# Billed Cost

Billed Cost represents the cost of a [*charge*](#glossary:charge) as invoiced by the [invoice issuer](#datasets.costandusage.invoiceissuername) in a given [*billing period*](#glossary:billing-period). Billed Cost differs from [Effective Cost](#datasets.costandusage.effectivecost) when [*covering charges*](#glossary:covering-charge) (e.g., prepaid or postpaid commitment purchases) are recorded separately from the [*covered charges*](#glossary:covered-charge) to which they are applied.

For all *charges*, Billed Cost reflects all applicable pricing adjustments (e.g., reduced pricing from [*negotiated discounts*](#glossary:negotiated-discount) or [*commitment discounts*](#glossary:commitment-discount)). For purchase *charges*, Billed Cost includes any portion invoiced in the given *billing period*. For usage *charges*, Billed Cost excludes any portion [*covered*](#glossary:covered-charge) by related purchase *charges* (e.g., *covering charges* such as *commitments*, prepayments, or marketplace purchases), regardless of when those related *charges* are invoiced.

Billed Cost is denominated in the [Billing Currency](#datasets.costandusage.billingcurrency). Billed Cost is commonly used to support FinOps activities, including invoice reconciliation, [*cash-based*](#glossary:cash-based-accounting) forecasting, budgeting, and cost allocation.

## Requirements

BilledCost MUST adhere to the following requirements:

* BilledCost MUST be of type Decimal.
* BilledCost MUST conform to [NumericFormat](#attributes.numericformat) requirements.
* BilledCost MUST NOT be null.
* BilledCost MUST be denominated in the BillingCurrency.
* BilledCost MUST reflect all applicable pricing adjustments, including but not limited to *negotiated discounts*, *commitment discounts*, and other applicable discount programs.
* BilledCost MUST NOT include any portion of a [*covered charge*](#glossary:covered-charge) that is offset by a [*covering charge*](#glossary:covering-charge).
* BilledCost MUST be 0 for *charges* that are fully *covered* by one or more *covering charges*.
* BilledCost MUST reflect amounts as invoiced by the [InvoiceIssuerName](#datasets.costandusage.invoiceissuername), not estimated or inferred values.
* BilledCost MUST be 0 for *charges* generated by entities that are not responsible or authorized for invoicing, to avoid double-counting when merging multiple [*dataset instances*](#glossary:dataset-instance).
* The sum of BilledCost for a given [InvoiceId](#datasets.costandusage.invoiceid) and InvoiceIssuerName MUST NOT differ from the payable amount provided on the corresponding invoice by more than the [Rounding Variance Tolerance](#appendix.roundingvariancetolerance) when the corresponding invoice has been issued.
* The sum of BilledCost MAY differ from preliminary or estimated invoiced amounts when the corresponding invoice has not yet been issued.

## Implementation Guidance

### Handling Rounding Discrepancies

When validating the sum of BilledCost against the payable amount on an issued invoice, the totals may not be perfectly equal due to precision differences (e.g., 6 or more decimal places in cost and usage data vs. 2 decimal places on the invoice). The requirement allows for a maximum rounding error based on the statistical probability of rounding variance, which grows with the square root of the row count. For more information, see the [Rounding Variance Tolerance](#appendix.roundingvariancetolerance) appendix entry.

## Column ID

BilledCost

## Display Name

Billed Cost

## Description

Cost of a *charge* as invoiced by the [*invoice issuer*](#glossary:invoice-issuer) in a given *billing period*.

## Content Constraints

| Constraint      | Value                                                |
| :-------------- | :--------------------------------------------------- |
| Dataset         | [Cost and Usage](#datasets.costandusage)             |
| Column type     | Metric                                               |
| Feature level   | Mandatory                                            |
| Allows nulls    | False                                                |
| Data type       | Decimal                                              |
| Value format    | [Numeric Format](#attributes.numericformat)          |
| Number range    | Any valid decimal value                              |

## Version Introduced

0.5