Updated January 2026 version
Creating budgets in Azure is one of the first governance controls you should implement when provisioning a new Azure subscription. Budgets help prevent unexpected costs by proactively monitoring and alerting on spending. Ultimately, all costs incurred are the responsibility of the organization that owns the subscription.
Why Budgets Matter in FinOps
FinOps (Cloud Financial Operations) is the practice of bringing financial accountability to cloud spending. Budgets are a foundational FinOps control because they:
- Establish spending expectations for teams and workloads
- Provide early warning signals when usage deviates from forecasts
- Encourage cost-aware behavior across engineering, operations, and finance
- Enable proactive optimization instead of reactive cost recovery
Budgets combined with tagging, cost allocation, and continuous optimization form the backbone of a mature cloud cost governance strategy.
How to Create a Budget in the Azure Portal
- In the Azure portal search bar, type Budget or Cost Management
- Select Budgets
- Click + Add
- Select Add Budget
Was This Helpful?
For a more detailed guide, refer to the official Microsoft documentation:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/costs/tutorial-acm-create-budgets
Photo by
https://unsplash.com/@hugojehanne
https://unsplash.com/photos/LOHVrTsdvzY