Budget Analyst

Budget analysts develop, analyze, and execute budgets, which are used to allocate current resources and estimate future financial needs.

Example Job Titles as a Budget Analyst

Budget Analyst, Budget Officer, Budget and Policy Analyst, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Cost Accountant, Staff Analyst, Accounting Supervisor, Budget Coordinator

Summary

Budget analysts examine budget estimates and proposals for completeness; accuracy; and conformance with established procedures, regulations, and organizational objectives. Sometimes they employ cost-benefit analyses to review financial requests, assess program tradeoffs, and explore alternative funding methods.

Duties

Budget analysts typically do the following:

Work with program and project managers to develop the organization's budget
Review managers' budget proposals for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with laws and other regulations
Combine all the program and department budgets together into a consolidated organizational budget and review all funding requests for merit
Explain their recommendations for funding requests to others in the organization, legislators, and the public
Help the chief operation officer, agency head, or other top managers analyze the proposed plan and find alternatives if the projected results are unsatisfactory
Monitor organizational spending to ensure that it is within budget
Inform program managers of the status and availability of funds
Estimate future financial needs

Educational Requirements

Employers generally require budget analysts to have at least a bachelor's degree. However, some employers may require candidates to have a master’s degree. Because developing a budget requires strong numerical and analytical skills, courses in statistics or accounting are helpful. For the federal government, a bachelor's degree in any field is enough for an entry-level budget analyst position. State and local governments have varying requirements but usually require a bachelor's degree in one of many areas, such as accounting, finance, business, public administration, economics, statistics, political science, or sociology.

Salary Information 2022

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary of a Budget Analyst in 2022 was $82,260.

Potential Employers

Federal, State, and local governments are major employers, accounting for 44 percent of budget analyst jobs. Many other budget analysts worked in manufacturing; financial services; management services; professional, scientific, and technical services; and schools.

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Information retrieved from We Use Math: Budget Analyst, Bureau of Labor Statistics: Budget Analysts and O*NET Online: Budget Analysts.