Customer looking for historic EC2 cost and usage report

Yes, your customer can still access historical EC2 instance-level cost data even if they haven't enabled Cost and Usage Reports (CUR) yet. Here are the options:

1. Enable CUR 2.0 and request a backfill:

• They can set up a new CUR 2.0 report now
• Then open an AWS Support case requesting a backfill of historical data
• AWS can populate their CUR with historical data maintaining the same structure and detail level

2. Use AWS Cost Explorer:

• For immediate access, they can use Cost Explorer to view cost data for the past 13 months
• They should enable resource-level data in the Billing & Cost Management Preferences
• Then apply filters in Cost Explorer: set Resource to "EC2-Instances" and select specific instance IDs
• Note that by default, resource-level data (like specific instance IDs) is only available for the last 14 days unless specifically enabled

3. Configure CUR with best practices:

• Include resource IDs
• Set up automatic refresh
• Use hourly granularity for detailed analysis
• Configure for Amazon Athena integration (Parquet format)

For the most comprehensive solution, I recommend they enable CUR 2.0 with the recommended settings and request the backfill through AWS Support. This will provide them with the detailed historical instance-level data they need for April and May 2025.
Sources
HI team, i want to calculate aws costing for particular instance for previous month | AWS re:Post
COST03-BP01 Configure detailed information sources - AWS Well-Architected Framework (2023-04-10)
Getting historical usage for CUR.20 data extract | AWS re:Post
CUR report name to backfill | AWS re:Post

Hi, They can set up a CUR file with resource level granularity, then raise a support case to have the CUR data back filled. The CUR has different levels of granularity with hourly being the finest level. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cur/latest/userguide/troubleshooting.html#backfill-data

Cost Explorer also has the ability to do resource level granularity but only for the last 14 days.

Hi there, It's fantastic that you're considering your options, and this is a classic "wish we had set it up sooner" situation. Let's start by directly answering your main query before looking at the potential answers. The Short Answer: Retroactive CUR data is not available. Regretfully, data for April and May 2025 will not be available if the Cost and Usage Report (CUR) is enabled at this time. The CUR is a tool for the future. Once enabled, it doesn't backfill historical data but instead starts producing comprehensive reports moving forward. Suggested Remedies for Past Information (April-May 2025) You have a number of strong options in AWS Cost Explorer to obtain the comprehensive, per-instance data your customer requires, even if there isn't a pre-existing CUR.

Option 1: Granular Filtering in Cost Explorer (Probably the Best Option) Because it uses the same underlying data source, AWS Cost Explorer can deliver the necessary data without a CUR. To obtain a per-instance report for those months, follow these steps:Open Cost Explorer after navigating to the AWS Billing Console.

Choose April 1, 2025, to May 31, 2025 as the date range. Choose Daily under Granularity. Include the following dimensions in the Group by section: Compute services provided by Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud Use Type: (This will display particular instance types, such as APN1-BoxUsage:t2.micro.) Resource ID: (This is the most crucial one; it will separate expenses according to each instance ID, for example, i-1234567890abcdef0)

For additional analysis, you can export this view to a CSV file. The cost and usage for each EC2 instance that was operational during that time will be displayed to you in this report.

Option 2: Using the Cost Explorer API for Programmatic Access You can use the GetCostAndUsage API call with the same dimensions (SERVICE, USAGE_TYPE, RESOURCE_ID) if you need to automate the reporting or integrate this data into another system. The Cost Explorer UI essentially performs this function in the background.

Option 3: Look for Current CUR Files Generated by AWS Even if a CUR isn't active right now, it's still worthwhile to quickly see if it was ever enabled. Navigate to Cost & Usage Reports in the Billing Console. Check to see if any reports already exist. You can use the data if one was enabled between April and May of 2025.

Crucial Step for the Future: Make the CUR Available Right Away Even though this doesn't fix the issue right now, you should activate the Cost and Usage Report right away to avoid this happening again. For thorough cost allocation, forecasting, and internal chargebacks, the CUR is crucial since it offers the most precise data available, including tags, particular usage types, and resource IDs.

To get it going: Click Create report under Cost & Usage Reports in the Billing Console. To obtain per-instance details, choose Include resource IDs. Select the delivery options you want (e.g., hourly/daily, deliver to an S3 bucket, Parquet format for efficiency). In brief Utilize AWS Cost Explorer and group by Resource ID for historical data (April–May 2025). This is your best and fastest choice.To guarantee that you have this detailed data at your fingertips, enable the Cost and Usage Report (CUR) with "Include resource IDs" today for all future data. You should be able to give your customer the comprehensive, instance-by-instance usage report they want by using Cost Explorer.