Create an AWS IAM user policy for Cloud Cost Management

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 1 minute to read

    • Create an Identity and Access Management (IAM) user profile that enables access to AWS data.

    Before you begin

    You must know how to create an IAM user and set up a user policy. See the AWS documentation on IAM for details.

    Use an auto-generated access key. You need the key information when you configure AWS credentials in the instance.

    Roles required:

    On the AWS Management Console: AWS Management Console administrator.

    Cloud Cost Management: insights_admin [sn_clin_core.insights_admin] or admin.

    About this task

    The following procedure describes the process of creating an AWS IAM user policy and configuring credentials-based authentication for Cloud Cost Management. If you prefer to use Assume Role authentication, see .

    Procedure

    1. Log in to the AWS Management Console and create a user in IAM.
    2. Save the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.
    3. Attach permissions to the IAM user using either of the following methods:
      • Grant administrator access to the user by attaching the Administrator Access policy.
      • Create an IAM policy with a descriptive name and use the following JSON for billing, cloud watch, forecast, and actions.
        Operation Policy
        Billing 
        {
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "s3:GetObjectVersion",
                "s3:GetObjectTorrent",
                "s3:GetObject",
                "s3:ListBucket",
                "s3:GetObjectTagging",
                "s3:ListMultipartUploadParts",
                "s3:ListBucketMultipartUploads",
                "s3:GetObjectVersion"
            ],
            "Resource": [
                "arn:aws:s3:::<S3BucketName>/*",
                "arn:aws:s3:*:<AWS Master Account ID>:job/*",
                "arn:aws:s3:::<S3BucketName>"
            ]
        },
        {
            "Sid": "VisualEditor1",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "s3:GetAccountPublicAccessBlock",
                "s3:ListAllMyBuckets",
                "s3:ListJobs"
            ],
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}
        Cloud watch 
        {
   "Version": "2012-10-17",
   "Statement": [
       {
           "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
           "Effect": "Allow",
           "Action": [
               "cloudwatch:GetMetricData",
               "cloudwatch:ListMetrics"
           ],
           "Resource": "*"
       }
   ]
}
        Describe Report Definitions 
        {
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "cur:DescribeReportDefinitions",
            "Resource": "<BillingReportName>"
        }
    ]
}
        Actions 
        {
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "ec2:DescribeInstances",
                "ec2:StartInstances",
                "ec2:ModifyInstanceAttribute",
                "ec2:StopInstances",
                "ec2:DescribeInstanceStatus"
            ],
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}
        AWS Cost Explorer, Forecast, and Reservation Purchase Recommendation APIs for the IAM user that you configure to access billing data on the Service account 
        {
   "Version": "2012-10-17",
   "Statement": [
       {
           "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
           "Effect": "Allow",
           "Action": [
               "ce:GetCostAndUsage",
               "ce:GetCostForecast",
               "ce:GetReservationPurchaseRecommendation"
           ],
           "Resource": "*"
       }
   ]
}
        AWS Auto-scale instances (Auto-scale instances aren’t included in Business Hours recommendations) 
        {
     "Version": "2012-10-17",
     "Statement": [{
           "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
           "Effect": "Allow",
           "Action": [
                "autoscaling:DescribeAutoScalingInstances",
                "autoscaling:DescribeAutoScalingGroups"
           ],
           "Resource": "*"
     }]
}
        AWS trusted advisor roles 
        {

    "Version":"2012-10-17",		 	 	 
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "support:DescribeTrustedAdvisorCheckRefreshStatuses",
                "support:DescribeTrustedAdvisorCheckResult",
                "support:DescribeTrustedAdvisorChecks",
                "support:DescribeTrustedAdvisorCheckSummaries",
                "support:RefreshTrustedAdvisorCheck",
                "trustedadvisor:Describe*"
            ],
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}