AI Spend Showback and Chargeback Model
Show every cost centre what its AI costs, hold seats and a consumption allowance centrally, and recharge only the metered spend above it. A working Google Sheet you can copy and adapt.
What's inside this template
Who it's for
CIOs, CFOs, finance business partners and heads of AI or operations who own a Claude Enterprise seat count and need to allocate AI spend across cost centres
When to use
Once seats are live and consumption is growing, and before the next budget round or seat purchase. Start with showback; move to chargeback after a quarter of numbers budget holders trust.
Key benefit
One model that answers 'what did each team spend, and what did they get for it' every month, and recharges only the spend a team controls
Sections included
- Central settings: seat prices, consumption allowance and overhead uplift
- Inputs per cost centre: headcount, seats by tier, active users and consumption
- Showback: total AI cost, cost per head and cost per active user
- Chargeback: consumption above the allowance, by cost centre
- A balance check that ties recharges back to total spend
- Usage segments: power, middle and idle users, with a chart
- When to move from showback to chargeback
- A note on recharges between UK group entities
Complete template content
NOTE: The model is a Google Sheet. Use the button above to make your own copy, then replace the example figures, including the seat prices, with your own.
AI spend showback and chargeback model
Every organisation running Claude Enterprise can say how many seats it has bought. Fewer can say what each team spends on AI each month, or which teams deserve more. This model gives finance and the programme lead one sheet that answers both, and recharges only the spend a team controls.
It follows one rule:
- Always show back. Every cost centre sees its full AI cost every month: seats plus consumption.
- Charge back consumption only. Seats are a fixed cost, held centrally.
- Each seat comes with a consumption allowance, also held centrally.
- Only consumption above that allowance is recharged to the cost centre.
What’s in the sheet
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| Start here | The rule, how to use the model, and where each number comes from |
| Settings | Seat price per tier, the consumption allowance per seat, and an optional overhead uplift on recharges |
| Inputs | One row per cost centre: headcount, standard and premium seats, active users in the last 30 days, and consumption this month |
| Showback | Seat cost, consumption, total AI cost, cost per head, cost per active user, seats in active use, and each cost centre’s share of the total |
| Chargeback | The allowance per cost centre, consumption within and above it, the uplift, the recharge, and what stays central. A check confirms recharges and central costs add back to total spend |
| Usage segments | How many seat holders are power, middle and idle users, charted against a Kowalah reference split |
Yellow cells are inputs. Every other cell is a formula, so the sheet recalculates as soon as you enter your own figures.
A worked example
The sheet ships with six example cost centres and 600 seats. With a £20 allowance per seat:
| Cost centre | Total AI cost (showback) | Consumption | Allowance | Recharge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | £5,750 | £1,400 | £1,900 | £0 |
| HR | £2,100 | £300 | £900 | £0 |
| Legal | £3,050 | £900 | £800 | £100 |
| Sales | £12,300 | £4,800 | £3,200 | £1,600 |
| Operations | £5,700 | £900 | £2,400 | £0 |
| Technology | £24,000 | £9,600 | £2,800 | £6,800 |
| Total | £52,900 | £17,900 | £12,000 | £8,500 |
Every cost centre sees its full cost. Three of the six receive a recharge, and those recharges come to 16% of total AI spend. The rest, seats and ordinary usage, stays in the central budget, where the programme decides how to use it. The figures, including the seat prices, are illustrative.
Where the numbers come from
- Seats by tier: your Claude Enterprise admin console or your order form.
- Active users and consumption: Claude Enterprise usage analytics, the Claude Console for API and Claude Code spend, or your invoices.
- Cost centres: an HR or directory export that maps each user’s email address to a cost centre.
Reading the showback
Look at cost per active user before cost per head. Cost per head divides spend across everyone in the team, including people without a seat. Cost per active user shows what each person using AI costs.
A high cost per active user next to a low share of seats in active use means seats are going unused. In the example, Operations has 120 seats and 45% of them in use. That is a case for moving seats or running enablement in that team, not for cutting the AI budget.
Usage segments
The usage tab splits seat holders into three groups:
| Segment | Definition (adjust to suit) |
|---|---|
| Power | Active on 15 or more of the last 20 working days |
| Middle | Active in the last 30 days, but not a power user |
| Idle | Holds a seat, with no activity in the last 30 days |
The chart compares your split with a 20 / 60 / 20 reference. That reference is a Kowalah estimate from our client work, not measured data. Replace it with your own trend once you have a quarter of numbers.
The middle group is where to look before you buy more seats. These people use Claude, but not yet for their repeated work. A shared skill or a better starting point for a common task moves more of them into regular use than new licences do.
When to move from showback to chargeback
Run showback for at least one quarter first. Charge back only when:
- budget holders accept the showback figures as accurate,
- each user maps to one cost centre, and
- the spend is metered, so the team can manage it.
Recharging from month one turns every figure into a dispute about the data rather than a decision about the spend.
A note for UK groups
Recharges between cost centres inside one legal entity are internal accounting. Recharges between legal entities in a group raise VAT and transfer-pricing questions. Involve finance before you recharge across entities.
Implementation notes
- Set the allowance from data, not a guess. Run one or two months with the allowance at zero, look at what your middle users consume, and set it at that level.
- Decide the uplift up front. If the central team’s cost is recovered through recharges, set the uplift percentage before the first recharge, not after.
- Keep one month per copy. Duplicate the sheet each month, or add a month column to the Inputs tab, so the trend is there when the steering group asks for it. Our AI steering group update template has a place for it.
- Tie spend to results. Showback tells you what AI costs. To show what it returns, pair it with the measures in your AI business case.
Get started
How to Use This Model
Make your own copy
Open the Google Sheet and it creates a copy in your Drive. Use File, then Download, if you work in Excel.
Enter your settings
Seat prices from your order form, the consumption allowance per seat and any overhead uplift. The example prices are illustrative.
Add your cost centres
One row per cost centre: headcount, seats by tier, active users and consumption, from Claude usage analytics, the Console or your invoices
Run showback for a quarter
Share the Showback tab with budget holders each month. Switch on recharges only once they trust the numbers.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about allocating AI spend
What is the difference between showback and chargeback?
Why hold seats centrally instead of charging them back?
What is a consumption allowance, and how do we set it?
What counts as consumption?
When should we move from showback to chargeback?
Why does the model show cost per active user?
Where does the 20 / 60 / 20 usage split come from?
Are there tax issues with recharging AI costs in the UK?
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Ready when you are
Want help putting numbers on the programme?
Kowalah sets up the reporting that ties Claude spend and usage to business results, so you can answer the CFO's question with a number. It starts with a Vision Map Workshop: a roadmap and proposal in five working days.