The data shows a billing month of January 2021, with an initial amortized amount of 0, a current amortized amount of 95, and a remaining amount to be amortized of 1,105.
- If you view the costs for the amortization period of February 2021 (for order A001):
  - The data shows a billing month of January 2021, with an initial amortized amount of 95, a current amortized amount of 70, and a remaining amount to be amortized of 1,035.

Rule summary: For a decreasing-total resource plan, the cost is allocated based on actual usage (usage-based amortization). Any unamortized cost is allocated on the last day of the plan's service period.

Example 3: Amortization for fixed-total equity assets

Purchase: A user makes a full upfront payment for a Reserved Instance for a total of 1,200. The order number is A001. The purchase is made at 00:00:00 on January 1, 2021, and the validity period is from 00:00:00 on January 1, 2021, to 23:59:59 on December 31, 2021. After the purchase, the Reserved Instance becomes active. It automatically matches pay-as-you-go instances every hour to deduct hourly bills. A portion of the cost is amortized every hour, regardless of whether a matching pay-as-you-go instance is found.

Then, the hourly amortized amount for January 1 = 1200 / (12 * 31 * 24) = 0.13.
Then, the total amortized amount for January is 96.72.
The process is similar for other periods.

Summary:

Viewing costs from the billing month perspective:
- If you view the costs for the billing month of January 2021 (for order A001):
  - For the amortization period of January 2021: Initial amortized amount is 0, current amortized amount is 102.17, and remaining amount to be amortized is 1,097.83.
- If you view the costs for the billing month of February 2021, no data is found because order A001 belongs to the January 2021 billing cycle.
Viewing costs from the amortization period perspective:
- If you view the costs for the amortization period of January 2021 (for order A001):
  - The data shows a billing month of January 2021, with an initial amortized amount of 0, a current amortized amount of 102.17, and a remaining amount to be amortized of 1,097.83.

Rule summary: For fixed-total equity assets like a Reserved Instance, the cost is allocated using linear amortization. The total cost is distributed evenly over the service period, regardless of actual usage or matching.

Scenario 2: Subscription service amortization

Use cases: Applies to services with a subscription billing model, such as ECS (monthly), ApsaraDB RDS (monthly), and Anti-DDoS Pro/Premium (subscription).
Amortization rule: Linear amortization. The cost is distributed evenly over the service period. The formula is: Daily Amortized Amount = Order Cost / Number of Days in Service Period.
Amortization rule examples:

Example 1: New purchase followed by unsubscription

Purchase: A user purchases a monthly subscription for an ECS instance for 60 at 13:10:00 on January 1, 2022. The order number is A001, and the service period is from January 1, 2022, to January 31, 2022.

Based on the linear amortization logic, the amortization for the new order is as follows:

January 1, 2022: The amortized amount is 0 because the service period on the purchase day is less than 24 hours.
From January 2, 2022, to January 31, 2022: The daily amortized amount is 60 / 30 = 2. The total amortized amount is 60.

Unsubscribe: The user unsubscribes from the service.

If the user unsubscribes on January 16, 2022, the amortization for the original order is adjusted as follows:
- January 1, 2022: Amortized amount is 0.
- From January 2, 2022, to January 15, 2022: Daily amortized amount is 2. The total amortized amount is 28.
- January 16, 2022: On the unsubscription date, the remaining unamortized value is recognized in full. The amortized amount is 60 - 0 - (2 * 14) = 32.
An unsubscription generates a refund order with a negative value. If the refund amount is 30, the amortization for the refund order is as follows:
- January 16, 2022: The amortized amount is -30.

Example 2: New purchase, early renewal, and upgrade

Purchase: A user purchases a monthly subscription for an ECS instance for 60 at 13:10:00 on January 1, 2022. The service period is from January 1, 2022, to January 31, 2022. The order number is A001.

The amortization for the new order is as follows:

January 1, 2022: The amortized amount is 0.
From January 2, 2022, to January 31, 2022: The daily amortized amount is 60 / 30 = 2. The total amortized amount is 60.

Early renewal: The user renews the subscription early.

On January 16, 2022, the user renews the subscription, which generates a renewal order A002 for 60. The new service period is from February 1, 2022, to February 28, 2022.
- Because the renewal order's service period has not yet begun, its cost amortization is as follows.
- From January 16, 2022, to January 31, 2022: The amortized amount is 0.
- Starting February 1, 2022, the daily amortized amount is 60 / 28 ≈ 2.14.

