Stage 1 · Lesson 3 of 7
List, discounted and effective cost
The same hour of compute can carry several prices. List price is the public rate. Your price may be lower if your company negotiated a discount.
If a commitment such as a or reservation covers the usage, the line may show zero or a reduced rate, while the commitment itself is billed separately. Effective cost spreads the commitment back over the usage it covered, so each team sees what its usage really cost.
The billing format names these , ContractedCost, BilledCost and EffectiveCost.
Common trapcomparing two teams on different cost types, for example one on billed cost and one on effective cost, and drawing the wrong conclusion.
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Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- CourseFreeIntroduction to FinOps (free course)
FinOps Foundation · Beginner
Free: the FinOps Foundation's own first course, so you start with the right picture of what FinOps is
- CourseFreeGoogle Cloud cost management courses (Google Skills)
Google Cloud · Beginner
Start "Understand Your Google Cloud Costs": billing accounts, invoices and resource organisation