Documentation
5-10 min setup

Set Provider Budgets

Create budgets for specific providers to track spending and receive alerts when costs approach or exceed thresholds.

Before you start

  • You need to be an admin or owner of your StackSpend organisation.
  • At least one provider should be connected and have cost data.
  • Some historical cost data helps set realistic budgets (at least 7-30 days).
Step 1

Navigate to Budgets

Go to Dashboard → Budgets in your StackSpend dashboard. Click Create Budget.

Step 2

Select provider scope

Choose "Per provider" as the budget scope, then select the specific provider you want to track (e.g., AWS, OpenAI, GCP).

Why provider budgets? Different providers have different cost patterns. Setting provider-specific budgets helps you track spending per cloud or AI service separately.

Step 3

Set budget amount

Enter your monthly budget amount for this provider. This is the target spend for the month.

  • Base it on historical spending — review past months to set a realistic target
  • Account for growth — if usage is increasing, set budgets slightly higher than current spend
  • Consider seasonality — some providers may have variable costs based on usage patterns
Step 4

Enable auto-budget (optional)

Toggle Auto-budget to let StackSpend calculate budgets automatically based on your historical spending patterns for this provider.

  • Based on rolling 30-day average of historical spend for this provider
  • Accounts for trends (increasing or decreasing spend)
  • Updates automatically as spending patterns change
  • You can override auto-budget amounts manually if needed
Step 5

Configure alert thresholds

Set thresholds for when alerts should fire in your daily reports:

  • !
    Amber threshold

    Default: 80% of budget. Daily reports show amber status when this threshold is reached. Adjust based on how early you want warnings.

  • !
    Red threshold

    Default: 100% of budget. Daily reports show red status when this threshold is exceeded. This indicates action is required.

These thresholds determine the status indicator (green/amber/red) in your daily reports for this provider.

Step 6

Save the budget

Click Create Budget to save. The budget will be active immediately and will appear in your daily reports.

Setting budgets for multiple providers

You can create separate budgets for each provider you use:

  • Create one budget per provider (e.g., AWS budget, OpenAI budget, GCP budget)
  • Each provider budget is tracked independently
  • Daily reports show status for each provider budget separately
  • You can also create an organisation-wide budget to track total spend across all providers

Understanding budget status

Budget status for each provider is reflected in your daily Slack or email report:

  • ✓
    Green — Provider spending is on track, below your amber threshold.
  • !
    Amber — Provider spending has reached your amber threshold (e.g., 80% of budget). Attention needed.
  • !
    Red — Provider spending has exceeded your red threshold (e.g., 100% of budget). Action required.