---
title: "\"Start here: FinOps and IT\""
canonical: "https://cloudmonitor.ai/docs/using-cloudmonitor/start-here-practitioner/"
description: "If you run cloud cost day to day, this is the order to learn CloudMonitor in and the screens you will live in."
---

You own cloud cost as a job, not as a monthly surprise. You want to know what changed, why, whose it
is, and what to do about it — ideally before someone else asks.

Set your view to **Practitioner** (your avatar ▸ Profile & preferences ▸ View). It's the default, and
the one that shows every screen. Your Overview leads with **Optimisable spend**, idle and orphaned
resources, potential savings, and **Open anomalies**.

## Learn it in this order

**1. The shape of the app.** [Finding your way around](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/finding-your-way-around/)
— fifteen minutes that saves you hunting later.

**2. The filters.** [Filtering every report at once](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/global-filters/). These
are global, which trips people up once and never again.

**3. Pick your cost basis.**
[Effective cost vs billed cost](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/effective-vs-billed-cost/). If you're doing
showback or chargeback, effective cost is the one you want, and it's already the default.

**4. Get fluent with one table.**
[Working with tables](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/tables-and-charts/), then spend twenty minutes on
**The Ledger** grouping by different things until the bill stops being a mystery.

## Your working week

Once you're oriented, most days look like this:

- [Anomalies](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/reports/anomalies/) first — anything that spiked, with a
  likely cause and an owner. Triage it: comment and reassign, postpone, or dismiss with a reason.
- [Savings & Waste](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/reports/savings-and-waste/) when you have time to spend
  well — every rightsizing and waste opportunity ranked by what it saves.
- [The Ledger](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/reports/the-ledger/) whenever anyone asks "why is this bill
  bigger?"
- [Commitments](/docs/using-cloudmonitor/reports/commitments/) monthly, to check coverage and catch
  anything expiring.

One thing to know early: **you never mark an anomaly complete.** CloudMonitor closes it itself once
the spend returns to normal. Dismiss the ones that are expected; postpone the ones you'll deal with
later.

## Setting it up properly

If CloudMonitor is new to your organization and you're the one configuring it, the setup checklist
in **Help & support** walks the five things that matter, in order: take the tour, create your first
cost group, allocate your costs, set a budget, add your team.

Cost groups are the foundation — almost everything else reports against them, so time spent getting
that hierarchy right pays back everywhere. The [how-to articles](/docs/how-to/) cover each task.

## Where to look things up

- [Every screen and what it's for](/docs/reference/screen-index/) — the full map.
- [Roles and access](/docs/reference/roles-and-permissions/) — who can do what, and why a colleague
  can't see a screen you can.
- [Glossary of terms](/docs/reference/glossary/) — when a word means something specific here.