# Quickstart

This page walks the shortest path to a useful result: an account, a workspace, a connected cloud account, a saved cost report and a budget, with the report emailed to your team on a schedule.

## Before you start

- Access to the cloud account you want to connect, with the permissions its provider page lists: [AWS](/connect/aws), [Azure](/connect/azure), [Google Cloud](/connect/gcp) or [Kubernetes](/connect/kubernetes). If someone else holds those permissions, you can invite them during onboarding.
- An email address for the account. You can also sign up with GitHub or Google where the sign-in page offers them.

## Create your account

1. Open the sign-up page, enter your **Email address** and select **Continue**.
2. Enter your **First name**, **Last name** and a **Password**, then select **Create account**.
3. Open the verification link Costfluent emails you, then sign in.

## Set up your workspace

Onboarding runs in three steps.

1. **Workspace**: give your first workspace a name under **Workspace name** and select **Continue**. A workspace holds the costs, reports and budgets for one part of your business; you can add more later.
2. **Connect**: pick a provider and follow its steps. Collection starts as soon as the connection is saved. If a colleague holds the cloud permissions, select **Invite my team first**.
3. **Invite**: add teammates by email with a role. Choose **Integration Owner** for someone who should connect your cloud accounts. Select **Send invitations**, or skip ahead with **Go to dashboard**.

The **Overview** page then shows a **Get started** checklist with four steps: connect a cloud provider, map segments, your first scheduled cost report and invite a teammate. Each step links to the page that completes it.

## See your first costs

The first collection can take a while, depending on the provider; see each provider page under **Data and freshness**. The **Overview** page shows how many providers are still syncing and, once cost arrives, the last 30 days' total, the top service and the cost trend.

## Save a cost report

1. Open **Cost reports** and choose a **Date range**, for example Last month.
2. Set **Group by** to Service or Sub-account.
3. Save it with a **Title**. See [Explore cost data](/cost-reports/explore) and [Save and manage reports](/cost-reports/manage).

## Add a budget

Open **Budgets**, select **Create Budget**, and enter a name, an amount, a period and a start date. See [Budgets](/planning/budgets).

## Schedule the report

Open the saved report, select **Schedule**, choose an email destination and a cadence. The **Get started** checklist marks the step done when the first delivery arrives. See [Share and schedule reports](/cost-reports/share-and-schedule).

## Related

- [How Costfluent works](/concepts/how-costfluent-works)
- [Segments and allocation rules](/allocation/segments)
- [Users, teams and roles](/admin/users-teams-and-roles)