# Bill estimates
Bill estimates allow you to estimate pre-tax costs of your usage and commitments across your consolidated bill family. The bill estimate automatically includes your consolidated usage from the previous month. For example, if you add 100 instance-hours for a specific EC2 instance type in a given AWS Region, those hours will be added on top of your existing usage for that instance type in that Region with no extra input needed. It also includes your existing commitments like Savings Plans and Reserved Instances. Your benefit sharing preferences are applied, and any applicable discounts, credits, or refunds are included just as they were on your most recent anniversary bill. You can model new usage changes as well as add new commitments, modify your existing commitments, and add how you want your reserved instance and savings plans benefits to be shared.
To generate a bill estimate you must create a bill scenario. Bill scenario allows you to model commitments in addition to usage. After you complete modeling usage and commitments in a scenario, you can run a bill estimate.
**Note**
Depending on the size of your workloads, generating a bill estimate can take between 20 minutes to 12 hours.
Bill estimates are only available to management accounts and standalone AWS accounts.
When you use billing transfer as a bill source account, AWS Pricing Calculator provides pricing estimates based on public pricing data, not the rates configured by your bill transfer account.
**Topics**
+ [Understanding the data entities used in bill estimates](#pc-bill-estimate-entities)
+ [Creating a bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario.md)
+ [Adding historical usage to your bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario-historical-usage.md)
+ [Adding new services to my bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario-new-service.md)
+ [Adding previously saved estimates to my bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario-previous-url.md)
+ [Adding benefit sharing preference to my bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario-preferences.md)
+ [Adding Savings Plans to my bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario-sp.md)
+ [Adding Reserved Instances to my bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario-ri.md)
+ [Stale and expired bill scenarios](pc-scenario-stale.md)
+ [Creating a bill estimate](pc-create-bill-estimate.md)
+ [Viewing your Bill estimate](pc-view-bill-estimate.md)
## Understanding the data entities used in bill estimates
The bill estimates generation engine of AWS Pricing Calculator uses the following data entities from the specified timeframe.
****
| Data entity | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Member accounts | The selection of member accounts are used to identify how usage was incurred by each member account during the last anniversary bill month and we layer your modeled usage on top of it. |
| Product and pricing attributes | The product and pricing attributes governs pricing. For example, a t4g.large EC2 shared tenancy instance running Linux in us-east-1 for 500 hrs for the month. A t4.large EC2 instance has 2 vCPUs, 8 GiB memory. Shared tenancy, number of vCPUs, allocated memory are the product attributes that determine the pricing for each unit of usage for this EC2 instance. We use the attributes and its pricing as of what was available during the last anniversary bill month. |
| Existing usage | Existing usage indicates the unchanged usage level from your last anniversary bill month upon which any of your modeled usage from a bill scenario is layered. |
| Savings Plans inventory | This inventory indicates active Savings Plans as of the last anniversary bill month. This inventory is automatically included in your bill estimates and any new Savings Plans you model is layered on this inventory that applies to Savings Plans eligible usage. |
| Reserved Instances inventory | This inventory indicates active Reserved Instances as of the last anniversary bill month. This inventory is automatically included in your bill estimates and any new Reserved Instances you model is layered on this inventory that applies to Reserved Instances eligible usage. |
| Benefits sharing preference | The accounts based on your **Reserved Instances and Savings Plans discount sharing preference** billing preference gets automatic Reserved Instances and Savings Plans discount benefits. We consider this benefit application setting as of the last anniversary bill to apply automatic benefit sharing when estimating your bill and allow you to layer discount sharing preference changes. |
# Creating a bill scenario
This section outlines how to generate a bill scenario.
## Procedure
**To create a bill scenario**
1. Open the Pricing Calculator console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/ ](https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Pricing Calculator**.
1. In the **Bill scenarios** of the **Bill estimate** tab, choose **Create bill scenario**.
1. In the **Create bill scenario** prompt, you can do the following:
+ Give your bill scenario a name.
+ Add key and value tag to your scenario.
1. Choose **Submit**.
# Adding historical usage to your bill scenario
This section outlines how to add historical usage to your bill scenario.
## Prerequisites
The following procedure assumes that you have already completed the [Creating a bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario.md) process.
## Procedure
**To add historical usage to a bill scenario**
1. Open the Pricing Calculator console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/ ](https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Pricing Calculator**.
1. In the **Bill scenario** of the **Bill estimate** tab, choose the scenario you want to add usage to.
1. From the **Add** dropdown in the **Usage** section, choose **Historical workload from my accounts**.
1. Select the time range of historical usage that you want to import.
**Note**
A maximum of 2000 usage lines that can be added to a single bill scenario.
1. (Optional) Add up to five filters. Filters allow you to specify lines of your usage that you want to add. Filter example include cost category and services.
