Monitor Azure subscription resources with cost and usage tracking and reports

Description

Monitor Azure subscription resources with cost and usage tracking

Template Name
Monitor Azure subscription resources with cost and usage tracking

Description

Automatically connect to your Azure subscription to retrieve all resources and track costs. Generates formatted reports with total spending, top expensive resources, and cost breakdown by type.

Who's it for

DevOps Engineers, Cloud Architects, Finance Teams, IT Managers, and organizations implementing FinOps practices.

How it works

Authentication: OAuth2 Service Principal with Azure
Resource Discovery: Queries Azure Resource Graph API
Cost Retrieval: Fetches data from Cost Management API
Data Processing: Merges resources with costs
Report Generation: Creates text/HTML reports
Output: Excel export, Power BI streaming, or API/Webhook response

Set up steps

Prerequisites

Azure Subscription with appropriate permissions
Azure Service Principal with Reader and Cost Management Reader roles

Setup

1. Create Azure Service Principal

Azure CLI:
az ad sp create-for-rbac --name "n8n-cost-monitor" --role "Reader" --scopes /subscriptions/{sub-id}
az role assignment create --assignee {client-id} --role "Cost Management Reader" --scope /subscriptions/{sub-id}

Or use Azure Portal: Azure AD → App registrations → New registration → Assign roles

2. Configure n8n OAuth2 Credential

Credentials → OAuth2 API
Grant Type: Client Credentials
Access Token URL: https://login.microsoftonline.com/{TENANT_ID}/oauth2/v2.0/token
Scope: https://management.azure.com/.default

3. Update Workflow Configuration

Open "Set Configuration" node
Update subscriptionId and tenantId
Set timeRange (see options below)
Assign OAuth2 credential to HTTP nodes

Time Range Options:
currentMonth - Current billing month (default)
lastMonth - Previous full month
last30Days - Last 30 days
last90Days - Last 90 days (3 months)
last6Months - Last 6 months
yearToDate - From Jan 1 to today
lastYear - Full previous year (365 days)
custom - Manually set startDate and endDate

4. Enable Output Options (Optional)

Excel**: Enable "Export to Excel" node for .xlsx downloads
Power BI**: Enable "Prepare Power BI Data" and "Send to Power BI" nodes with Push URL
API/Webhook**: Enable "Respond to Webhook" node and change trigger to Webhook

5. Schedule (Optional)

Replace Manual Trigger with Schedule Trigger (daily: 0 9 * * *)

Requirements

Azure Requirements
Active Azure subscription
Permissions to create Service Principal
Permissions to assign Reader and Cost Management Reader roles

n8n Requirements
n8n instance (cloud or self-hosted version 1.0+)
Ability to create OAuth2 credentials

Optional Requirements
Slack workspace (for Slack notifications)
Email service credentials (for email reports)
Database instance (for data storage)

How to customize the workflow

Enable Output Options

The workflow includes three disabled output nodes. To enable them:

Click on the node (Excel Export, Power BI, or Webhook Response)
Click the three dots menu → Enable
Configure the node settings as needed

Excel Export Configuration

The Excel export node is pre-configured but disabled. To use it:

// Already configured to export:
All resources with their costs
Formatted as Excel (.xlsx)
Filename includes current date
Headers included automatically

To customize:
Change filename pattern in the node settings
Add/remove columns by modifying the data mapping
Export to CSV instead by changing the file extension

Power BI Integration

Step 1: Create Power BI Streaming Dataset

Go to Power BI workspace
Create New → Streaming dataset → API
Define schema:
{
"summary": {
"totalCost": "string",
"resourceCount": "number",
"period": "string"
},
"resources": [
{
"resourceName": "string",
"resourceType": "string",
"cost": "string"
}
],
"timestamp": "datetime",
"reportType": "string"
}
Copy the Push URL

Step 2: Configure n8n Workflow

Enable "Prepare Power BI Data" node
Enable "Send to Power BI" node
Update the URL in "Send to Power BI" node with your Push URL
Test the workflow

Step 3: Create Power BI Dashboard

Create visualizations from the streaming dataset
Add cards for Total Cost, Resource Count
Add tables for Top Resources
Add charts for Cost by Type

API Response / Webhook Mode

To use the workflow as an API endpoint:

Step 1: Change Trigger

Delete "Manual Trigger" node
Add "Webhook" trigger node
Choose GET or POST method
Copy the webhook URL

Step 2: Enable Response Node

Azure subscription with Service Principal permissions
n8n 1.0+ (cloud or self-hosted)
OAuth2 credentials capability
import requests
response = requests.get("https://your-n8n-instance.com/webhook/azure-cost-report")
data = response.json()
print(f"Total Cost: ${data'data'}")

