AZ-104 Manage Azure Identities and Governance Practice Question
You need to ensure that a finance analyst can view all resources in the Finance-Sub subscription and also view spending details, but cannot create, modify, or delete any resources. Which built-in Azure RBAC role should you assign?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse the Reader role with the Contributor role, assuming Contributor is needed for viewing spending details, but Contributor grants write permissions that violate the 'no create/modify/delete' constraint, while Reader alone provides the required read-only access including cost data.
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
✓
Reader
The Reader role is the correct choice because it provides read-only access to all resources in a subscription, including the ability to view resource properties and deployment history, but it does not allow any create, modify, or delete operations. Additionally, the Reader role includes the 'Microsoft.CostManagement/views/read' permission, which enables viewing spending details (cost data) in the Azure portal. This aligns exactly with the requirement to view resources and spending without making changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Owner
Why it's wrong here
The Owner role provides full management permissions, including all of Contributor's abilities plus the capacity to assign roles in Azure RBAC and manage role assignments, effectively granting complete control over resources and access. This would allow the finance analyst to modify or delete resources and change permissions, which is a security risk. It is overly permissive for a view-only requirement, violating the principle of least privilege.
When this WOULD be correct
Assign the Owner role when you need a user or group to have full control over all resources and the ability to manage access (RBAC) for the subscription, such as for a subscription administrator who must delegate roles to others.
- ✗
Contributor
Why it's wrong here
Contributor has the ability to create, modify, and delete resources, but unlike Owner, it cannot grant access to others because it cannot manage role assignments. While it provides full management access to resources, it still allows the analyst to make destructive changes like deleting a virtual machine or altering configurations. This is not suitable for a view-only role as it exceeds the required read-only access.
When this WOULD be correct
Assign the Contributor role when a user needs full management access to resources but cannot manage access or assign roles, such as a developer deploying and managing resources in a subscription.
- ✓
Reader
Why this is correct
The Reader role is a built-in Azure RBAC role that grants read-only access to all resources and resource groups, allowing the analyst to view everything they are assigned to without the ability to make any changes. It includes permissions like listing secrets but cannot read secret values for certain services like Key Vault (in older models). This role is ideal for auditing and visibility purposes, ensuring the finance analyst can monitor resources but not alter configurations.
- ✗
Virtual Machine Contributor
Why it's wrong here
The Virtual Machine Contributor role is scoped specifically to virtual machines and their supporting resources, allowing the creation, management, and deletion of virtual machines but not other resource types like storage or networking. It is a write and management role, not a general read-only view-all role, and it would fail to cover all resources the analyst needs to see. Even if it were read-only, it is narrowly scoped and would not satisfy the requirement to view all resources.
When this WOULD be correct
Assign this role when a user needs full management access to virtual machines (e.g., start, stop, resize, configure) but should not have access to other resource types like storage or networking, and should not be able to manage access or billing.
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 AZ-104 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓ReaderCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
The Reader role is a built-in Azure RBAC role that grants read-only access to all resources and resource groups, allowing the analyst to view everything they are assigned to without the ability to make any changes. It includes permissions like listing secrets but cannot read secret values for certain services like Key Vault (in older models). This role is ideal for auditing and visibility purposes, ensuring the finance analyst can monitor resources but not alter configurations.
✗OwnerWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The Owner role grants full access to all resources, including the ability to create, modify, and delete resources, which violates the requirement that the analyst cannot create, modify, or delete any resources.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
Assign the Owner role when you need a user or group to have full control over all resources and the ability to manage access (RBAC) for the subscription, such as for a subscription administrator who must delegate roles to others.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Owner is needed to view spending details, but Reader with 'Billing Reader' or 'Cost Management Reader' can view costs without full management rights.
✗ContributorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The Contributor role allows creating, modifying, and deleting resources, which violates the requirement that the analyst cannot perform these actions.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
Assign the Contributor role when a user needs full management access to resources but cannot manage access or assign roles, such as a developer deploying and managing resources in a subscription.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Contributor with Reader, thinking it provides view-only access, but Contributor includes write/delete permissions beyond viewing.
✗Virtual Machine ContributorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Virtual Machine Contributor allows managing virtual machines but does not grant read access to all resources in the subscription, nor does it allow viewing spending details. It also permits creating, modifying, and deleting VMs, which violates the requirement to prevent resource changes.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
Assign this role when a user needs full management access to virtual machines (e.g., start, stop, resize, configure) but should not have access to other resource types like storage or networking, and should not be able to manage access or billing.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may mistakenly think that a contributor role for a specific resource type (VMs) is sufficient to view all resources, or they may focus on the 'view spending' requirement and incorrectly associate it with VM-related roles.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-104blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Managed Identities for Azure Resources
Key term
Subscription
A subscription is a payment model where you pay a recurring fee to access a product or service instead of buying it once and owning it forever.
Key term
RBAC
RBAC is a method of restricting network access based on the roles of individual users within an organization, where permissions are assigned to roles rather than to individuals directly.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-104 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 AZ-104 exam.