Overview
Executive summary is a document type in Azure Documenter that gives readers a quick, high-level view of a subscription's cost and configuration without requiring them to read a full detailed report.
Business value
- Get key Azure spend and resource figures at a glance, without reviewing a full detailed report
- Share a concise, consistent snapshot with stakeholders for governance reviews and billing cycles
- Track subscription cost and configuration across billing periods using flexible date range options
Prerequisites
Required permissions
| Role | Permission level | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Account owner, Owner, Contributor | — | Full access to the Documentation section |
| Custom role | Read | View documents generated under Documentation |
| Custom role | Manage | View, generate, and manage documents under Documentation |
How it works
The Executive summary document is organized per subscription and is primarily visual — cost and configuration data is presented as charts rather than detailed tables. For each subscription, the document shows:
Subscription overview
The document opens with the subscription name, generation timestamp, billing period, and subscription state (Enabled or Disabled).
Resource distribution
A set of charts showing the resource composition of the subscription:
- Subscription — an overview of the subscription's resource landscape
- Locations — distribution of resources by Azure region
- Resource Groups — distribution of resources by resource group
- Resource Types — distribution of resources by Azure resource type
- Tags — distribution of resources by tags; shown as "Unable to retrieve Tag distribution details" if tag data is unavailable in Azure
Billing
Cost data for the billing period configured when the document was generated. The total expense is shown in the configured currency, followed by expense charts for each dimension:
- Resource group expenses
- Location expenses
- Resource type expenses
- Tag expenses (or "Unable to retrieve" if tag data is unavailable)
- Service name expenses
Steps
Use the following steps to generate an Executive summary document. Navigate to Azure Documenter to get started.
- Click New configuration. The Configure your document wizard opens.
- In Step 1 — Basics, enter a configuration name. Under Choose document type, select Executive summary. Configure the following options:
- Billing range — the billing period for the report (Last month, Last 7 days, Last week, Week before last, Last 30 days, This month, This quarter, or Custom)
- Currency — Default or USD
- In Step 2 — Service principal, select the service principal and configure the subscription scope. Click Next.
- Complete Steps 3–6 (Branding, Publish settings, Schedule, Notifications) as required. Click Next after each step.
- In Step 7 — Review, confirm your configuration and click Finish.
Once generation is complete, a URL is created for the document, and you can download it using the Download link.
Example scenario
Contoso's finance lead needs a monthly snapshot of Azure spend and configuration for the Production subscription to share with stakeholders who don't need the full detailed report. Each billing cycle, they generate an Executive summary for the Production subscription with a 30-day billing range, so stakeholders get subscription usage costs and resource group-level charges at a glance.
Troubleshooting
-
Tag distribution shows "Unable to retrieve"
Cause: Azure was unable to return tag-based distribution data for the selected subscriptions.
Fix: verify that resource tags are configured in Azure and regenerate. -
Billing charts show zero or incomplete data
Cause: no billing data is available for the selected billing range, or the service principal lacks billing read permissions.
Fix: confirm the billing range includes a period with known billing activity, and verify the service principal has at least Reader access on all selected subscriptions. -
Document shows the subscription as Disabled
Cause: the subscription was in a Disabled state at the time of document generation.
Fix: this is informational. If unexpected, verify the subscription's state in the Azure portal.
FAQs
-
Who can access the Documentation section by default?
Account owner, Owner, and Contributor roles have full access by default — no additional configuration is required. -
What's the difference between Read and Manage for Documentation?
Read lets a user view documents generated under Document Types. Manage lets a user view, generate, and manage them. -
Can I set a custom billing date range for the Executive summary?
Yes. In Step 1 — Basics, set Billing range to Custom and specify the start and end dates.