Schedule impacted resources summary

Overview

Schedule impacted resources summary provides a detailed cost analysis of Azure resources that are assigned to optimization schedules within a cost management group. It helps organizations evaluate the financial impact of scheduling actions over a user-defined impact period. Reports are generated as Excel files and are available for download from Generation history.

By consolidating monthly cost data for schedule-impacted resources into a single Excel report, you can analyze how optimization schedules affect resource costs over time, compare actual and amortized costs, and gain clear visibility into cost trends and the effectiveness of applied schedules.

Business value

The report gives cost and cloud governance teams direct visibility into whether optimization schedules are delivering the expected savings, enabling data-driven decisions on which schedules to keep, adjust, or expand.

Prerequisites

Required permissions

Access to the Schedule impacted resources summary report is controlled by the same Reports permission that governs Cost Analyzer's reporting suite:

When assigning a custom role, grant Read or Manage on Reports under Specify feature permissions.

How it works

The report includes detailed cost information for each schedule-impacted resource, such as:

• Actual cost for each month within the defined impact period
• Amortized cost for each month within the defined impact period
• Resource name and associated optimization schedule
• Resource type and Cost Management Group association
• Monthly cost trends reflecting the impact of scheduling actions

Steps

Use the following steps to configure, generate, and access Schedule impacted resources summary reports. Navigate to your Cost management group > Reports to get started.

Configure the report

Configuring the report sets up the monthly schedule impact summary and how it is delivered for your cost management group.

1. Navigate to Cost management group > Reports.
2. Click the Edit icon next to the Schedule impacted resources summary report type.
3. (Optional) Enable Download report from notifications.
4. (Optional) Select Include resources scheduled in child groups.
5. Define the Impact period to determine the timeframe for retrieving cost data.
6. Choose USD or Billing currency for cost display.
7. Select the preferred notification services.
8. Click Save, and enable the Schedule impacted resources summary report type toggle.

Generate an instant report

Generating an instant report lets you get an on-demand copy of the monthly summary without waiting for the scheduled run.

1. Go to the Reports section of the relevant cost management group.
2. Click the Actions menu next to the Schedule impacted resources summary report type.
3. Select Generate Now.

View generation history

Generation history lets you access and re-download previously generated reports without regenerating them.

1. Go to the Reports section of the relevant cost management group.
2. Open Generation history to view all triggered reports.
3. Click Download next to any record to retrieve that report.

Example scenario

A finance lead schedules the Schedule impacted resources summary to run monthly for the Production cost management group, with a 3-month impact period, Download report from notifications enabled, and Microsoft Teams selected as the notification channel. Each month, the team receives an Excel report comparing actual and amortized costs for every schedule-impacted resource, making it easy to confirm which optimization schedules are reducing spend and which need adjustment.

The following images illustrate a sample monthly Schedule impacted resources summary report downloaded from the Generation history:

Troubleshooting

1. Report generation fails
   Cause: The cost management group contains subscriptions with different billing currencies.
   Fix: Ensure all subscriptions in the group share the same billing currency, or split them into separate groups.

2. Report shows no schedule-impacted resources
   Cause: No resources in the cost management group are currently assigned to an optimization schedule.
   Fix: Verify that schedules are configured and applied to the relevant resources before the next report cycle.

3. Child group resources missing from the report
   Cause: The Include resources scheduled in child groups option was not enabled during configuration.
   Fix: Edit the report configuration, enable Include resources scheduled in child groups, then save.

4. Generate Now option is unavailable
   Cause: The Schedule impacted resources summary report type toggle is disabled, or no notification channel is selected.
   Fix: Enable the report type toggle in the Reports section and select at least one notification channel.

5. Report is not received via the configured notification channel
   Cause: The notification service was removed or reconfigured after the report was saved, breaking the delivery connection.
   Fix: Edit the report configuration, reselect the notification service, and save.

FAQs

1. What does the Impact period setting control?
   It defines the number of months of cost data included in the report, allowing you to analyze how schedules have affected resource costs over that timeframe.

2. Can I view costs in my billing currency instead of USD?
   Yes. During configuration, choose Billing currency in the cost display setting to report costs in the currency of the underlying subscriptions.

3. Can I download a previously generated report without triggering a new one?
   Yes. Open Generation history in the Reports section and click Download next to any prior record.

Related articles

• Reports in Cost Analyzer
• Scheduled resources summary
• Managing optimization schedules
• Impact tracker