Upgrade: The user upgrades the instance on January 20, 2022.

The upgrade generates new positive orders A001-1 and A002-1:
- Order A001-1: For the service period from January 20 to January 31 (12 days), the cost is 48. Based on linear amortization, the daily amortized amount is 48 / 12 = 4.
- Order A002-1: For the service period from February 1 to February 28 (28 days), the cost is 80. From January 20 to January 31, the amortized amount is 0. From February 1 to February 28, the daily amortized amount is 80 / 28 ≈ 2.85.
The linear amortization for the original orders A001 and A002 continues as before.
The upgrade also generates negative orders A001-2 and A002-2 to refund the unused portion of the original configurations:
- Order A001-2: For the period from January 20 to January 31 (12 days), the refund amount is -31. The daily amortized amount is -31 / 12 ≈ -2.58.
- Order A002-2: For the period from February 1 to February 28 (28 days), the refund amount is -60. From January 20 to January 31, the amortized amount is 0. From February 1 to February 28, the daily amortized amount is -60 / 28 ≈ -2.14.

Example 3: New purchase, early renewal, and downgrade

Purchase: A user purchases a monthly subscription for an ECS instance for 60 at 13:10:00 on January 1, 2022. The service period is from January 1, 2022, to January 31, 2022. The order number is A001.

The amortization for the new order is as follows:

January 1, 2022: The amortized amount is 0.
From January 2, 2022, to January 31, 2022: The daily amortized amount is 60 / 30 = 2. The total amortized amount is 60.

Early renewal: The user renews the subscription early.

On January 16, 2022, the user renews the subscription, which generates a renewal order A002 for 60. The new service period is from February 1, 2022, to February 28, 2022.
- Because the renewal order's service period has not yet begun, its cost amortization is as follows.
- From January 16, 2022, to January 31, 2022: The amortized amount is 0.
- Starting February 1, 2022, the daily amortized amount is 60 / 28 ≈ 2.14.

Downgrade: The user downgrades the instance on January 20, 2022.

The downgrade generates new positive orders A001-1 and A002-1:
- Order A001-1: For the service period from January 20 to January 31 (12 days), the cost is 12. The daily amortized amount is 12 / 12 = 1.
- Order A002-1: For the service period from February 1 to February 28 (28 days), the cost is 40. From January 20 to January 31, the amortized amount is 0. From February 1 to February 28, the daily amortized amount is 40 / 28 ≈ 1.42.
The linear amortization for the original orders A001 and A002 continues as before.
The downgrade also generates negative orders A001-2 and A002-2 to refund the unused portion of the original configurations:
- Order A001-2: For the period from January 20 to January 31 (12 days), the refund amount is -31. The daily amortized amount is -31 / 12 ≈ -2.58.
- For order A002-2, the service period is from 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28 (28 days) and the amount is -60. Based on linear amortization, no amount is amortized from 2022-01-20 to 2022-01-31, and the daily amortized amount is 0 CNY. From 2022-02-01 to 2022-02-28, the daily amortized amount is -60 / 28 = -2.14 CNY.

Scenario 3: Pay-as-you-go service allocation

Use cases: Applies to services with a pay-as-you-go billing model, such as Application Load Balancer (pay-as-you-go) and ECS (pay-as-you-go).
Allocation rule: One-time allocation. The cost is fully allocated at once. The daily allocated amount is equal to the bill amount.
Allocation rule examples:

Example 1: Pay-as-you-go with hourly billing

A user consumes a pay-as-you-go service during the period from 23:00:00 to 23:59:59 on January 1, 2022. The bill number is A001, and the payable amount is 2. Therefore, the allocated amount for January 1, 2022, is 2.

Example 2: Pay-as-you-go with monthly billing

A user consumes a pay-as-you-go service during the period from 00:00:00 on January 1, 2022, to 23:59:59 on January 31, 2022. The bill number is A001, and the amount is 1,000. The bill for this usage is generated in early February (typically between the 1st and 3rd). Before the bill is generated, no amortized cost data is available. After the bill is generated, the full amount is allocated to the last day of the service period, which is January 31, 2022. The allocated amount is 1,000.