Cloud Cost Allocation Calculator
Split shared cloud cost by a driver you choose.
What this calculator does
Proportional allocation on a driver the user chooses and states. No allocation rule is imposed and no split is assumed.
Inputs and what they mean
- Currency
- — Amounts are shown in the currency you pick. No exchange rate is applied..
- Shared cost to allocate
- — number value.
- This team's share of the driver
- — Whatever you allocate by: vCPU-hours, GB stored, requests, headcount..
- Total driver across everyone
- — number value.
- Direct cost owned by this team (optional)
- — Optional component. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Price as of (optional)
- — The date you took these prices. It is shown with the result so the figure is never read as a current vendor price..
- Price source (optional)
- — Where the prices came from. Shown with the result..
How to use it
- Enter your own figures — the calculator never fills in a rate, price or benchmark for you.
- Press Calculate to see the result.
- Read the formula, variables, assumptions and source below the result before you rely on it.
Formula
Allocated cost = Shared cost × (This consumer's driver ÷ Total driver) + Direct cost
Worked example
$90,000 shared platform cost split by vCPU-hours
You choose the driver; no allocation rule is imposed.
Reading the result
The headline figure is the main answer. Any breakdown underneath shows the parts that make it up, so you can check the working and see what changes when you adjust an input.
Limitations and assumptions
Results depend entirely on the figures you enter and are rounded for display. They are for general information and education, not professional advice.
Reference: The Linux Foundation — Allocation — FinOps Framework
Last reviewed:
Common questions
Formula, source and verification
Shared cost is apportioned by the consumer's share of the chosen driver, then any directly owned cost is added.
The question it answers: How much of this shared platform bill belongs to each team?
The formula
Allocated cost = Shared cost × (This consumer's driver ÷ Total driver) + Direct cost
- S — Shared cost
- (currency). The pool being allocated.
- u — This consumer's driver
- (count). vCPU-hours, GB, requests, headcount — whatever the user allocates by.
- U — Total driver
- (count). The same measure across everyone sharing the cost.
- D — Direct cost
- (currency). Optional. Cost this consumer owns outright.
Units: Currency; driver units.
What kind of calculation this is
Business input model. The answer depends on business figures only you can supply, such as your own costs, rates or volumes. No market or benchmark values are assumed for you.
Method
Proportional allocation on a driver the user chooses and states. No allocation rule is imposed and no split is assumed.
Assumptions built into the result
- Mathematical: The driver is a fair proxy for consumption of the shared cost.
- Mathematical: Every price is the one the user entered, in the currency they chose; no exchange rate is applied.
- Mathematical: Usage and prices cover the same period.
Figures this calculator will never guess for you
- No provider price, instance rate, storage rate or transfer rate is built in.
- No typical discount, saving or industry average is suggested.
- No default split, tag hierarchy or allocation key is assumed.
Limitations
- Shows the split the chosen driver produces; it cannot tell whether that driver is the right one.
- The result is only as current as the prices entered; a price taken months ago is not a current vendor price.
- Arithmetic over the figures entered — it cannot tell whether the usage or the rate card behind them is right.
Source and version
- Standard or reference
- FinOps Framework — allocation — FinOps Foundation (FinOps Framework capability: allocation — shared cost is attributed to a consumer in proportion to that consumer's share of an agreed allocation driver.)
- Published source
- The Linux Foundation — FinOps Framework
- Formula version
- Version 1
- Verification
- Reviewed against the cited source on
- How much weight the source carries
- Standards or government
- Applies to
- Currency
- Amounts stay in the currency you choose; no exchange rate is applied.
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