**Note**
For each filters, the values are based on the time period selected in the previous step.
1. You can choose to add your usage to an existing group or a new group you create.
1. Choose **Preview**.
1. Check that the preview shows the usage that you want to import to your workload estimate.
**Note**
The usage is aggregated based on the account, Region, service code, usage type, and operation. This means that if the time range is across multiple months and your selection yields usage from the same account, Region, service code, usage type, and operation across multiple months, then all the usage amount and cost is added together into one line.
1. To add the historical usage to the workload estimate, choose **Import**.
# Adding new services to my bill scenario
This section outlines how to add new services to a bill scenario.
## Prerequisites
The following procedure assumes that you have already completed the [Creating a bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario.md) process.
## Procedure
**To add new services to a bill scenario**
1. Open the Pricing Calculator console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/ ](https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Pricing Calculator**.
1. In the **Bill scenarios** of the **Bill estimate** tab, choose the scenario you want to add usage to.
1. From the **Add** dropdown in the **Usage** section, choose **New services**.
1. On the **Add new service** page, you can do the following:
+ Choose an account.
+ Choose a location type.
+ Choose a location.
+ Choose a service.
1. You can choose to add your usage to an existing group or a new group you create.
1. To add the new services to the workload estimate, choose **Configure**.
1. On the **Configure service** page, you can select **Guided configuration** or **Condensed configuration**.
+ In the **Guided configuration**, you can select a template for that specific service. For more information, see [Guided configuration](pc-create-workload-configure-service.md#pc-create-workload-guided).
+ In the **Condensed configuration**, you can select the usage type and operation for that specific service. For more information, see [Condensed configuration](pc-create-workload-configure-service.md#pc-create-workload-condensed).
1. To complete the configuration process for the new services, choose **Save changes**.
# Adding previously saved estimates to my bill scenario
This section outlines how to add previously saved estimates from the public Pricing Calculator to a bill scenario. For instructions on how to generate a public Pricing Calculator URL, see [Sharing an estimate link](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/pricing-calculator/latest/userguide/save-share-estimate.html#create-estimate-link) in the public Pricing Calculator user guide.
**Note**
Any Savings Plans or Reserved Instances you have modeled in your public Pricing Calculator estimates won't be included when you're adding these estimates from the public Pricing Calculator to a workload estimate or bill scenario.
## Prerequisites
The following procedure assumes that you have already completed the [Creating a bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario.md) process.
## Procedure
**To add previously saved estimates to a bill scenario**
1. Open the Pricing Calculator console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/ ](https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Pricing Calculator**.
1. In the **Bill scenarios** of the **Bill estimate** tab, choose the scenario you want to add usage to.
1. From the **Add** dropdown in the **Usage** section, choose **Previously saved estimates**.
1. In the **Shared estimate URL** section, paste the URL of your previously saved estimate. For instruction on how to generate a public Pricing Calculator URL, see [Sharing an estimate link](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/pricing-calculator/latest/userguide/save-share-estimate.html#create-estimate-link) in the public Pricing Calculator user guide.
1. Select an account
1. You can choose to add your usage to an existing group or a new group you create.
1. Choose **Import**.
# Adding benefit sharing preference to my bill scenario
This section outlines how to add Reserved Instances and Savings Plans sharing group preference to a bill scenario. This allows you to model benefit sharing preference to evaluate the impact on your bill.
For information on sharing preferences, you can read details at [ Reserved Instances and Savings Plans discount sharing preferences.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awsaccountbilling/latest/aboutv2/billing-pref.html#reserved-instances-savings-plans-preferences).
## Prerequisites
The following procedure assumes that you have already completed the [Creating a bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario.md) process.
## Procedure
**To add Reserved Instances and Savings Plans sharing group preference to a bill scenario**
1. Open the Pricing Calculator console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/ ](https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Pricing Calculator**.
1. In the **Bill scenarios** of the **Bill estimate** tab, choose the scenario you want to add group sharing preference to.
1. In the **Reserved Instances and Savings Plans sharing group preferences** section, choose **Edit**.
1. Select the group preference you want and choose **Save changes**.
+ If you select Prioritized sharing group or Restricted sharing group, select a Cost Category from the drop down. For Open sharing, you do not need to choose a Cost Category.
1. Choose **Configure**.
# Adding Savings Plans to my bill scenario
This section outlines how to add Savings Plans to a bill scenario.
## Prerequisites
The following procedure assumes that you have already completed the [Creating a bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario.md) process.
## Procedure
**To add Savings Plans to a bill scenario**
1. Open the Pricing Calculator console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/ ](https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Pricing Calculator**.
