# Showback for teams

Showback means showing each team what its cloud usage costs, so the people who spend the money can see it. This guide goes from raw tags to a report each team receives on a schedule. Each step links to the page that owns the detail.

## Before you start

- At least one connection with some history; see [Quickstart](/quickstart).
- The Owner or Editor team role in the workspace you are mapping; see [Access model](/concepts/access-model).
- Read [Allocation model](/concepts/allocation-model) once. It explains why rules, not filters, decide ownership.

## 1. Find out what your tags already say

Open **Settings**, then **Tags**. Look at **Overall Coverage** and **Top Tag Keys**. A key such as `team` or `owner` that carries most of the cost is the natural starting point. See [Tags and tag coverage](/allocation/tags).

## 2. Make one ownership value per cost line

If the same meaning is spread over several keys or spellings, or some resources are untagged but obvious, create a virtual tag that reads the keys in order and fills the gaps with rules. Check its preview until "Unmatched" is small. See [Virtual tags](/allocation/virtual-tags).

## 3. Define the owners

On **Segments**, add one segment per team, product and cost centre you report on. See [Segments and allocation rules](/allocation/segments).

## 4. Assign cost with rules

Write rules from the most specific to the most general: a named account first, then a resource name prefix, then a tag. Preview each rule and watch coverage rise. Keep going until the unallocated share is one you can explain.

## 5. Build a report per team

Save a cost report grouped by Segment for the whole picture. For each team, save a report with a Virtual tag filter clause on the value from step 2 that names the team; Segment groups a report but is not a filter field. See [Explore cost data](/cost-reports/explore) and [Save and manage reports](/cost-reports/manage).

## 6. Put them on a dashboard

Pin the reports to a dashboard so a lead can see every team at once. See [Overview and dashboards](/reporting/dashboards).

## 7. Deliver them

Schedule each team's report to its email destination, weekly or monthly. See [Share and schedule reports](/cost-reports/share-and-schedule).

## Keep it true

- Tag coverage drops as new resources arrive untagged. Set a coverage alert; see [Tags and tag coverage](/allocation/tags).
- When a team reorganizes, change the rules, not the reports. Rules restate past months at once.

## Related

- [Budget routine](/guides/budget-routine)