Response Format:

{
"status": "success",
"data": {

Enable Output Options

Right-click disabled nodes → Enable → Configure settings

Filter Resources

Modify query in "Query Azure Resources" node:

Resources
| where resourceGroup contains 'production'
| project name, type, location, resourceGroup, tags, id

Change Time Range

Set timeRange in "Set Configuration" node:

timeRange: "last30Days" // Last 30 days
timeRange: "last90Days" // Last quarter
timeRange: "last6Months" // Last 6 months
timeRange: "yearToDate" // YTD from Jan 1
timeRange: "lastYear" // Previous 365 days
timeRange: "custom" // Use custom dates

For custom periods, set timeRange to "custom" and manually update:
startDate: "2026-01-01"
endDate: "2026-01-31"

Add Cost Alerts

{{ parseFloat($json.summary.totalCost) > 1000 }}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Authentication failed"
Verify your Tenant ID is correct
Check that Client ID and Secret are valid
Ensure the Service Principal has the required roles

"No resources returned"
Verify the Subscription ID is correct
Check that Service Principal has Reader role
Try running the query in Azure Resource Graph Explorer first

"No cost data available"
Cost data may take 24-48 hours to appear
VeAdjust Cost Period

In "Set Configuration" node:

// Last 7 days
startDate: {{ $now.minus({days: 7}).format('yyyy-MM-dd') }}
endDate: {{ $now.format('yyyy-MM-dd') }}

Add Cost Alerts

Add IF node after "Format Report":

{{ parseFloat($json.summary.totalCost) > 1000 }2. Microsoft.Sql/servers/databases - 3 resources - $345.67
...

Generated by n8n on 1/19/2026, 10:30:00 AM

HTML Report Format

Includes styled HTML with:
Professional color scheme (Azure blue #0078D4)
Responsive tables
Summary cards with highlighted metrics
Sortable columns
Even row highlighting for readability

Excel Export Columns

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| resourceName | String | Name of the Azure resource |
| resourceType | String | Full resource type (e.g., Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines) |
| resourceGroup | String | Resource group name |
| location | String | Azure region (e.g., eastus, westus2) |
| sku | Object | SKU information (name, tier) |
| tags | Object | All resource tags |
| cost | Number | Total cost for the period |
| costDetails | Array | Detailed daily cost breakdown |

Power BI Data Schema

Recommended Power BI measures:

Total Cost = SUM('CostData'[cost])
Avg Cost Per Resource = DIVIDE([Total Cost], COUNT('CostData'[resourceName]))
Cost Variance = [Total Cost] - CALCULATE([Total Cost], DATEADD('CostData'[timestamp], -1, MONTH))
Top 5 Expensive Resources = TOPN(5, 'CostData', 'CostData'[cost], DESC)

Integration Examples

Python Integration

import requests
import pandas as pd

Call the n8n webhook
url = "https://your-n8n-instance.com/webhook/azure-cost-report"
response = requests.get(url)
data = response.json()

Convert to DataFrame
resources_df = pd.DataFrame(data'data'['allResources'])

Analyze costs
print(f"Total Cost: ${data'data'}")
print(f"Most expensive resource: {resources_df.iloc0}")

Export to local Excel
resources_df.to_excel('azure_costs.xlsx', index=False)

PowerShell Integration

Call the webhook
$url = "https://your-n8n-instance.com/webhook/azure-cost-report"
$response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $url -Method Get

Display summary
Write-Host "Total Cost: $($response.data.totalCost)" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "Resource Count: $($response.data.resourceCount)"

Export to CSV
$response.data.summary.allResources |
Export-Csv -Path "azure-costs.csv" -NoTypeInformation

Send alert if cost exceeds threshold
if ([decimal]$response.data.totalCost -gt 1000) {
Send-MailMessage -To "[email protected]" `
-Subject "Azure Cost Alert" `
-Body "Current costs: $($response.data.totalCost)" `
-SmtpServer "smtp.company.com"
}

JavaScript/Node.js Integration

const axios = require('axios');

"Authentication failed": Verify Tenant ID, Client ID, Secret, and Service Principal roles

"No resources returned": Check Subscription ID and Reader role assignment

"No cost data": Cost data takes 24-48 hours to appear. Verify Cost Management Reader role.

"Rate limiting (429)": Add Wait node between API calls or reduce query frequency

Resources

Azure Resource Graph
Cost Management API
[n8n Documentation](https://docs.n8n.io/---

Category: Cloud Management, DevOps, FinOps
Difficulty: Intermediate
Setup Time: 10-15 minutes
n8n Version: 1.0+