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Enabling AWS Cost and Billing in ROOT Account

Enabling AWS cost and usage features in your organization account.

NOTE: This task should be completed in the Organization account (root account) of your Amazon Web Services (AWS) Organization.

Enabling IAM User and Role Access to Billing Information

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console using your root account credentials.
    1. Caution: The root user is the superuser in your AWS account. Use it only for tasks that specifically require root access.
  2. In the navigation bar, click on your account name, then select Account.
  3. Scroll to the IAM User and Role Access to Billing Information section. 
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Check the box next to Activate IAM Access.
  6. Click Update.

Enabling Cost Explorer

  1. Navigate to the AWS Cost Management console.
  2. Select Cost Explorer from the left sidebar.
    1. If this is your first time, you'll be prompted to enable Cost Explorer.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to enable Cost Explorer.
    1. Note: It may take up to 24 hours for AWS to prepare your cost and usage data.

What This Enables

Billing Information Access: IAM users and roles can now access billing and cost management features, allowing for delegated access without sharing root credentials.

Cost Explorer: Provides visualizations and analysis of your AWS costs and usage.

Historical data: Current month plus previous 13 months.

Forecast: Next 12 months of projected costs.

Best Practices

  1. Root Account Usage: Minimize use of the root account. After setup, use IAM users for day-to-day operations.
  2. Cost Allocation Tags: Set up cost allocation tags to better track and manage expenses across your organization.
  3. Budgets and Alerts: Use AWS Budgets to set cost thresholds and receive alerts when approaching limits.

By following these steps, you'll have enabled crucial cost management features across your AWS Organization, providing valuable insights and control over your cloud spending.