FOCUS: the FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification
The open specification that gives cloud, SaaS and AI billing data one common set of columns, so an AWS, Azure and Google Cloud bill can be compared in one table. Maintained by the FinOps Foundation; all three big clouds can export bills in FOCUS format.
FOCUS 1.4
focus.finops.org · Oct 2026
CC BY 4.0
focus.finops.org · Oct 2026
Guide
Other
FinOps Foundation
A few hours to read the core columns
Intermediate
Free
What FOCUS is
FOCUS (the FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification) is an open specification for billing data. It defines a common schema, aligns its terms with the FinOps Framework and sets a minimum set of requirements for billing data, so that cost data from different vendors can be analysed the same way. It is run by the FinOps Foundation and published under a Creative Commons licence. As of October 2026 the latest published version is FOCUS 1.4.
Why it matters
Every provider used to have its own billing format with its own column names: AWS's Cost and Usage Report, Azure's cost details and Google Cloud's BigQuery billing export all describe the same ideas differently. A company on two clouds had to write and maintain a translation layer before it could answer a simple question like "what did each team spend last month?". FOCUS removes that step. Adoption is broad: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle, Alibaba Cloud and SaaS vendors such as Snowflake, Databricks, MongoDB and Vercel are listed as adopters.
The columns to learn first
The four cost columns are the heart of it:
- ListCost: the price before any discount.
- ContractedCost: the price under your negotiated rates.
- BilledCost: what appears on the invoice.
- EffectiveCost: the amortised cost after commitments and discounts, which is what you usually allocate to teams.
Then learn the columns that describe the charge: ChargeCategory (usage, purchase, tax, credit, adjustment), ServiceCategory, ServiceName, the billing period and the resource and tag columns.
How each cloud exports it
- AWS: Data Exports offers a FOCUS 1.2 with AWS columns export (and FOCUS 1.0) alongside CUR 2.0.
- Azure: Cost Management exports include "Cost and usage details (FOCUS)", which combines actual and amortised cost.
- Google Cloud: Cloud Billing can export a FOCUS usage cost dataset to BigQuery (in preview as of October 2026).
How to learn with it
Download a sample FOCUS file (the Microsoft FinOps toolkit publishes sample exports) and load it into DuckDB, BigQuery or a spreadsheet. Write three queries: cost by service, cost by tag, and BilledCost against EffectiveCost for a month with a commitment purchase. The free "Introduction to FOCUS" course on learn.finops.org is a gentle start.
Best for: anyone who will build cost reports, dashboards or allocation logic across more than one provider.
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