> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.north.cloud/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.north.cloud/docs/features/coststreams/cost-units.md).

# Cost Units

Learn about Cost Units in North.cloud's Cost Streams.

**Cost Units** is a capability within [Cost Streams](/docs/features/coststreams.md). Use it to measure cloud spend against the business metrics your teams already track, such as cost per click, impression, customer, or incident.

Each Cost Unit relates infrastructure spend to a business outcome at the business unit level, and the figures update in near real time. With Cost Units, you can understand efficiency, track trends, and explain why costs change.

### When to Use Cost Units <a href="#when-to-use-cost-units" id="when-to-use-cost-units"></a>

Use Cost Units when you want to:

* Measure efficiency, such as cost per click or clicks per dollar
* Connect cloud spend to KPIs already used by marketing, product, or finance teams
* Track how efficiency changes over time, daily or monthly
* Bring business metrics and cloud costs into one shared workflow

You define the metric, the direction of the calculation, and the time granularity. There is no fixed schema or prescribed KPI.

### Get Started with Cost Units <a href="#to-get-started-with-cost-units" id="to-get-started-with-cost-units"></a>

1. Navigate to the **Streams** tab in [app.north.cloud](http://app.north.cloud)
2. Click **Business Unit** in the top left corner of the interface
3. Select the business unit you want to analyze
4. A configuration panel will open on the right side of the screen
5. Select **Cost Units** (next to Analytics and Budget)
6. Click **Create New**, then choose **Manual entry** or **Import template**

### Import Metrics into Cost Units <a href="#to-import-metrics-into-cost-units" id="to-import-metrics-into-cost-units"></a>

You can bring your business metrics into Cost Units in three ways, depending on your workflow.

#### Upload a File <a href="#upload-a-file" id="upload-a-file"></a>

1. Click **Create New**, then select **Import template**
2. Upload a supported file type:
   1. .csv
   2. .xlsx
   3. .numbers
3. Map the metric values to the appropriate dates and business unit

Uploads are commonly used for historical backfills or when metrics already exist in reports or exports.

#### Manually Enter Metrics <a href="#manually-enter-metrics" id="manually-enter-metrics"></a>

Manual entry is useful for quick experimentation or when you want full control over the data.

1. Click **Create New**, then select **Manual entry**
2. Enter the following details:
   1. Name: The metric you are tracking (for example, Impressions)
   2. Description: Optional context for your team
   3. Type:
      1. Numerator (metric divided by cost), or
      2. Denominator (cost divided by metric), depending on how you want to measure your Cost Units
   4. Granularity: Daily or monthly
3. Click **Continue to Add Data**
4. Select a date range to apply metric values across multiple days or months in a single step
5. Enter your metric values for each date.
   1. For example, number of impressions, clicks, users, or incidents
6. Click **Create**

#### Send Metrics through the API <a href="#send-metrics-through-the-public-api" id="send-metrics-through-the-public-api"></a>

Use the Cost Units API to send metrics from a data pipeline or another system on a schedule. The API adds data to a Cost Unit that already exists, so create the Cost Unit in North first. **Manual entry** is the simplest way to create one.

Each Cost Unit card has its Cost Unit ID. Use that ID as `cost_unit_id` in your API requests. For API keys, endpoints, and examples, see [API Integration](/docs/features/coststreams/cost-units/api-integration.md).

### View and Analyze Cost Units <a href="#view-and-analyze-cost-units" id="view-and-analyze-cost-units"></a>

Once you add data, your Cost Units will appear in the Cost Units panel on the right side of the screen.

You can:

* View efficiency as charts or in a list view
* Track average cost over time
* Identify trends and spot spikes or anomalies
* Switch between metric per cost and cost per metric views

Because cloud costs and business metrics update continuously, you can follow how efficiency changes over time.

### Export Cost Units Data <a href="#export-cost-units-data" id="export-cost-units-data"></a>

To export Cost Units data:

1. Click **Export** in the top right corner of the Cost Units card
2. Download the dataset, including your business metric and associated cloud costs

Exports can be used for reporting, sharing, or deeper offline analysis.

### Drill Deeper with Noros <a href="#drill-deeper-with-noros" id="drill-deeper-with-noros"></a>

In the bottom right corner of the screen, open [**Noros**](https://docs.noros.ai) to analyze your Cost Units using natural language.

You can ask Noros to:

* Explain changes in cost per metric
* Surface trends over time
* Investigate spikes or efficiency drops
* Provide context for shifts in performance

Noros explains your Cost Units in plain language, so you do not need to export data or rebuild views.


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