Allocation

Allocation gives the cost that each pool carries in a period. You can then send finance one number for each team, product, or cost center. Open Allocation from Spend > Allocation in the left sidebar.

Use Allocation when you need to:

• Report the cost of each pool for one month or for a range of months.
• Compare the cost before the redistribution with the cost after the redistribution.
• Divide the cost of a pool by service, region, or data source.
• See how much of the bill reached a pool.
• Export the values for a chargeback report.

You configure the pools, the rules that send a cost to a pool, and the redistribution flows in the Allocation Hub. Allocation reads the result.

Chargeback and Showback

The Chargeback and Showback control selects which of the two values the page reports:

Showback answers the question "What did this team run?". Chargeback answers the question "What does this team owe?", because it contains the shared platform, network, and support cost that DigiUsher charges to the team.

Filters

The controls at the top of the page apply to the cards, the chart, and the table.

If you leave Breakdown empty, the page reports the cost of each pool only. If you add a breakdown dimension, the page divides the cost of each pool across the values of that dimension. This answers the question "What is the cost of this team made of?".

Perspectives

Use the Perspectives button in the page action bar to save the current view. A perspective holds the Chargeback or Showback selection, the granularity, the selected pool, the service, region, and data source filters, and the breakdown dimensions. You can apply a saved perspective again later. A perspective keeps a monthly report identical from one month to the next.

Summary

Four cards summarize the filtered period:

• Total Allocated gives the total cost that reached a pool. It does not contain the unallocated cost.
• Unallocated gives the cost that matched no allocation rule.
• Pools gives the number of pools that received cost in the period.
• Allocation Coverage gives the allocated cost as a percentage of the allocated cost plus the unallocated cost. Aim for 90% or more.

Coverage is the health metric to watch. When the percentage falls, new spend arrives that your allocation rules do not know yet. The cause is usually a new account, a new service, or resources without the tag that your rules read. To correct this, add a rule in the Allocation Hub or make a rule wider.

Chart

The chart plots the filtered cost over time, with one series for each pool. When a breakdown dimension is active, it draws one series for each pool and breakdown value. The chart draws the five largest series separately and combines the rest into Others. Use the Stacked and Grouped control to change between a stacked total for each period and bars side by side.

Cost Allocation Summary Table

The title of the table is Chargeback Cost Allocation Summary or Showback Cost Allocation Summary, and it follows the selected view.

The table groups the rows by month, then by pool, then by the breakdown dimensions. It sorts by allocated amount, with the largest amount first. Open a group to see the rows in it.

Grouping Order

When more than one grouping level is active, use the Grouping Order control above the table to move a level up or down. When you group by pool first, the table answers "What is the cost of this team made of?". When you group by service first, it answers "Who pays for this service?".

Month Columns View

At the Month granularity, use the Month Columns View control and turn on Show Months as Columns. The table then gives one row for each pool and breakdown value, and one column for each month. Use this layout to see the trend of a pool over several months.

Export

To download the current view, click Export CSV above the table. For each row, the file gives the period, the pool, the active breakdown dimensions, the allocated amount, and the status.

Detailed View

Detailed View, in the page action bar, shows how the cost of one month moved from your bills to your pools. It uses one month, and not a range. Select the month with the month picker.

Summary

• Completed On gives the time when the allocation run of the month completed.
• Status gives Completed or Finalized.
• Period gives the month that the page explains.
• Pools gives the number of pools with a value in the run.

Cost Allocation Flow

The Cost Allocation Flow card shows the allocation of the month as a series of stages. It has two tabs:

• Flow is a flow diagram. It shows the cost that moves from its source, through the matched rules, into the pools, and then between the pools during the redistribution. The width of each link is proportional to the amount.
• Stepped Tree shows the same stages as a tree. This tab is easier to read when one stage has many targets.

These two views answer the question "Why does this pool have this number?". Each stage gives the amount that entered it and the amount that left it.

Recalculate

Recalculate computes the chargeback pipeline of the selected month again. Use it after you correct the allocation configuration and you need the values of the month immediately. If you do not use it, the next scheduled run rebuilds the values.

Only an administrator of the organization can use Recalculate.