Cost allocation is the process of holding departments (or any other business dimension) accountable for the SaaS they consume and associated expenses. Torii breaks each application's cost down across the dimension you choose, giving you visibility into how much every department, cost center, or division spends on software.

In this article

• Cost allocation strategies
• How Torii picks a strategy for each app
• Where to view cost allocation
• Configuring cost allocation in bulk
• Configuring or fine-tuning a single app
• How costs stay up to date

Cost allocation strategies

Different apps call for different allocation strategies, depending on the data available for each one. Torii supports the following:

• Bottom-up — cost per license. The most accurate strategy. Use it for integrated apps where you pay per seat and each license type has a cost. Torii allocates cost based on the licenses each user is actually assigned.
• Bottom-up — cost per user. Use it for apps where you want a single, flat per-user cost regardless of license type — typically non-integrated apps, or any app that has no license, expense, or contract data. You enter the per-user cost manually.
• Top-down — expenses. Use it for apps that aren't charged by seat. Torii spreads the app's expenses across its users and derives a cost per user automatically.
• Top-down — contracts. Same as top-down expenses, but based on the app's active contract value instead of expenses. Used when expenses aren't available but a contract value is.

Top-down strategies distribute cost evenly across every current user of the app — each user is allocated the same amount. This is less precise than per-license allocation, but it's a solid starting point when you don't have license costs, and it ensures the app still contributes a cost per user.

How "users" is counted: for integrated apps, Torii uses the current users with access; for non-integrated apps, it uses discovered users. In both cases this matches the default user list shown on the application page.

How Torii picks a strategy for each app

When you configure cost allocation in bulk, Torii automatically suggests a strategy for each app by walking down a decision tree and choosing the first option for which the app has data:

1. License costs available? → Bottom-up, cost per license (integrated app where all license types have costs populated).
2. Expenses available? → Top-down, expenses.
3. Active contract value available? → Top-down, contracts.
4. None of the above? → Bottom-up, cost per user — Torii asks you to enter a per-user cost manually.

You can override Torii's suggestion during the preview step, but you can only choose a strategy whose data actually exists — strategies with no supporting data are disabled with an explanatory tooltip.

Where to view cost allocation

Consolidated report for all apps

Go to Expenses → Cost Allocation to see a single summary of how cost is allocated across every configured app, broken down by your chosen dimension (for example, a total per department).

The summary shows, for each app, which strategy was used, the data source it's based on, who configured it (Torii or a specific admin), and whether it was set automatically or manually.

Per-application report

Open an Application Page → Cost Allocation tab to see the detailed breakdown for that single app.

Configuring cost allocation in bulk

The fastest way to set up cost allocation is the bulk wizard, which configures your whole portfolio at once. When no cost allocation exists yet, the Expenses → Cost Allocation tab invites you to get started.

In short, you'll: (1) choose which apps to include with a filter, (2) pick one breakdown dimension for all of them, (3) review Torii's suggested strategy for each app and adjust if needed, then (4) apply.

For the full step-by-step walkthrough — including the preview and override options, re-running the wizard, and removing apps — see Configuring Cost Allocation in Bulk.

Configuring or fine-tuning a single app

You can configure or adjust one app at a time — useful for exceptions or apps that fall outside your bulk filter.

1. Go to the Application Page → Cost Allocation tab.
2. Click Configure (or Reconfigure to change an existing setup).
3. Choose your allocation strategy and fill in any required details.

Any app you configure manually is treated as deliberate: Torii keeps it as-is and will not overwrite or remove it during the daily update.

Note: Changing the annual cost per license here also updates the values on the Licenses page, and vice versa.

How costs stay up to date

Once you've set your rules, cost allocation largely maintains itself.

• Daily recalculation. Every day, after Torii finishes syncing your integrations, it recalculates all allocations using the latest data — expenses, license costs, active contract value, and user counts. Numbers stay current without any manual effort.
• New apps are added automatically. Any app that newly matches your bulk filter is added to the report on its own, using the strategy Torii's decision tree selects. If an app would require a manual cost entry (bottom-up, cost per user), Torii skips it rather than guessing.
• Your choices are respected. Torii never removes an app that stops matching the filter, never changes a strategy you've selected (even if a more accurate one later becomes possible), and never removes anything you configured manually.
• Excluded apps stay excluded. If you remove an app's cost allocation or deselect it in the bulk preview, Torii permanently excludes it from automatic additions. (It will reappear — toggled on — if you run bulk configuration again, so you can reconsider.)
• Update on demand. Use the Update now link above the cost allocation table to recalculate immediately. The table also shows a last updated timestamp.

Tip: Because Torii keeps everything current daily, you generally don't need to touch the report once your rules are set. Revisit it mainly when your org structure changes significantly or you want to adjust which apps or dimension are included.