TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction

IBM Cloud billing can be viewed from the IBM Cloud website. Note that, billing is in arrears, not in real time. 

Some products/services are free, but many have ongoing charges that continue until you remove them. You may want to remove any products/services that generate any future billing going forward. There is no commonly accepted term to describe this, and this document refers to it as “clearing your bill”.


Process

  1. Log into the IBM Cloud console.
  2. If you have multiple accounts, select the one you want to manage via the pull-down menu.


  3. From the Console, select Manage > Billing > Usage. There are several areas on the screen that show your usage and invoices. 

Important information about billing on IBM Cloud

How billing works on IBM Cloud

  1. Billing for Classic and VPC are shown in separate places.
    • Classic Infrastructure & Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
  2. What’s the difference between Classic & VPC, for billing?
    • Classic has hourly and monthly billing, suspend billing features.
    • VPC has hourly, suspended billing, sustained usage discounts.
  3. Where to get updates about Classic & VPC billing?



How Ingram Micro bills for IBM Cloud

  1. Quoting/ordering methods
    • IBM Passport Advantage (PPA)
    • Ingram Cloud Marketplace (CMP)
  2. For annual subscriptions
    • Via PPA: Ingram Micro bills the partner shortly after receiving the partner’s order
    • Via CMP: is part of the partner’s consolidated CMP monthly invoice
  3. For Pay-As-You-Go accounts
    • Via PPA: Ingram Micro bills the partner after receiving the bill from IBM for usage (in arrears)
    • Via CMP: Ingram Micro bills the partner after receiving the bill from IBM for usage (in arrears), is included in the consolidated CMP monthly invoice.



How billing can get “Left Behind & Running”

  1. Suspended Billing
    • Is not available on all servers/services.
    • Suspended billing does NOT necessarily stop ALL billing.
      • E.g. storage and networking can still bill while the server is properly turned off.
  2. How to properly turn off a server and suspend its billing.
    • Shutting down via the OS commands does NOT stop billing.
    • Must shut down via the cloud console or via API.
  3. Storage
    • Ex. you deleted the server but not the storage, and storage remains.
  4. Services
    • You must delete the service, not just shut it down or otherwise not-use it.
  5. Learn more about which servers/services support suspended billing



About “Clearing Your Billing”

  1. What does it mean to “clear your bill”?
    • Is a way to reset your billable charges going forward.
    • Does NOT nullify any existing bills/charges.
  2. Benefits of clearing your bill
    • Removes billable infrastructure/services that you no longer require.
    • Is a way to “start fresh”.

How to stop charges on IBM Cloud/ How to clear your billing?

  1. Cancel all devices you have under Classic Infrastructure


  2. Cancel all Service Instances.




  3. Cancel all Billing Items