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Business Unit Economics lets you map cloud spend from a Cost Allocation report to a business metric—customers, seats, users, or any unit you define—so you can track cost per unit by dimension and month. Each saved configuration is called a model: one Cost Allocation report, one unit, and the unit counts you enter per dimension.
Business Unit Economics requires the Operate plan.

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Get started

  1. Sign in to nOps.
  2. In the sidebar, open Operate → Business Unit Economics, or go to clara.nops.io/business-unit-economics.
  3. Click Create model, choose a report saved on Explorer’s Cost Allocation tab, pick or create a Unit (e.g. Customers), and set your Start month and Reporting sample month.
  4. Click Create & calculate, enter unit counts in the Units by dimension table, then Save & calculate.
You can also start from Explorer with a Cost Allocation report already open—use Create model from the Reports list, or open /business-unit-economics/new?reportId=... with a report ID to pre-select a report.
Only shared or global reports saved on the Cost Allocation tab (grouped by allocation value, not a raw dimension) are eligible. If your report doesn’t show up when creating a model, open Explorer, switch to the Cost Allocation tab, group by an allocation value, and save the report there first.

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Key features

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Landing page

  • Portfolio snapshot cards summarize your models at a glance: Models, Tracked spend, Units entered, and Avg coverage.
  • Models by unit groups models under each unit name. Each row shows the linked report, cost, units entered, Cost / unit, and Coverage for the reporting sample month.
  • The Units sidebar lets you create reusable metrics (e.g. Customers, Seats) and attach them when building models. You cannot delete a unit that still has models linked to it.
  • Search and open any model to edit settings or unit counts. Use Delete to remove a model you no longer need.

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Creating a model

Every model links one Cost Allocation report to one unit:
  1. Click Create model and select a report saved on Explorer’s Cost Allocation tab. Spend rows follow that report’s allocation values and filters.
  2. In Settings, fill in:
    • Explorer report — the Cost Allocation report whose spend drives the model. Use Change to pick a different report, or Open Explorer to review it.
    • Unit — a reusable metric from the dropdown, or + New unit to create one on the spot.
    • Start month — the first month you want to track unit counts (defaults to the previous calendar month).
    • Reporting sample month — the month used for Cost, Cost / unit, and summary cards (defaults to the current calendar month).
    • Granularity — currently Monthly only.
  3. Click Create & calculate to save settings and load the units table.
You can only save one model per report + unit combination. The same unit on different Cost Allocation reports creates separate models.

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Units by dimension table

After settings are saved, the Units by dimension section shows one row per Explorer dimension value: Use Save & calculate to persist your counts and refresh cost-per-unit values. Summary cards above the table show Total cost, total units entered, and Cost per unit for the reporting sample month.

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CSV workflow

Bulk-edit unit counts offline:
  • Template — download a CSV with Dimension and monthly Units columns (for example, July 2026 - Units) for each month from your start month through today.
  • Upload CSV — import counts by matching the Dimension column. Only rows that match existing dimensions are updated.
  • Download — export the full table, including cost and cost-per-unit columns, once the model is saved.

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Manage reports

From a saved model, click Manage Reports to deliver a summary by email, Slack, or Teams:
  • Send now — deliver immediately.
  • Schedule — once or recurring (daily, weekly, monthly), in your timezone.
  • Add Email recipients, optional Slack / Teams channels, a Subject, and an optional Message.
Email deliveries include an HTML summary (total cost, total units, cost per unit) and a CSV attachment. Manage recurring schedules from Reports under the Business Unit Economics tab.

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Business Unit Economics view in Explorer

Open Explorer and use the View By menu to overlay cost per unit on your chart:
  • Pick a model to add a Cost per unit series for each dimension on the chart.
  • A side panel shows summary cards and a read-only table for the selected month.
  • Models appear in the picker as your report name and unit name joined together (for example, Production spend — Customers).
Budget and Business Unit Economics overlays cannot be active at the same time.

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FAQs

Yes, and specifically a Cost Allocation report. Every model is linked to a shared or global report saved on Explorer’s Cost Allocation tab (grouped by allocation value) and inherits its filters and dimensions. Create or choose a Cost Allocation report in Explorer first, then start a model from the Business Unit Economics page or from the Reports list.
Unallocated appears when grouped spend from your Explorer report does not sum to the account total—typically spend that could not be matched to a dimension value. Enter unit counts for Unallocated if you want cost per unit for that remainder.
Use Change in Settings to link a different report. Spend rows and dimensions will follow the new report’s filters and grouping. You may need to re-enter or re-import unit counts for the updated dimensions.
Budgets set spend targets and alert you when actuals cross thresholds. Business Unit Economics divides spend by business metrics you enter (customers, seats, etc.) to show cost per unit over time. Both can overlay on Explorer charts, but only one overlay type can be active at a time.
Cost Allocation is where you define showback rules and build the report — grouping spend by allocation values (departments, teams, products, etc.). Business Unit Economics builds on top of a saved Cost Allocation report: it takes that allocated spend and divides it by unit counts you provide (customers, seats, etc.) to show cost per unit. You need a Cost Allocation report before you can create a Business Unit Economics model.
Yes. Use Template to download a CSV, fill in unit counts offline, and Upload CSV to import them. Match rows by the Dimension column and use column headers like July 2026 - Units.
  • Explorer — build the report a model is based on, and overlay cost per unit on your charts
  • Budgets — set spend targets and threshold alerts from Explorer reports
  • Reports — manage scheduled Business Unit Economics deliveries