A company runs twelve AWS accounts under one management account and wants all usage charges rolled into a single invoice, so that heavy usage in one account lowers the effective per-unit rate for the others. Which feature delivers this?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
Consolidated billing in AWS Organizations combines usage from all member accounts into one bill paid by the management account. Because usage is pooled, volume-based tiered pricing can apply across accounts, and reserved instance and savings plan discounts can be shared. Service control policies restrict permissions and do not affect how charges are grouped or priced. Cost Explorer only visualizes and analyzes spend. Control Tower sets up and governs a multi-account landing zone but is not the billing mechanism.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Service control policies define the maximum permissions available to accounts in an organization. They govern which actions are allowed, not how charges are grouped or priced.
- B. Cost Explorer is an analysis and visualization tool for past and forecast spend. Tags help filter reports, but tagging does not consolidate invoices or pool volume tiers.
- C. Control Tower automates creation of a governed multi-account landing zone with guardrails. It does not by itself produce a single combined bill that pools usage for pricing.