✅ How to Enable Cost Management Export to Azure Storage

Azure Cost Management Exports let you schedule daily, monthly, or one-time exports of cost and usage data to an Azure Storage Account. This is configured directly in the Azure Portal.

📤 1. Open the Exports Page

  1. In the Azure Portal, go to Cost Management + Billing.
  2. Choose the correct scope for your export (e.g., a subscription or billing account).
  3. In the left menu under Cost Management, click Exports.
  4. Click + Add (or Create Export).

📄 2. Configure the Export Dataset

  1. Enter a unique Export name.
  2. Under Dataset, choose:
    • Cost and usage (actual cost) – for most exports.
    • Or select Amortized cost or FOCUS format if needed.
  3. Under Time frame and frequency, choose:
    • Daily (month-to-date) – updates a daily file that accumulates costs.
    • Monthly – exports full data for the previous month.
    • One-time – exports data for a single selected period.
  4. Optionally enable Overwrite data to replace the daily file each day.

🗂 3. Set the Export Destination

  1. On the Destination tab:
    • Set Storage type to Azure Blob Storage.
    • Select the Subscription and Resource Group for your storage.
    • Choose the Storage Account you created earlier.
    • Specify a Container name (e.g., cost-exports).
    • Optionally, add a directory path (e.g., production/).

📦 4. Choose File Format and Compression

  1. Under Format:
    • Select CSV or Parquet.
    • If using CSV, enable Gzip compression to save space.
  2. Keep Partitioning enabled (splits large files by day).
  3. Leave Overwrite data enabled if you want one file per day.

✅ 5. Review and Create

  1. Click Next to review settings.
  2. Verify:
    • The Storage Account and Container are correct.
    • The scope (subscription or billing account) is accurate.
  3. Click Create to schedule the export.

📁 6. After Creation

  • The export job appears in the Exports list and runs on the selected schedule.
  • The first file may take up to 24 hours to appear.
  • Files will be stored in a folder structure by export name, date, and run ID: swiftCopyEditcost-exports/ExportName/20240401-20240430/RunID/

🔐 Permissions & Firewall Tips

  • Azure creates a system-assigned managed identity for the export.
  • If your user had Owner rights, the identity will automatically get Storage Blob Data Contributor.
  • If your Storage Account uses a firewall, ensure “Allow trusted Azure services” is enabled so exports can write data.