Custom Cost Provider

Bring cost data from third-party vendors into Cloud & AI Cost Management using the FOCUS CSV format.

The Custom Cost Provider lets you bring cost data from any third-party vendor, such as SaaS tools, data centers, or cloud resellers, into Cloud & AI Cost Management (CACM). Once ingested, the data appears alongside your cloud and AI costs in Cost Explorer, Perspectives, Budgets, and Cost Categories.

You upload cost data in the FOCUS CSV format — a standard billing schema that maps any vendor's data into a consistent structure CACM can process.

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Before You Begin

• A Harness account with Cloud & AI Cost Management enabled.

• Cost data from your vendor exported as a CSV file. Go to Report Format to review the required fields.

• File size limit: 20 MB per upload. Split larger files before uploading.

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Add a Custom Cost Source

1. In Harness, go to Cloud & AI Cost Management > Account Settings > Integration for cloud & AI cost.

2. Select the External Cost Data Sources tab.

3. Click + Create New.

4. Fill in the required details and upload your FOCUS CSV file.

5. Click Finish. Ingestion starts immediately and data is usually available within a few minutes.

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Supported Features

Feature	Supported
Perspectives	✅
Budgets	✅
Cost Categories	✅
Dashboards	✅
Anomalies	Coming soon
Granular RBAC	Coming soon
Audit Trail	Coming soon

DASHBOARD SUPPORT MEANS UNIFIED EXPLORE FIELDS

Dashboard support for external cost data means ingested rows are queryable through the Unified data source in BI Dashboards Explore, not that an existing out-of-the-box dashboard automatically adds rows from a new source. Out-of-the-box dashboards built against cloud-provider fields don't reference a source you add later. To see external data in a dashboard, build or edit a widget, select the Unified tab, and choose fields from there. Go to CACM Explore to see the full list of available Unified fields.

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Report Format

All uploads must follow the FOCUSv1 specification. The following fields are mandatory.

Field	Description	Requirements
BillingAccountId	Provider-assigned identifier for a billing account.	MUST be present, type String, no nulls, globally unique within a provider.
BillingAccountName	Display name for the billing account.	MUST be present, type String. MUST NOT be null when the provider supports display names.
BillingPeriodStart	Inclusive start date and time of the billing period. Example: 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z.	MUST be present, type Date/Time, inclusive, no nulls. Must match invoice month on upload.
BillingPeriodEnd	Exclusive end date and time of the billing period. Example: 2024-02-01T00:00:00Z.	MUST be present, type Date/Time, exclusive, no nulls.
ChargeCategory	Highest-level classification of the charge.	MUST be present, no nulls. Allowed values: Usage, Purchase, Tax, Credit, Adjustment.
ChargePeriodStart	Inclusive start date and time of the charge period.	MUST be present, type Date/Time, inclusive, no nulls.
ChargePeriodEnd	Exclusive end date and time of the charge period.	MUST be present, type Date/Time, exclusive, no nulls.
ConsumedQuantity	Volume of a metered SKU consumed.	See FOCUSv1 spec for details.
EffectiveCost	Amortized cost after discounts and prepaid purchases.	MUST be present, type Decimal, no nulls. MUST be 0 when ChargeCategory is "Purchase" covering future charges.
ProviderName	Entity that makes resources or services available.	MUST be present, type String, no nulls. Should match the ProviderType used when setting up the integration.
RegionName	Display name for the geographic area where the resource is provisioned.	MUST be present when the provider supports regions. Type String. MAY be null when the resource is not region-specific.
ResourceId	Identifier assigned to a resource by the provider.	MUST be present when the provider bills by resource. Type String. MAY be null when a row is not associated with a resource.
ServiceName	Display name for a purchasable offering (for example, a cloud VM or SaaS database).	MUST be present, type String, no nulls.
SkuId	Unique identifier for a SKU.	MUST be present when the provider publishes a SKU list. Type String. MUST NOT be null for Usage or Purchase charges (unless ChargeClass is "Correction").
SubAccountId	Provider-assigned identifier for a sub account.	MUST be present when the provider supports sub accounts. Type String. Null if the charge does not apply to a sub account.
SubAccountName	Display name for a sub account.	MUST be present when the provider supports sub accounts. Type String. Null if the charge does not apply to a sub account.
Tags	Tags assigned to tag sources for cost allocation.	See FOCUSv1 spec for details.

For the complete specification, go to FOCUSv1 Specification.

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FAQ

Are default Perspectives created automatically after upload?

Yes. Default Perspectives are created as soon as ingestion completes, usually within a few minutes of clicking Finish.

Which group-by options and filters are supported for custom cost data?

Custom cost data supports the same group-by and filter options as cloud cost data in Perspectives and Cost Explorer, including service, region, billing account, and any tags present in the uploaded file.

How long does it take for uploaded data to appear?

Ingestion starts immediately when you click Finish. Depending on file size, data is usually available within a few minutes.

My file is larger than 20 MB. What should I do?

Split the file into multiple CSV files under 20 MB each using a CSV splitting tool, then upload them separately.

My external data source shows up in Perspectives, but rows don't appear in a Unified BI Dashboard widget. Why?

Perspectives and the Unified dashboard explore query ingested data differently. Confirm the widget itself was built or edited by selecting fields from the Unified explore tab rather than a cloud-provider-specific tab, since out-of-the-box dashboards don't automatically reference a source added after they were built. If a widget already scoped to Unified still doesn't show the row, check that every mandatory FOCUS field in your upload is valid, in particular ChargeCategory (must be one of Usage, Purchase, Tax, Credit, or Adjustment) and ChargePeriodStart/ChargePeriodEnd (must be ISO-conformant per the FOCUS spec).

I uploaded a file but data has not appeared after 10 minutes.

Contact Harness Support at https://support.harness.io with your account ID and the file details.