> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.finopscenter.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.finopscenter.com/ai-cost-governance/weekly-spend-cards-and-approvals.md).

# Weekly Spend Cards & Approvals

Spend Cards are generated weekly for every AI workload that has a claimed IAM role and a token estimate. They put actual AI spend in front of the people accountable for it and require a two-tier sign-off before the period closes.

### Who Sees What

| Role                   | What they see                                                    | What they do                |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| Product Owner (E4)     | Spend Card per workload under their Product                      | Accept or Dispute each card |
| Portfolio Manager (E3) | Rolled-up Portfolio Spend Card after all E4s have acted          | Approve or escalate         |
| FinOps Lead            | All disputed cards, flagged lines, and unactioned cards past due | Review disputes and resolve |

### The Spend Card

Each Spend Card shows:

* **Workload name** and the model(s) it used during the period
* **Actuals vs estimate** — total spend for the period against the estimate set in Spaces
* **Breakdown by model, region, and token type** (input, output, cache-read)
* **Variance** — overspend or underspend against estimate, highlighted if above the configured threshold
* **Period** — start and end dates for the card

### Product Owner Actions (E4)

Cards appear in your Spaces dashboard at the start of each week covering the prior period.

**To accept a card:**

1. Open the Spend Card for the workload.
2. Review the actuals vs estimate and the token-type breakdown.
3. If the spend matches your expectations, click **Accept**.

The card moves to the Portfolio Manager's queue for approval.

**To dispute a card:**

1. Open the Spend Card.
2. Click **Dispute**.
3. Select the lines you are disputing and enter a reason for each.
4. Click **Submit Dispute**.

The dispute is routed to the FinOps Lead with the flagged lines highlighted. Chargeback continues during an open dispute unless your allocation mode is BI-only — disputes are tracked in parallel with allocation, not in place of it.

> **Unactioned cards:** If a card is not accepted or disputed within the configured window, it escalates to the FinOps Lead automatically. Cards do not auto-accept.

### Portfolio Manager Actions (E3)

After all Product Owners under your Portfolio have accepted their cards, your Portfolio Spend Card becomes available for approval.

**To approve a Portfolio card:**

1. Open the Portfolio Spend Card in your dashboard.
2. Review the rolled-up spend across all Products in your Portfolio.
3. Click **Approve**.

If one or more E4 cards are still open (not yet accepted or disputed), the Portfolio card is not available for approval until they are resolved.

**If a dispute is in progress:** The Portfolio card shows the disputed workload with a dispute flag. You can approve the Portfolio card while the dispute is in flight — the dispute is a separate thread and does not block Portfolio approval.

### Disputed Cards — FinOps Lead Flow

When a Product Owner disputes a card, the FinOps Lead receives a notification and the dispute appears in the **AI Governance → Disputes** view.

1. Open the dispute to see the flagged lines and the Product Owner's reason.
2. Review the CUR detail for the flagged lines.
3. Take one of the following actions:
   * **Resolve** — Mark the dispute resolved with a note. The card is updated and the Product Owner is notified.
   * **Adjust Estimate** — If the dispute reflects a mismatch between the estimate and real consumption patterns, work with the Product Owner to update the estimate in Spaces for the next period.
   * **Escalate** — Route to a named person outside FinOps Center if the dispute requires an organizational decision.

### Variance Thresholds

Spend Cards highlight variance when actuals exceed the estimate by more than the configured threshold. The default threshold is 20%. Cards with variance above threshold are flagged with a visual indicator and moved to the top of the E3 approval queue.

To change the variance threshold, go to **AI Governance → Settings → Spend Card Thresholds**.


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