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Connect to GCP

GCP Integration Overview

Connecting Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to Finout enables seamless tracking and monitoring of your cloud expenses. By integrating GCP, Finout provides detailed insights into your usage, allowing you to visualize costs, optimize spending, and manage budgets across your GCP resources. The connection process involves securely linking your GCP billing account to Finout for real-time cost analysis.

GCP Configuration Workflow:

  1. Billing Export from GCP

  2. Granting Finout Access to GCP

  3. Connect GCP to Finout

1. Billing Export from GCP

Important: Skip this step if GCP detailed billing has already been activated.

  1. Log in to your Google Cloud account and select Billing.

  2. Choose Billing export.

  3. Make sure that the Detailed usage cost is enabled.

Note: Enabling Detailed usage cost is a one-time action for the entire billing account. This setting applies to all projects under the billing account, so there is no need to enable it individually for each project.

2. Granting Finout Access to GCP

To connect GCP, Finout requires minimal permission to BigQuery in the project that is tied to your billing. To identify that project, check your billing page to see the connected project.

Perform the following steps after selecting the correct project:

  1. In Service Accounts, click Create service account.

  1. Configure these three roles:

    BigQuery Data Viewer BigQuery Job User BigQuery Read Session User

Note: Every role assigned to Finout’s service account by the customer can be restricted to a specific project, dataset, table, or other resource, ensuring access is limited to only the necessary tables. To add a specific condition to a role: 1. Click Add condition. The condition builder appears. 2. Choose a key name. 3. Apply the following format to the table for which you want to grant permissions: projects/<project-id>/datasets/<dataset-id>/tables/<table-id> For all format types, see GCP documentation.

  1. Leave section 3 blank and click Done.

  2. Back in the menu, click the Keys tab.

  3. Click Add Key and then Create New Key.

  4. Select JSON and click Create. The private key is created.

(Optional) Surface the Billing Account Name

By default, Finout identifies your GCP billing accounts by their Billing Account ID — a non-human-readable identifier such as 012345-67890A-BCDEF0. If you manage more than one billing account, you can grant Finout one additional read-only role so the human-readable Billing Account Name is available as a filter and group-by dimension alongside the ID.

You can do this during your initial GCP setup, or add it later to a GCP cost center that's already connected — the steps are identical.

This step is optional:

  • If you grant it, the Billing Account Name becomes available as a filter and group-by dimension in your GCP cost data.

  • If you skip it, GCP onboarding works exactly the same — you continue to see the Billing Account ID, you just won't see the name.

Note: The Billing Account Name is read from GCP's Cloud Billing API, not the BigQuery billing export. The export does not include the display name, so this role is the only way for Finout to read it.

The Billing Account Name is read using the Billing Account Viewer role (roles/billing.viewer). The three BigQuery roles above are granted on the project tied to your billing; this role is added to the same Finout service account one level up, at the organization scope. You don't need a new key or a new service account — you add the role to the principal you already created.

To enable it:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to IAM & Admin.

  1. Using the resource selector at the top left, switch the scope to your Organization.

  2. Locate the Finout service account (shown as a …iam.gserviceaccount.com principal in the list) and click Edit principal.

  3. Click Add another role.

  4. Select the Billing Account Viewer role (roles/billing.viewer).

  1. Click Save.

Once granted, the Billing Account Name becomes available as a filter and group-by dimension in your GCP cost data on the next data refresh.

3. Connect GCP to Finout

  1. Navigate to Settings > Cost Centers and click Add cost center. The Connect Accounts window appears.

  2. Under GCP click Connect Now.

  3. Enter a Cost Center Name and add the JSON key and click Next. You are brought to the Select billing export dataset step.

  4. Select an Export Dataset, Export Table, and then click Complete Integration. The Integration is completed

GCP Credit Types

GCP credit types enable users to categorize and display different types of credits. This addition, which includes the ability to group and filter GCP credit types and show original costs, is an effective tool for cloud expense management. It aims to deliver clarity and ease in financial analysis, empowering users with a more transparent view of their GCP billing and spending patterns.

This feature allows users to easily identify and analyze different types of GCP credits impacting their costs. It simplifies understanding how these credits play a role in overall expense management.

Common GCP credit types

  • Sustained use discounts: For continuous resource usage.

  • Committed use discounts: For consistent resource usage over time.

  • Free tier usage: Covering costs under the GCP Free Tier.

  • Promotional credits: Offered during promotions or special events.

  • Research credits: Provided for academic or research-related purposes.

Cost without Credits: When no credits are applied to a cost, the Credit Types field displays Cost Without Credits, a Finout-calculated value representing the original cost before any credits are applied. This distinction ensures clarity in cost analysis by helping you separate discounted from non-discounted expenses. By showing the original cost before credits, Finout allows you to understand your true usage spend without the influence of promotions or discounts, giving you a more accurate view of overall spending and credit effectiveness.

Note: Currently, the Cost without credits metric also includes CUD (Committed Use Discounts).

  • Key feature functionalities:

    • Grouping by Credit Types: Offers an aggregated view of how different credits influence your total cloud expenses.

    • Filtering by Credit Types: Allows for targeted analysis of specific credit types, offering deeper financial insights.

Note: As of August 15th, 2025, this field (Cost without Credits) includes the newly introduced GCP Committed Use Discount (CUD) credits.

FAQs

How can I grant Finout access to my GCP billing table through a custom project instead of the primary project?

This setup is not available through the app’s onboarding process. If you need Finout to access your billing table through a custom project for security reasons, contact Finout support at support@finout.io and provide the following details:

  • Project Name

  • Dataset

  • GCP Table

Note: Ensure the table includes the full Google billing table structure, including the partitioned time column.

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