CLF-C02 Billing, Pricing, and Support Practice Question
A company has a monthly budget of $10,000 for its development AWS account. The project manager wants to receive an automated email alert when the actual costs for the current month reach 80% of the budget. The project manager does not want to build any custom code or manage any infrastructure for this alert. Which approach should the project manager take to meet these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates may overcomplicate the solution by choosing a custom-coded approach (Lambda) or a reporting tool (Cost Explorer) when AWS Budgets provides a simple, managed, and code-free alerting mechanism directly in the Billing and Cost Management console.
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
✓
Create a budget in AWS Budgets for the account, set the budget amount to $10,000, configure an alert for actual cost at 80% of the budget amount, and specify an email address to receive the notification.
AWS Budgets allows you to set a monthly budget of $10,000 and configure an alert to trigger when actual costs reach 80% ($8,000). The alert can send an email notification directly without requiring any custom code or infrastructure management, meeting the project manager's requirements exactly.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create a budget in AWS Budgets for the account, set the budget amount to $10,000, configure an alert for actual cost at 80% of the budget amount, and specify an email address to receive the notification.
Why this is correct
Correct. AWS Budgets allows you to set a cost budget and define alerts for actual or forecasted costs. When the actual costs reach the 80% threshold, Budgets sends a notification to the specified email address. This is a fully managed feature with no custom code or infrastructure required.
- ✗
Create a cost allocation tag in the Billing and Cost Management console, then configure an Amazon SNS topic to send an email when the tag's cost reaches $8,000.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Cost allocation tags are used to categorize costs (e.g., by project or department) for reporting in Cost Explorer and the Cost and Usage Report. They do not have any built-in alerting or budget enforcement capabilities. Tags cannot trigger notifications.
When this WOULD be correct
This approach would be correct if the requirement was to receive a notification when costs associated with a specific tag (e.g., a project or department) reach a certain threshold, and the company is willing to build a custom solution using Lambda or similar to query the API and publish to SNS.
- ✗
Create a usage report in AWS Cost Explorer, set a forecast alert at 80% of the monthly budget, and configure the report to be sent via email.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. AWS Cost Explorer is a tool for visualizing, analyzing, and exploring your AWS costs and usage over time. It can generate reports, but it does not provide alerting or notification features based on cost thresholds. Forecasts are displayed visually, not sent as alerts.
When this WOULD be correct
If the requirement were to generate a recurring cost analysis report (e.g., weekly usage report) without alerts, and the user wanted to receive it via email, Cost Explorer reports with scheduled delivery would be correct.
- ✗
Create an AWS Lambda function that queries the AWS Cost Explorer API daily, compares actual cost to the budget, and sends an email if costs exceed $8,000.
Why it's wrong here
Creating a custom Lambda function violates the requirement to avoid managing any infrastructure, as the project manager would need to deploy, monitor, and maintain the function and its IAM permissions. This option is tempting because Lambda is a common serverless tool for scheduled tasks, and it would be a correct choice if the requirement allowed custom code and infrastructure management, such as when integrating with non-AWS systems or performing complex cost logic beyond AWS Budgets’ native capabilities.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the requirements included custom logic (e.g., complex cost calculations, multi-account aggregation) or integration with other systems, and the candidate was willing to manage serverless infrastructure.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The CLF-C02 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Create a budget in AWS Budgets for the account, set the budget amount to $10,000, configure an alert for actual cost at 80% of the budget amount, and specify an email address to receive the notification.Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
Correct. AWS Budgets allows you to set a cost budget and define alerts for actual or forecasted costs. When the actual costs reach the 80% threshold, Budgets sends a notification to the specified email address. This is a fully managed feature with no custom code or infrastructure required.
✗Create a cost allocation tag in the Billing and Cost Management console, then configure an Amazon SNS topic to send an email when the tag's cost reaches $8,000.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Cost allocation tags are used for tracking and categorizing costs, not for setting budgets or alerts. Amazon SNS alone cannot monitor costs or trigger alerts based on tag cost thresholds without custom code.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This approach would be correct if the requirement was to receive a notification when costs associated with a specific tag (e.g., a project or department) reach a certain threshold, and the company is willing to build a custom solution using Lambda or similar to query the API and publish to SNS.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think cost allocation tags can directly trigger alerts, or that SNS can monitor costs, because both are related to billing and notifications, but they lack the built-in budget alerting capability of AWS Budgets.
✗Create a usage report in AWS Cost Explorer, set a forecast alert at 80% of the monthly budget, and configure the report to be sent via email.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Cost Explorer does not support setting alerts or automated email notifications; it is a visualization and analysis tool only.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the requirement were to generate a recurring cost analysis report (e.g., weekly usage report) without alerts, and the user wanted to receive it via email, Cost Explorer reports with scheduled delivery would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Cost Explorer's reporting capabilities with alerting features, assuming it can trigger notifications like AWS Budgets.
✗Create an AWS Lambda function that queries the AWS Cost Explorer API daily, compares actual cost to the budget, and sends an email if costs exceed $8,000.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The project manager does not want to build any custom code or manage any infrastructure, but this option requires creating and managing an AWS Lambda function, which violates that constraint.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the requirements included custom logic (e.g., complex cost calculations, multi-account aggregation) or integration with other systems, and the candidate was willing to manage serverless infrastructure.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think AWS Budgets is insufficient for custom thresholds or alerts, and assume a Lambda-based solution offers more flexibility, overlooking the 'no custom code' requirement.
Analysis generated from the official CLF-C02blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.