Quick Answer
The answer is the Reader role. This built-in Azure RBAC role is correct because it grants read-only access to all resources within a subscription, including the ability to view resource properties and deployment history, while explicitly blocking any create, modify, or delete operations. Crucially, the Reader role includes the Microsoft.CostManagement/views/read permission, which allows a user to view spending details and cost data in the Azure portal, directly fulfilling the requirement for a finance analyst to see both resources and costs without making changes. On the AZ-104 exam, this question tests your understanding of the subtle difference between the Reader role and the Cost Management Reader role—a common trap is assuming you need a separate cost-specific role, but the standard Reader role already includes the necessary permission to view spending details. A helpful memory tip: think of the Reader as the “view everything, touch nothing” role, and remember that “read” inherently covers reading cost views.
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of manage azure identities and governance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
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?
Owner
Why wrong: Owner grants full management permissions and the ability to assign roles.
Contributor
Why wrong: Contributor allows creation, modification, and deletion of resources.
Reader
Reader provides view-only access and prevents changes.
Virtual Machine Contributor
Why wrong: Virtual Machine Contributor is scoped to VM management and is not the appropriate general read-only role.
Answer choices
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.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Owner
Why it's wrong here
Owner grants full management permissions and the ability to assign roles.
Contributor
Why it's wrong here
Contributor allows creation, modification, and deletion of resources.
Reader
Why this is correct
Reader provides view-only access and prevents changes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Virtual Machine Contributor
Why it's wrong here
Virtual Machine Contributor is scoped to VM management and is not the appropriate general read-only role.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that 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.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, Azure RBAC roles are defined as collections of 'Actions' (permissions) in JSON role definitions. The Reader role includes '*/read' actions, which grant read access to all resource types, and specifically includes 'Microsoft.CostManagement/views/read' for cost data. A subtle behavior is that the Reader role does not allow viewing cost data at the subscription level unless the user also has the 'Billing Reader' role or the subscription's cost management settings are configured to allow readers to view costs—this is a common real-world scenario where additional permissions may be needed for full spending visibility.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Manage Azure Identities and Governance — This question tests Manage Azure Identities and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: 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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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