Getting set up with Billing - Amazon Billing
Learn more about Billing featuresWhat do I do next?
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

Getting set up with Billing

This section provides information that you need to get started with using the Amazon Billing and Cost Management console. Prerequisites include signing up for Amazon and setting up IAM users, reviewing your Amazon bills, and other pages in the console you can use to customize your Billing and Cost Management preferences.

Topics

If you're new to Amazon, create an Amazon account. For more information, see Getting Started with Amazon.

Sign up for an Amazon Web Services account

If you do not have an Amazon Web Services account, use the following procedure to create one.

To sign up for Amazon Web Services

  1. Open http://www.amazonaws.cn/ and choose Sign Up.

  2. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Amazon sends you a confirmation email after the sign-up process is complete. At any time, you can view your current account activity and manage your account by going to http://www.amazonaws.cn/ and choosing My Account.

Secure IAM users

After you sign up for an Amazon Web Services account, safeguard your administrative user by turning on multi-factor authentication (MFA). For instructions, see Enable a virtual MFA device for an IAM user (console) in the IAM User Guide.

To give other users access to your Amazon Web Services account resources, create IAM users. To secure your IAM users, turn on MFA and only give the IAM users the permissions needed to perform their tasks.

For more information about creating and securing IAM users, see the following topics in the IAM User Guide:

Activating IAM access to the Amazon Billing and Cost Management console

By default, IAM roles within an Amazon Web Services account can't access the Billing and Cost Management console. This is true even if the IAM user or role has IAM policies that grant access to specific Billing features. The root user can allow IAM users and roles access to Billing and Cost Management console by using the Activate IAM access setting.

To provide access to the Billing and Cost Management console

  1. Sign in to the Account page in the Billing and Cost Management console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/billing/home?#/account.

  2. Under IAM user and role access to Billing information, choose Edit.

  3. Select Activate IAM access.

  4. Choose Update.

For more information about this feature, see Activating access to the Billing and Cost Management console.

Use features in the Billing and Cost Management console to view your current Amazon charges and Amazon usage.

To open the Billing and Cost Management console and view your usage and charges

  1. Sign into the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the Billing and Cost Management console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/billing/.

  2. Choose Bills to see details about your current charges.

  3. Choose Payments to see your historical payment transactions.

  4. Choose Amazon Cost and Usage Reports to see reports that break down your costs.

For more information about setting up and using Amazon Cost and Usage Reports, see the Amazon Cost and Usage Reports User Guide.

Amazon Billing closes the billing period at midnight on the last day of each month and calculates your bill. Most bills are ready for you to download by the seventh accounting day of the month.

To download or print your bill

  1. Sign into the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the Billing and Cost Management console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/billing/.

  2. On the navigation pane, choose Bills.

  3. For Date, choose the month of the bill you want to work with.

  4. Choose Download CSV to download a comma-separated variable file or choose Print.

Adding or updating alternate contacts

Alternate contacts allows Amazon to contact another person about issues with your account, even if you're unavailable. The alternate contact doesn't have to be a specific person. You could instead add an email distribution list if you have a team that manages billing, operations and security related issues.

Examples for alternate contacts

Amazon will reach out to each contact type in the following scenarios:

  • Billing – When your monthly invoice is available, or your payment method needs to be updated. If you enabled Receive PDF Invoice By Email in your Billing preferences, your alternate billing contact also receives the PDF invoices. Notifications can be from Amazon Web Service teams.

  • Operations – When your service is, or will be, temporarily unavailable in one of more Amazon Web Services Regions. Your contacts will also receive any notification related to operations. Notifications can be from Amazon Web Service teams

  • Security – When you have notifications from the Amazon Security, Amazon Trust and Safety, or Amazon Web Service teams. These notifications might include security issues or potential abusive or fraudulent activities on your Amazon Web Services account. Notifications can be from Amazon Web Service teams concerning security related topics associated with your Amazon Web Services account usage. Don't include sensitive information in the subject line or full name fields since this might be used in email communications to you.

For more information about managing your alternate account contacts, see Alternate account contacts in the Amazon Account Management Reference Guide.

Learn more about Billing features

Understand the features available to you in the Billing and Cost Management console.

What do I do next?

Now that you can view and pay your Amazon bill, you're ready to use the features available to you. The rest of this guide helps you navigate your journey using the console.

Optimize your spending using Amazon Cost Management features

Use the Amazon Cost Management features to budget and forecast costs so you can optimize your Amazon spends and reduce your overall Amazon bill. Combine and use the Billing and Cost Management console resources to manage your payments, while using Amazon Cost Management features to optimize your future costs.

For more information about Amazon Cost Management features, see the Amazon Cost Management User Guide.

Using the Billing and Cost Management API

Use the Amazon Billing and Cost Management API Reference to programmatically use some Amazon Cost Management features.

Learn more

You can find more information about Billing features including presentations, virtual workshops, and blog posts on the marketing page Cloud Financial Management with Amazon.

You can find virtual workshops by choosing the Services dropdown list and selecting your feature.

Get help

If you have questions about any Billing features, there are many resources available for you. To learn more, see Getting help with your bills and payments.