Custom Virtual Tags

Custom Virtual Tags in Finout enable you to model cloud spend the way your business actually thinks about it, rather than being constrained by how each provider structures its billing data. They act as a flexible semantic layer on top of your existing costs, so you can define rules that group spend by teams, products, environments, customers, or any other business dimension—across all clouds and services.

Using rule-based logic and filters, you can harmonize different naming conventions, unify cross-cloud metadata, and create a consistent view of ownership and responsibility. Once created, Custom Virtual Tags are available everywhere in Finout—MegaBill, dashboards, Cost Centers, and reports—so every widget and analysis reflects the same, business-aligned model of your cloud spend, making it easier to drive accountability, understand unit economics, and support smarter financial decisions.

Create a Virtual Tag

1. In Finout, navigate to Virtual Tags.

   
2. Click Create New and Virtual Tag. ​The Create virtual tag page appears.

   
3. Name the Virtual tag. ​

   
4. You can optionally choose an endpoint to be notified about changes made to this virtual tag.

   

   
5. Create the rules for the Virtual Tags by setting Where conditions and corresponding Then actions. This can be done through the AI Virtual Tag Rule Builder or Manually.

   • AI Virtual Tag Rule Builder (Alpha):

     Note: For more information, see the AI Virtual Tag Builder.

     1. In a virtual tag builder, click Generate with AI under a specific rule. The free text-box appears.

        
     2. Write what you want the rule to be, for example "All regions in the US per team" and click . The virtual tag rule is created.

        
     3. Continue to edit the virtual tag and click Save.

   • Manual Rule Builder:

     Important: The order of rules is crucial as it determines their priority. Rule 1 has the highest priority and is assessed first, with its tagging action overriding subsequent rules. Only if a resource does not meet Rule 1's conditions will it be evaluated against Rule 2, and so on.

     

     • WHERE:

       1. Select any cost center from the MegaBill.

          1. Select a filter key.

             1. Select an operator (One Of, Not one of, Is, Is not, Contains, Not Contains, Exists, or Not exists).

             2. Depending on the operation, select or enter one or more Filter values.

             3. To add a further criterion to the rule, click +.

             4. Select AND or OR.

             5. Complete the rule row as described above.

             6. THEN: There are two options:

                1. Choose a static value for this portion of your infrastructure by choosing Custom Value and typing it into the text box.

                2. If you already have an appropriate allocation for this portion of your infrastructure in a cloud service provider tag, account name, or resource name, you can select that field using the MegaBill Key option to have those values populated for the Virtual Tag.

                   Note: when selecting a key from the MegaBill, the key’s values will appear in the MegaBill when filtering or grouping by the Virtual Tag.

                   

                Example - Rule 1 includes: Where conditions: The rule is structured to evaluate resources across different cloud providers: AWS, GCP, Azure, and Kubernetes. It will trigger if a resource within these providers has specific tags or labels that match predefined values. For AWS and Azure, the rule triggers for resources with any chosen values in 'environment' tags. For GCP, the rule is triggered if the 'env' label is exactly 'production'. For Kubernetes, it checks against specified 'label_environment' values. Then outcome: If a resource meets any of the 'Where' conditions, the 'Then' action tags it as 'Production'.

                
6. In a virtual tag builder, click Generate with AI under a specific rule. The free text-box appears.

   
7. Write what you want the rule to be, for example "All regions in the US per team" and click . The virtual tag rule is created.

   
8. Continue to edit the virtual tag and click Save.

9. You can optionally set a timeframe for the virtual tag, allowing you to specify exact dates for the rule application.

   
10. Click Add rule to add additional rules as required.

    Note: The number of rules allowed in a virtual tag is 50.

    
11. You can optionally Set the value for the untagged cost field for all unallocated costs not covered by any rules are aggregated under the tag value "untagged." You can enter a custom name for these untagged costs to generate a single value or choose a key from the MegaBill to generate multiple values simultaneously. This feature enables continuous enhancement of Virtual Tag coverage and the creation of rules to reduce untagged costs.

    
12. To see a preview, click Preview Virtual Tag. The virtual tag preview appears.

    

    
13. Click Save. Adjust the ACL permissions as needed (ACL is in Beta).

    Note:

    • Virtual tags are always public for read purposes, allowing all users in the account to utilize them for filtering and grouping, as well as view their configuration. However, only users with the appropriate write ACL permissions can edit a virtual tag’s configuration.

