How billing works in GCP - at project level or Organization level

Billing in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) primarily happens at the project level, but you can manage billing accounts at the organization level for more complex billing scenarios. Here’s how it works:

Project-Level Billing

• Each Project Has a Billing Account: Every GCP project must be linked to a billing account. All resources within that project will accrue charges that are billed to the associated billing account.
• Resource Usage: Resources within the project, such as Compute Engine instances, Cloud Storage, and BigQuery, generate costs that are tracked and billed at the project level.
• Budget and Alerts: You can set budgets and alerts for each project to monitor and control costs.

Organization-Level Billing

• Multiple Projects, One Billing Account: An organization can have multiple projects linked to a single billing account. This is useful for organizations that want to centralize billing and manage costs across multiple projects.
• Billing Account Management: Billing accounts can be managed at the organization level. You can create, manage, and monitor billing accounts from the organization’s perspective.
• Consolidated Billing: With organization-level billing, you get a consolidated view of all costs incurred by the projects linked to a billing account. This allows for better cost management and reporting across the entire organization.

Billing Scenarios

1. Single Project, Single Billing Account:

   • Scenario: A small startup with one project.
   • Billing: All resources in the project are billed to the single linked billing account.

2. Multiple Projects, Single Billing Account:

   • Scenario: A company with multiple departments, each having its own project.
   • Billing: All projects are linked to one central billing account, providing a unified view of all charges.

3. Multiple Projects, Multiple Billing Accounts:

   • Scenario: A large enterprise with different business units, each managing its own budget.
   • Billing: Each project can be linked to different billing accounts, allowing each unit to manage and track its own costs independently.

Billing Account Management

• Creating Billing Accounts: Admins can create billing accounts and link them to projects.
• Setting Up Budgets and Alerts: Budgets can be set at the billing account level to monitor spending across all linked projects.
• Reports and Analysis: Detailed billing reports can be generated to analyze costs and usage at both the project and organization levels.

Example

Here’s an example of setting up billing for a project:

1. Link a Project to a Billing Account:

   • Navigate to the Billing section in the GCP Console.
   • Select or create a billing account.
   • Link the project to the billing account.

2. Set Up a Budget:

   • Go to the Billing account.
   • Click on "Budgets & alerts."
   • Create a new budget, specify the amount, and set alerts to notify you when spending approaches or exceeds the budget.