- A
AWS Cost Explorer to create a budget alert and AWS Budgets to view consolidated costs.
Why wrong: This option reverses the roles. AWS Cost Explorer is used for cost analysis and visualization, not for creating budget alerts. AWS Budgets is used to create budgets and configure alerts, not for viewing consolidated costs (though it can display cost data, Cost Explorer is the dedicated tool for consolidated views).
- B
AWS Budgets to create a budget and configure alerts, and AWS Cost Explorer to view consolidated cost data.
Correct. AWS Budgets allows you to set a monthly budget and configure alerts at specified threshold percentages (e.g., 90% and 100%). AWS Cost Explorer provides a consolidated view of costs across multiple accounts in an organization, enabling the finance team to track spending against the budget.
- C
AWS Trusted Advisor to set a cost optimization budget and AWS Cost Explorer to send alerts.
Why wrong: AWS Trusted Advisor provides cost optimization recommendations and checks, but it does not support setting budgets or sending budget alerts. AWS Cost Explorer does not send alerts; it is an analytics tool.
- D
AWS Cost and Usage Report to generate a daily report and Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES) to send email alerts.
Why wrong: The AWS Cost and Usage Report provides detailed cost data but does not natively handle budget alerts. While Amazon SES could be used to send custom notifications, this approach requires building a custom solution rather than using the native AWS Budgets service, which is designed for this exact use case.
CLF-C02 Billing, Pricing, and Support Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of billing, pricing, and support. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company manages multiple AWS accounts through AWS Organizations. The finance team wants to receive a consolidated view of costs across all accounts and track costs against a monthly budget of $50,000 for the entire organization. They want to be alerted when actual costs reach 90% of the budget and again when they exceed 100%. Which combination of AWS services should the finance team use?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Budgets to create a budget and configure alerts, and AWS Cost Explorer to view consolidated cost data.
AWS Budgets is the correct service for setting a monthly budget of $50,000 and configuring alerts at 90% and 100% thresholds. AWS Cost Explorer provides the consolidated view of costs across all accounts in AWS Organizations. Together, they meet both requirements: Budgets handles the alerting, and Cost Explorer provides the consolidated cost visualization.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Cost Explorer to create a budget alert and AWS Budgets to view consolidated costs.
Why it's wrong here
This option reverses the roles. AWS Cost Explorer is used for cost analysis and visualization, not for creating budget alerts. AWS Budgets is used to create budgets and configure alerts, not for viewing consolidated costs (though it can display cost data, Cost Explorer is the dedicated tool for consolidated views).
- ✓
AWS Budgets to create a budget and configure alerts, and AWS Cost Explorer to view consolidated cost data.
Why this is correct
Correct. AWS Budgets allows you to set a monthly budget and configure alerts at specified threshold percentages (e.g., 90% and 100%). AWS Cost Explorer provides a consolidated view of costs across multiple accounts in an organization, enabling the finance team to track spending against the budget.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Trusted Advisor to set a cost optimization budget and AWS Cost Explorer to send alerts.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor provides cost optimization recommendations and checks, but it does not support setting budgets or sending budget alerts. AWS Cost Explorer does not send alerts; it is an analytics tool.
- ✗
AWS Cost and Usage Report to generate a daily report and Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES) to send email alerts.
Why it's wrong here
The AWS Cost and Usage Report provides detailed cost data but does not natively handle budget alerts. While Amazon SES could be used to send custom notifications, this approach requires building a custom solution rather than using the native AWS Budgets service, which is designed for this exact use case.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is confusing the roles of AWS Cost Explorer (analysis/visualization) and AWS Budgets (budget creation/alerting), leading candidates to reverse their responsibilities or choose Trusted Advisor, which is for optimization recommendations, not budget management.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Budgets allows you to set cost, usage, and reservation budgets with up to 5 alert thresholds per budget, each with configurable actions (e.g., SNS topic, email). Cost Explorer uses the same underlying data as AWS Cost and Usage Report but provides pre-built visualizations and filtering by linked accounts, tags, or services. In a multi-account AWS Organizations setup, the management account can view consolidated costs across all member accounts in Cost Explorer, while Budgets can be set at the organization level to track total spend.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Billing, Pricing, and Support — This question tests Billing, Pricing, and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Budgets to create a budget and configure alerts, and AWS Cost Explorer to view consolidated cost data. — AWS Budgets is the correct service for setting a monthly budget of $50,000 and configuring alerts at 90% and 100% thresholds. AWS Cost Explorer provides the consolidated view of costs across all accounts in AWS Organizations. Together, they meet both requirements: Budgets handles the alerting, and Cost Explorer provides the consolidated cost visualization.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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