Parsivex shows two kinds of savings numbers. Potential savings (on each scan report) is what you could save if you fixed every open finding today. Realized savings is what you did save — verified when a finding disappears because you fixed or removed the waste.
Potential vs realized
| Potential savings | Realized savings | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Latest scan report | Findings that resolved across scans |
| Meaning | Estimated monthly waste still present | Estimated monthly waste you eliminated |
| Updates when | Each new scan recalculates estimates | A finding is marked resolved after a successful re-scan |
| Includes dismissed findings? | No — dismissed and resolved are excluded from the headline total | No — dismissed findings are never credited |
| Guarantee | Heuristic estimate, not a bill | Credited once per finding at resolution time |
Potential savings help you prioritize. Realized savings help you prove impact over time.
How credits work
Parsivex credits realized savings through a simple rule:
- You have an open or snoozed finding on a successful scan
- You fix the underlying waste (delete the volume, stop the instance, right-size RDS, etc.)
- Your next scan completes successfully
- The finding no longer appears — same resource and finding type are gone
- Parsivex marks the finding resolved and credits its estimated monthly savings exactly once
Each finding can only be credited once — Parsivex will not double-count the same fix.
If you dismissed a finding as "not an issue" and it later disappears from AWS, Parsivex does not add it to realized savings. You told us it was intentional waste, not a fix. See Finding lifecycle.
Resolution runs only when the verifying scan completes successfully. A failed scan cannot confirm that waste is gone, so no findings are resolved and no savings are credited for that scan cycle.
Dashboard "Realized savings" card
The dashboard shows a compact Realized savings summary with a link to the full Savings & ROI page at /savings. On paid plans, that page summarizes verified fixes:
| What you see | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "$X saved since joining Parsivex" | Sum of monthly savings from all resolved findings in your workspace |
| "N findings fixed" | Count of findings that have been resolved and credited |
| Latest date | When your most recent finding was resolved |
| Recent list | Up to three recent resolutions with finding type, monthly amount, and date |
When you have no resolved findings yet, the card shows:
Fix a finding and your realized savings will appear here. We verify fixes automatically on your next scan.
Empty state on free plans
Realized savings tracking requires recurring scans so Parsivex can automatically verify fixes between scans. On the free plan (one scan per month, no recurring schedule), the card shows an upgrade prompt for Monthly Monitoring instead of realized savings data.
Requires recurring scans
Automatic verification is the key difference:
- One-off scans show potential savings for that moment in time, but Parsivex cannot detect that a finding disappeared unless you run another scan
- Recurring scans (paid plans) run on a schedule, compare each successful scan to the previous one, and credit realized savings without manual effort
Recurring scans are included on Monthly Monitoring and Team plans. See Plan comparison for the full feature matrix.
- Fix a high-savings finding from your report
- Wait for the next scheduled scan (or trigger a manual scan if your plan allows)
- Confirm the finding shows as resolved on the new report
- Watch the dashboard card update with your credited savings
How resolution amounts are chosen
The credited monthly amount is the finding's estimated monthly savings at the time of resolution — the same estimate shown on your report. It is not pulled from your AWS bill after the fix.
Because estimates use static pricing constants and CloudWatch utilization windows, the credited figure is directional. Your actual bill change may differ based on region, reservations, and architecture.
Related articles
- Finding lifecycle — Dismiss, snooze, reopen, and resolved statuses
- Severity and savings estimates — How potential savings are calculated
- How scans work — What happens during a scan and when resolution runs
- Plan comparison — Recurring scans and plan limits
- Your dashboard — Where the realized savings card appears