How to create a budget and set up budget alerts
From the space you wish to set up the budget for navigate to the Cost Explorer tab as seen below.
Once inside the cost explorer tab there will be a section titled: Budgets as seen below.
To start the creation process of creating a budget click the + tab in the top right corner of the budgets section and a new modal window (as shown below) should present itself.
Budgets are created with a specific time period that can be either Daily, Monthly, Quarterly, and Annually. Once created, the time period will be unavailable for future creations unless it is deleted then it can be used again.
Once a time period has been chose the next step is to set the total amount of your budget. This value should be the absolute max spend you wish to utilize for the given time period. This number is what the alerts will use as a basis for generating an alert.
The next step is to add email recipients to receive the generated alert emails for the budget. Once a budget is created however they cannot be edited, so if you wish to remove or add anyone the prior one would need to be removed and recreated with the new recipient list. The filled out recipient list looks like the screenshot shown below
Once the budget form has been filled out the next step is to set up alerts as shown below.
Starting with the threshold amount the value, if percentage based, is the percent of the budget set on the first page. Once the threshold has been reached an alert will be generated and sent to the recipients listed on the first page.
The two currently support types are either percentage (1-100%) or in absolute (1-Budget Amount).
The notification type specifies the context in which the alert is generated. Actual returns just as described, the current actual amount for the time period. Forecasted will use the forecasted costs for the time period as its basis for generating the alert.
Finally once an alert has been added it will show up in the Added Alerts list as shown below. You are allowed to create up to 5 alert triggers for a given budget.
After at least one alert has been to the list the create button in the bottom right will be clickable allowing the user to create the given budget.
Once created the budget will appear in the budgets list as show below
To delete the budget simply click the trash icon that resides in the delete column of the table. After a brief moment the budget will be removed and can be recreated if the user chooses to.
Budget frequently asked questions
How do budget amounts relate to budget alerts?
Think of the budget amount as the absolute max you wish to spend on the space in question. The alerts will then function off of a percentage or absolute dollar amount of the budget to trigger the alert.
Why does the time period I added become disabled after adding an alert?
Users can only specify one budget per timeframe. However multiple alerts types, absolute and percentage can be specified for the time period. This should cover most use cases
Is there a max recipient list for budgets?
Not currently
Can alerts be sent to non Yale addresses?
Yes
Why is forecasted disabled for daily time periods?
Amazon does not provide forecasting for the daily time period. It only provides forecasting amounts for the following time periods: Monthly, Quarterly, and Annually.
What is the minimum amount for a budget?
$1.00
What is the maximum amount for a budget?
Amazon has set this to $2,147,483,647.00
What is the minimum amount for an alert?
$0.00 for absolute and 0% for percentage
What is the maximum amount for an alert
$40,000,000,000 (set by Amazon) and 100% for percentages
What is the maximum number of alerts a budget can have?
Currently alerts are set to a maximum of 5 of any type.
Can email recipients be added/removed after budget creation?
Not currently. The budget will need to be recreated with/without the specified recipient.
Can amounts be changed after budget creation?
Not currently. The budget will need to be recreated with the new amount.
Can alerts be changed after budget creation?
Not currently. The budget will need to be recreated with the new alerts.