Merge pull request #314632 from AbhishekMallick-MS/Apr-13-2026-GranularPricing

Granular billing preview - Added new article

Author: denrea

articles/backup/backup-azure-granular-billing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+---
+title: Configure Granular Billing in Azure Backup
+description: Azure Backup granular billing preview lets you view backup costs at multiple levels. Improve cost tracking and reporting for your teams today.
+#customer intent: As an IT admin, I want to set up backup cost reporting at the protected item level so that I can see detailed charges for each resource.
+author: AbhishekMallick-MS
+ms.author: v-mallicka
+ms.reviewer: v-mallicka
+ms.date: 04/13/2026
+ms.topic: how-to
+ms.service: azure-backup
+---
+
+# Configure granular billing in Azure Backup (preview)
+
+Granular billing in Azure Backup lets you view backup costs at a custom granularity level for improved chargeback and reporting across teams, applications, and cost centers.
+
+>[!IMPORTANT]
+>
+> - Granular billing is currently in preview for Recovery Services vault only.
+> - This feature is a management-plane reporting change only and doesn’t modify pricing meters or total backup costs.
+> - Existing historical bill lines continue to remain in the earlier format.
+
+## Available billing granularity levels
+
+Azure Backup provides multiple granularity levels to help you view and analyze backup costs based on your reporting and chargeback requirements.
+
+You can select one of the following granularity levels as per the requirements:
+
+- **Vault level (default)**: Shows backup costs that surface under the associated Recovery Services vault. Costs for resources that map to a designated meter appear as one line item per vault.
+
+- **Protected item level**: Shows backup costs for each protected item.
+
+- **Tag level**: Aggregates backup costs based on a selected tag. The default tag **MS-resourceParent** applies when you choose tag level granularity. You can also create Custom tags under the **CS-resourceParent** tag that helps to:
+
+   - View backup costs aggregated using existing tags.
+   - Group costs by application, environment, or cost center.
+   - Avoid creating separate vaults per department.
+
+## Set up granular billing
+
+To set up granular billing in the Recovery Services vault, follow these steps:
+
+1. In the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com/), go to the **Recovery Services vault and** select **Settings** > **Properties**.
+
+   :::image type="content" source="./media/backup-azure-granular-billing/granular-billing-property.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows how to configure granular billing properties in the Recovery Services vault." lightbox="./media/backup-azure-granular-billing/granular-billing-property.png":::
+
+1. On the **Properties** pane, for **Cost Management Granularity**, select **Update** .
+
+1. On the **Cost Management Granularity** pane, select a granularity option - **Vault level**, **Protected item level**, or **Tag level**.
+
+1. Select **Update** to save the setting.
+
+## Validate backup charges in Cost Analysis
+
+After you configure granular billing for Azure Backup, verify that the updated backup charges reflect correctly in Cost Management by using the selected granularity.
+
+>[!NOTE]
+>
+> - New charges appear in the selected format after you update Cost Management granularity.
+> - Older charges keep the previous format.
+> - Activity logs capture the change to the cost setting.
+> - The updated changes might take up to 2 hours to appear in Cost Analysis.
+
+To validate backup charges in Cost Analysis, follow these steps:
+
+1. Go to the **target subscription** and select **Cost Management** \> **Cost analysis**.
+
+1. On the **Cost analysis** pane, set the **View** as **Resources** and verify if the new backup charges appear in the selected granularity format.
+
+   ***The prices shown in the following screenshot are for example purposes only.***
+
+   :::image type="content" source="./media/backup-azure-granular-billing/resource-billing.png" alt-text="Screenshot that shows backup charges in the selected granularity format in Cost Analysis." lightbox="./media/backup-azure-granular-billing/resource-billing.png":::
+
+## Troubleshoot granular billing issues
+
+This section provides troubleshooting steps to resolve issues related to granular billing in Azure Backup.
+
+### The expected charges don’t appear in **Cost Analysis**.
+
+To resolve the issue:
+
+1. Confirm that the vault type is Recovery Services vault.
+
+1. Verify that you saved the granularity setting.
+
+1. Check the activity log that the update operation completed successfully.
+
+1. Wait up to 2 hours and refresh **Cost Analysis** to view the changes.
+
+1. Ensure that you select the correct subscription and time range scope in **Cost Analysis**.
+
+## Related content
+
+[Estimate and understand Azure Backup pricing](azure-backup-pricing.md).

articles/backup/media/backup-azure-granular-billing/granular-billing-property.png

@@ -945,6 +945,12 @@
       href: backup-reports-system-functions.md
   - name: Backup Explorer
     href: monitor-azure-backup-with-backup-explorer.md
+- name: Pricing
+  items:
+  - name: Granular billing
+    href: backup-azure-granular-billing.md
+  - name: Pricing calculator
+    href: azure-backup-pricing.md
 - name: Automation
   items:
   - name: Overview
@@ -1118,8 +1124,6 @@
     href: https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/?searchterms=Azure+Backup
   - name: Microsoft Q&A question page
     href: /answers/topics/azure-backup.html
-  - name: Pricing calculator
-    href: azure-backup-pricing.md
   - name: Service updates
     href: https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/?product=backup
   - name: Videos