Document behavior for negative and missing savings values in cost calculations #1741
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Co-authored-by: arthurclares <53261392+arthurclares@users.noreply.github.com>
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| **Negative savings are displayed when the effective price paid is higher than the list price or negotiated price.** This indicates the resource cost more than standard pricing, which can happen due to: | ||
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| - Pricing misconfigurations |
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| - Pricing misconfigurations |
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| - Pricing misconfigurations | ||
| - Unusual billing conditions | ||
| - Data quality issues in Cost Management |
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@flanakin How do you feel about this one?
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| ### Why show zero savings for missing prices | ||
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| When price data is missing, there's no reliable basis for calculating savings. Showing zero ensures: |
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| When price data is missing, there's no reliable basis for calculating savings. Showing zero ensures: | |
| When price data is missing, there's no reliable basis for calculating savings. |
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Applied your suggestion to simplify the explanation. Commit 55b7114
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| When price data is missing, there's no reliable basis for calculating savings. Showing zero ensures: | ||
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| - Mathematical consistency in totals and aggregations |
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| - Mathematical consistency in totals and aggregations |
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Removed the bullet points as suggested. Commit 55b7114
| When price data is missing, there's no reliable basis for calculating savings. Showing zero ensures: | ||
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| - Mathematical consistency in totals and aggregations | ||
| - No misleading information is presented |
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| - No misleading information is presented |
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Removed the bullet points as suggested. Commit 55b7114
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| - Mathematical consistency in totals and aggregations | ||
| - No misleading information is presented | ||
| - Clear indication that savings couldn't be determined |
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| - Clear indication that savings couldn't be determined |
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Removed the bullet points as suggested. Commit 55b7114
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| ### Including negative savings in totals | ||
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| When negative savings are included in aggregated totals: |
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@flanakin Can you confirm if this is true?
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| When displaying savings in reports or dashboards, consider adding contextual information: | ||
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| ### For negative savings display | ||
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| > **ℹ️ Note**: Savings may appear negative if the effective price is higher than the list or negotiated price. This may indicate pricing misconfigurations or unexpected billing conditions. [Learn more about savings calculations](savings-calculations.md). | ||
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| ### For zero savings display | ||
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| > **ℹ️ Note**: Savings show as zero when price data is missing or incomplete. Export price sheets or use FinOps hubs to get complete savings calculations. [Learn more about savings calculations](savings-calculations.md). | ||
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| ## Related errors and troubleshooting | ||
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| Several error codes in FinOps toolkit relate to missing price data that affects savings calculations: | ||
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| - [`MissingListUnitPrice`](errors.md#missinglistunitprice) - List prices missing, preventing savings calculation | ||
| - [`MissingContractedUnitPrice`](errors.md#missingcontractedunitprice) - Contracted prices missing, preventing savings calculation | ||
| - [`MissingListCost`](errors.md#missinglistcost) - List cost values missing | ||
| - [`MissingContractedCost`](errors.md#missingcontractedcost) - Contracted cost values missing | ||
| - [`ListCostLessThanContractedCost`](errors.md#listcostlessthancontractedcost) - Data quality issue causing invalid savings | ||
| - [`ContractedCostLessThanEffectiveCost`](errors.md#contractedcostlessthaneffectivecost) - Data quality issue causing negative savings | ||
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Suggested change
| When displaying savings in reports or dashboards, consider adding contextual information: | |
| ### For negative savings display | |
| > **ℹ️ Note**: Savings may appear negative if the effective price is higher than the list or negotiated price. This may indicate pricing misconfigurations or unexpected billing conditions. [Learn more about savings calculations](savings-calculations.md). | |
| ### For zero savings display | |
| > **ℹ️ Note**: Savings show as zero when price data is missing or incomplete. Export price sheets or use FinOps hubs to get complete savings calculations. [Learn more about savings calculations](savings-calculations.md). | |
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| ## Related errors and troubleshooting | |
| Several error codes in FinOps toolkit relate to missing price data that affects savings calculations: | |
| - [`MissingListUnitPrice`](errors.md#missinglistunitprice) - List prices missing, preventing savings calculation | |
| - [`MissingContractedUnitPrice`](errors.md#missingcontractedunitprice) - Contracted prices missing, preventing savings calculation | |
| - [`MissingListCost`](errors.md#missinglistcost) - List cost values missing | |
| - [`MissingContractedCost`](errors.md#missingcontractedcost) - Contracted cost values missing | |
| - [`ListCostLessThanContractedCost`](errors.md#listcostlessthancontractedcost) - Data quality issue causing invalid savings | |
| - [`ContractedCostLessThanEffectiveCost`](errors.md#contractedcostlessthaneffectivecost) - Data quality issue causing negative savings |
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| <br> | ||
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| ## Give feedback | ||
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| Let us know how we're doing with a quick review. We use these reviews to improve and expand FinOps tools and resources. | ||
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| > [!div class="nextstepaction"] | ||
| > [Give feedback](https://portal.azure.com/#view/HubsExtension/InProductFeedbackBlade/extensionName/FinOpsToolkit/cesQuestion/How%20easy%20or%20hard%20is%20it%20to%20understand%20savings%20calculations%20in%20FinOps%20toolkit%20reports%3F/cvaQuestion/How%20valuable%20is%20the%20savings%20calculations%20documentation%3F/surveyId/FTK0.11/bladeName/Toolkit/featureName/Help.SavingsCalculations) | ||
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| ## Related content |
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Suggested change
| <br> | |
| ## Give feedback | |
| Let us know how we're doing with a quick review. We use these reviews to improve and expand FinOps tools and resources. | |
| > [!div class="nextstepaction"] | |
| > [Give feedback](https://portal.azure.com/#view/HubsExtension/InProductFeedbackBlade/extensionName/FinOpsToolkit/cesQuestion/How%20easy%20or%20hard%20is%20it%20to%20understand%20savings%20calculations%20in%20FinOps%20toolkit%20reports%3F/cvaQuestion/How%20valuable%20is%20the%20savings%20calculations%20documentation%3F/surveyId/FTK0.11/bladeName/Toolkit/featureName/Help.SavingsCalculations) | |
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| ## Related content | |
| ## Troubleshooting | |
| For troubleshooting these issues, see [Troubleshoot common FinOps toolkit errors](errors.md). | |
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Simplified the troubleshooting section as suggested. Commit 55b7114
Co-authored-by: arthurclares <53261392+arthurclares@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot finished work on behalf of
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| 3. **Validate data quality** - Confirm Cost Management data is accurate | ||
| 4. **Consider optimization** - Evaluate if commitment discounts are providing value | ||
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| #### Diagnostic query for negative savings |
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This PR addresses the need for standardized documentation explaining how negative savings and missing prices are handled in FinOps toolkit cost optimization calculations.
Problem
Users were experiencing confusion when seeing:
Without clear documentation, users often misinterpreted negative values as bugs or assumed zero savings always meant no optimization opportunity existed.
Solution
Created comprehensive documentation explaining savings calculation behavior:
📋 New Documentation:
savings-calculations.md🔗 Enhanced Existing Documentation
📊 Key Behaviors Documented
Impact
Fixes #1740.
💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.