1. In the **Bill scenarios** of the **Bill estimate** tab, choose the scenario you want to add Savings Plans to.
1. In the **Savings Plans** section, choose **Add Savings Plans**.
1. Select the type of Savings Plans you want and choose **Add**.
1. Verify if you need to configure the Savings Plans you just added.
1. If you need to configure the Savings Plans, select the checkbox of the Savings Plans you need to configure.
1. Choose **Edit**.
1. On the Add new service page, do the following:
+ Choose a term.
+ Choose a Region.
+ Choose a instance family.
+ Choose a payment option.
+ Provide an hourly commitment.
1. Choose **Configure**.
# Adding Reserved Instances to my bill scenario
This section outlines how to add Reserved Instances to a bill scenario.
## Prerequisites
The following procedure assumes that you have already completed the [Creating a bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario.md) process.
## Procedure
**To add Reserved Instances to a bill scenario**
1. Open the Pricing Calculator console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/ ](https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Pricing Calculator**.
1. In the **Bill scenarios** of the **Bill estimate** tab, choose the scenario you want to add Reserved Instances to.
1. In the **Reserved Instances** section, choose **Add Reserved Instances**.
1. Select the type of Reserved Instances you want and choose **Add**.
1. Verify if you need to configure the Reserved Instances you just added.
1. If you need to configure the Reserved Instances, select the checkbox of the Reserved Instances you need to configure.
1. Choose **Edit**.
1. On the Add new service page, do the following:
+ Choose a Region.
+ Choose a instance type.
+ Choose a platform.
+ Provide a tenancy.
+ Choose a offering class.
+ Choose a payment option.
+ Choose a term.
+ Provide a quantity.
1. Choose **Configure**.
# Stale and expired bill scenarios
This section describes the stale and expired status of your bill scenario.
When a bill scenario displays a **Stale** status, you can no longer use it to create a Bill Estimate. A bill scenario will go stale after the final day of the month in which it was created. For example, if you created a bill scenario on the 15th of February, the scenario would go stale on March 1st. The stale scenario will be visible for 13 months. After 13 months the scenario will expire and delete automatically. For example, a bill scenario created in February 2025 will expire and delete automatically on March 31, 2026.
# Creating a bill estimate
This section outlines how to generate a bill estimate.
## Prerequisites
The following procedure assumes that you have already completed the [Creating a bill scenario](pc-create-bill-scenario.md) process.
## Procedure
**To create a bill estimate**
1. Open the Pricing Calculator console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/ ](https://console.aws.amazon.com/costmanagement/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Pricing Calculator**.
1. In the **Bill scenarios** section of the **Bill estimate** tab, choose the scenario you want to generate a bill estimate from.
1. Choose **Create**.
1. In the **Create a bill estimate** prompt, you can do the following:
+ Give your bill estimate a name.
+ Add key and value tag to your estimate.
1. Choose **Save**.
While we are creating your bill estimate, the status shows **In progress**. When your bill estimate is ready, the status will show **Saved**. You will also receive an email notification when your bill estimate is ready.
**Note**
Depending on the size of your workloads, generating a bill estimate can take between 20 minutes to 12 hours.
# Viewing your Bill estimate
This page describes the information displayed in the key sections of your Bill estimate. If you are part of an AWS Organization, this page displays pre-tax cost and usage for your consolidated bill family. If you are a standalone account, this page displays pre-tax cost and usage for your account. For information about how to generate a bill estimate, see [Creating a bill estimate](pc-create-bill-estimate.md).
**Note**
If you run a bill estimate by specifying Reserved Instances and Savings Plans sharing group preference, you will see a section at the top of the bill estimate page that will tell you the benefit sharing preference and Cost category you used. It will allow you to go the Bill preferences page to make these changes directly.
****
| Estimate section | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Estimate details | Displays when the estimate was created, expiration date, and the AWS account that created the estimate. |
| Bill impact | Displays the high-level estimate costs [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cost-management/latest/userguide/pc-view-bill-estimate.html) |
| Net change for top impacted services | This charts displays a net cost comparison between your anniversary bill charges and your estimated costs for your AWS services. If you have multiple services in your estimate, we will display the top seven services in the chart. |
| Changed usage lines per service | Displays how costs and usage have changed for each affected service. This includes service usage lines that were directly and indirectly modeled in your bill scenario. Indirect modeling in your bill scenario is usage that was affected by increased or decreased commitment coverage. We identify these changes by comparing service details between your original anniversary bill and the new bill estimate. The following list provides an overview of each column in this section: [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cost-management/latest/userguide/pc-view-bill-estimate.html) |
| Savings Plans | This displays all active and modeled Savings Plans for the account. The **State** column only displays a **New**, **Existing**, **Modified**, or **Configure** status. [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cost-management/latest/userguide/pc-view-bill-estimate.html) |
| Reserved Instances | This displays all active and modeled Reserved Instances for the account. The **State** column only displays a **New**, **Existing**, **Modified**, or **Configure** status. [\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cost-management/latest/userguide/pc-view-bill-estimate.html) |