    • Write access follows the account-level default but can be modified as needed.

    
14. ACL permissions (Beta):

    Read permissions are always public for virtual tags, but you can set write permissions as either Public, Private, and Shared. Permission for an object is granted if a user or group have a role with the proper permission and also ACL permission to access the object. By default, the write permissions are set according ot the account default, but users can change it to view or modify an object if they have Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to read or write the object.

    

    • Types of ACL Permissions:

      • Public: Grants access to anyone in the organization that has Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

      • Private: Restricts access to admins and the user who created the object.

      • Shared: Limits access to specific users or groups that have Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

        Note: Admins always retain access.

        
15. Click Save. The virtual tag is created.

    Result: The new virtual tag appears in the list of virtual tags.

    Note:

    • A Virtual Tag is active from the current period onwards.

    • The Virtual Tags configuration screen is accessible to all users on the account. Contact the Finout support team if you wish to set accessibility limitations for specific users.

    • Virtual Tags can also be duplicated or deleted as needed.

    

Manage Virtual Tags

Managing Virtual Tags allows you to edit, delete, and duplicate virtual tags to better organize and optimize your cloud cost allocation in Finout.

Duplicate Virtual Tags

1. Navigate to Virtual Tags.

   
2. Click on the Virtual Tag you want to edit from the list and then click Duplicate Virtual Tag. The virtual tag is duplicated.

Edit Virtual Tags

1. Navigate to Virtual Tags.

   
2. Click on the Virtual Tag you want to edit from the list and then click Edit Virtual Tag. The Edit virtual tag screen opens.

   
3. Edit Virtual Tag rules: Click on the rule you want to change.

4. In the Where option, you can change the criteria using the Filter keys dropdown to select different filter types, such as tags or labels, and modify the logical operators as needed.

   • Adjust the cloud environments by selecting or deselecting them.

   • In the Then section, update the tag value that will be assigned when the rule's conditions are met.

   • Add or Delete Rules using the + Add rule button to include new segmentation rules or the – button to remove an existing rule.

     Note: The number of rules allowed in a virtual tag is 50.

   • Adjust the rule order as desired using the Move rule function, which allows you to change their ranking, since the rules are applied from top to bottom.

5. Additional edits:

   • Adjust the time frame.

   • Edit the values for the untagged costs.

   • Set up notifications for changes.

6. Filter by conditions: Utilize the filter values dropdown options to narrow down your Virtual Tag based on specific chosen filters. This is particularly useful when the created Virtual Tag has many rules. Instead of manually searching for the specific item to edit within the Virtual Tag, you can use the filters option to drill down and easily find what you need to edit.

   Filter types:

   • Virtual Tag values: Filter based on the names assigned to the rule in the "Then" section.

   • Filter keys: Filter based on the keys chosen in your Virtual Tag.

   • Filter values: Filter based on the exact values that trigger the rule.

Virtual Tag Settings (Beta)

1. Navigate to Virtual tags.

   
2. Click on the Virtual Tag you want to set ACL permissions and then click Virtual Tag Settings. The Settings side window opens.

   
3. ACL permissions:

   Read permissions are always public for virtual tags, but you can set write permissions as either Public, Private, and Shared. Permission for an object is granted if a user or group have a role with the proper permission and also ACL permission to access the object. By default, the write permissions are set according ot the account default, but users can change it to view or modify an object if they have Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to read or write the object.

   Note:

   • Virtual tags are always public for read purposes, allowing all users in the account to utilize them for filtering and grouping, as well as view their configuration. However, only users with the appropriate write ACL permissions can edit a virtual tag’s configuration.

   • Write access follows the account-level default but can be modified as needed.

   

   • Types of ACL Permissions:

     • Public: Grants access to anyone in the organization that has Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

     • Private: Restricts access to admins and the user who created the object.

     • Shared: Limits access to specific users or groups that have Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

       Note: Admins always retain access.

       

Delete Virtual Tags

1. Navigate to Virtual Tags.

   
2. Click on the Virtual Tag you want to edit from the list and then click Delete Virtual Tag.

   
3. Click Delete. The virtual tag is deleted.