In a fast-changing cloud computing environment, even small mistakes can lead to overspending if not properly managed. This is where proactive budget planning becomes important. It helps set clear expectations and limits on cloud spending, ensuring your costs align with your organization’s financial goals. With Octo’s solid budget management system, you can set, monitor, and control spending across different resources—preventing unexpected costs and keeping everything within your budget. You’ll also receive alerts when you’re nearing or exceeding your budget limits, allowing you to take quick action and avoid overspending.
Additionally, Octo's budget management provides a clear picture of your cloud costs over time, making it easier to plan and make informed financial decisions. It also enhances accountability and visibility within teams, encouraging responsible cloud usage and ensuring efficient use of resources.
Where Can You Manage Your Budget in Octo
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Operational Image
Here are the steps to navigate your budget in Octo:
Go to the Cost Group section in Octo.
In the search bar, type the name of the cost group for which you want to create a budget, or simply scroll through the list to find it.
Once you’re on the cost group dashboard, click on the Budget tab (currently in beta).
Now, you’re ready to start creating your budget.
Start Creating Your Budget
The first step in creating your budget is knowing where to find it in Octo. Simply head to the Budget tab to get started and take control of your cloud spending effortlessly.
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Operational Image
Follow these steps to create your budget:
On the Budget tab, click ‘+CREATE BUDGET’.
In the Create Budget window, the first step is to Set Duration. You can choose a budget period of 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months. Based on your selected period, you can customize the starting and ending months. Once done, click ‘NEXT’.
After selecting the budget period, the next step is to Set Budget Amount. You can choose between Distributed or Cumulative budgeting. With a Distributed budget, the total amount is spread evenly across each month of the period you’ve set. For Cumulative budget, you manually adjust the budget for each month within the period, and the total amount you set for all months will give you your total budget. After that, click ‘NEXT’.
In the final step, you have the option ‘+CREATE NEW BUDGET ALERT’, which is optional and can be done later.
Lastly, if you’re satisfied with everything, click ‘ ✔️CREATE BUDGET’. If you’d like to revisit it later, click ‘🗃️SAVE AS DRAFT’ to save your initial budget.
Setting Up Your Budget Alert
Now that you’ve set up a budget for your chosen cost group, it is time to take the next step by creating an alert to notify you if your spending exceeds the budget. While setting up a budget alert is part of the budget creation process, it’s entirely optional. If you’re not ready yet - you can always set up your budget alert later to keep your cloud costs in check.
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Operational Image
To set up your Budget Alert, follow these simple steps. If you’re creating an alert right after setting up your budget, you should already be on the final step, Set Budget Notification.
Click ‘+CREATE NEW BUDGET ALERT’.
Next, set your Threshold amount, which can be based on a percentage or a fixed amount. This determines when your alert will notify you. Don't worry, you can create multiple thresholds if you want more than one alert at different points.
Once you've set your threshold, choose the platform where you'd like to receive your alerts. Make sure you've set up your notification channels beforehand (see Channel Management). You can select notifications via email, Slack, or MS Teams.
After you're done setting everything up and you're satisfied, click ‘+CREATE ALERT’, and finally, ‘✔️CREATE BUDGET’.
If you'd like to create a budget alert through Alerts Management, read more here.
Edit and Delete Budgets
You can also edit or delete the budget you’ve created. Just follow these steps:
In the budget you created, go to the Actions column and click ‘View Details’ .
Now, you should see the details of your budget. At the top, you’ll notice several icons (bell, pencil, trash can, etc.)
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To Edit:
Click the pencil icon. A pop-up window titled ‘Edit Budget’ will appear. The steps are similar to when you initially set up your budget.
From there, you can make the changes you need.
To Delete:
Simply click the trash can icon, and a confirmation message will appear asking if you're sure you want to delete the budget.
See the Information of your Budget
It’s easy to view additional information about the budget you’ve created. Simply click the (i) icon, and you’ll see details such as who created the budget, the date and time it was created, and when it was last updated.
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If you haven’t set up a budget alert yet, a banner will appear reminding you to create an alert to make your budget management more effective.