Education:
64%
Bachelor's Degree
11%
Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)
Budget Analyst
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Job Outlook:
As fast as average
Education:
Bachelor's degree
Work From Home
Salary
High:
$128,170.00
Average:
$87,680.00
Hourly
Average:
$42.16
What they do:
Examine budget estimates for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with procedures and regulations. Analyze budgeting and accounting reports.
On the job, you would:
- Summarize budgets and submit recommendations for the approval or disapproval of funds requests.
- Analyze monthly department budgeting and accounting reports to maintain expenditure controls.
- Examine budget estimates for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with procedures and regulations.
Important Qualities
Analytical skills. Budget analysts must be able to process a variety of information, evaluate costs and benefits, and solve complex problems.
Communication skills. Budget analysts must be able to explain and defend their analyses and recommendations in meetings and legislative committee hearings.
Detail oriented. Creating an efficient budget requires careful analysis of each budget item.
Math skills. Budget analysts need math skills and the ability to use financial-management software and programs.
Writing skills. Budget analysts must present written technical information in a way that is understandable to the intended audience.
Personality
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Characteristics of this Career |
|---|---|---|---|
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95% | Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical. | |
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94% | Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. | |
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90% | Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems. | |
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90% | Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. | |
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81% | Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. | |
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80% | Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations. | |
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76% | Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. | |
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75% | Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. | |
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75% | Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. | |
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73% | Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles. | |
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72% | Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. | |
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68% | Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. | |
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65% | Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job. | |
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60% | Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. | |
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60% | Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Strengths |
|---|---|---|---|
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100% | Conventional - Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources. | |
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78% | Enterprising - Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Values of the Work Environment |
|---|---|---|---|
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72% | Working Conditions - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions. | |
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61% | Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. | |
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56% | Independence - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy. |
Aptitude
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Abilities | Cognitive, Physical, Personality |
|---|---|---|---|
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75% | Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem. | |
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75% | Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. | |
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75% | Number Facility - The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly. | |
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75% | Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. | |
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72% | Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). | |
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72% | Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. | |
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72% | Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. | |
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69% | Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem. | |
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69% | Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). | |
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69% | Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. | |
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63% | Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. | |
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60% | Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). | |
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60% | Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. | |
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53% | Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). | |
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53% | Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Skills | Cognitive, Physical, Personality |
|---|---|---|---|
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57% | Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. | |
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57% | Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. | |
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55% | Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. | |
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54% | Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. | |
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54% | Management of Financial Resources - Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures. | |
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52% | Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. |
Job Details
Responsibilities
Analyze budgetary or accounting data.
Prepare financial documents, reports, or budgets.
Discuss business strategies, practices, or policies with managers.
Analyze business or financial data.
Advise others on financial matters.
Prepare financial documents, reports, or budgets.
Advise others on financial matters.
Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency.
Analyze budgetary or accounting data.
Verify accuracy of financial information.
Analyze business or financial data.
Establish organizational guidelines or policies.
Gather financial records.
Analyze budgetary or accounting data.
Testify at legal or legislative proceedings.
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Attributes & Percentage of Time Spent |
|---|---|---|---|
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100% | Electronic Mail - How often do you use electronic mail in this job? | |
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94% | Telephone - How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? | |
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94% | Face-to-Face Discussions - How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? | |
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94% | Spend Time Sitting - How much does this job require sitting? | |
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91% | Importance of Being Exact or Accurate - How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? | |
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88% | Contact With Others - How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? | |
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87% | Work With Work Group or Team - How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? | |
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80% | Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results - What results do your decisions usually have on other people or the image or reputation or financial resources of your employer? | |
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79% | Coordinate or Lead Others - How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job? | |
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78% | Freedom to Make Decisions - How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? | |
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78% | Time Pressure - How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? | |
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76% | Importance of Repeating Same Tasks - How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job? | |
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75% | Structured versus Unstructured Work - To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? | |
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74% | Frequency of Decision Making - How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? | |
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73% | Indoors, Environmentally Controlled - How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? | |
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56% | Level of Competition - To what extent does this job require the worker to compete or to be aware of competitive pressures? | |
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55% | Responsibility for Outcomes and Results - How responsible is the worker for work outcomes and results of other workers? | |
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54% | Letters and Memos - How often does the job require written letters and memos? | |
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76% | Duration of Typical Work Week - Number of hours typically worked in one week. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Tasks & Values |
|---|---|---|---|
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92% | Working with Computers - Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. | |
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87% | Getting Information - Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. | |
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87% | Analyzing Data or Information - Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts. | |
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81% | Processing Information - Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. | |
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76% | Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates - Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. | |
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75% | Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships - Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. | |
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73% | Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards - Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards. | |
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73% | Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge - Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. | |
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72% | Making Decisions and Solving Problems - Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. | |
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72% | Documenting/Recording Information - Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. | |
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72% | Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. | |
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70% | Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events - Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. | |
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68% | Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others - Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. | |
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66% | Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings - Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems. | |
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65% | Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information - Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity. | |
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61% | Performing Administrative Activities - Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork. | |
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57% | Communicating with People Outside the Organization - Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail. |
What Budget Analysts Do
Budget analysts prepare budget reports and monitor spending.
Budget analysts help public and private organizations plan their finances. They prepare budget reports and monitor organizational spending.
Duties
Budget analysts typically do the following:
- Work with program and project managers to develop the organization’s budget
- Review managers’ budget proposals and funding requests for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with laws and other regulations
- Combine program and department budgets into a consolidated organizational budget
- Explain funding requests to others in the organization, to legislators, and to the public
- Help top managers analyze proposed plans 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
Budget analysts advise organizations—including governments, private companies, and universities—about the details of their finances. They prepare annual and special reports and evaluate budget proposals. They analyze data to determine the costs and benefits of various programs, and they recommend funding levels based on their findings. Although government officials or top executives in a private company usually decide on an organization’s budget, they rely on the work of budget analysts to prepare the information for that decision.
Sometimes, budget analysts use cost–benefit analyses to review financial requests, assess program tradeoffs, and explore alternative funding methods. Budget analysts also may examine past budgets and research economic and financial developments that affect the organization’s income and expenditures. Budget analysts may recommend cutting spending on particular programs or redistributing funds.
Throughout the year, budget analysts oversee spending to ensure that organizations comply with the budget and to determine whether certain programs need changes in funding. Analysts also evaluate programs to determine whether they are producing desired results.
In addition to providing technical analysis, budget analysts must communicate their recommendations effectively within the organization. For example, if there is a difference between the approved budget and actual spending, budget analysts may write a report explaining those discrepancies and recommend changes to reconcile them.
Budget analysts working in government may attend committee hearings to explain their recommendations to legislators. Occasionally, budget analysts evaluate how well a program is doing, assess policy, and draft budget-related legislation.
Work Environment
Budget analysts held about 51,600 jobs in 2022. The largest employers of budget analysts were as follows:
| Federal government | 24% |
| Educational services; state, local, and private | 14 |
| State government, excluding education and hospitals | 11 |
| Local government, excluding education and hospitals | 10 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 9 |
Although budget analysts usually work in offices, they may travel to get budget details firsthand or to verify funding allocations.
Work Schedules
Most budget analysts work full time, and overtime is sometimes required during development, mid-year, and final reviews of budgets. The pressures of deadlines and tight work schedules may be stressful.
Getting Started
How to Become a Budget Analyst
Budget analysts must present technical information in writing that is understandable for the intended audience.
Budget analysts typically need a bachelor's degree to enter the occupation. Some employers prefer to hire applicants who have a master's degree. Courses in accounting, economics, and statistics are helpful.
Education
Budget analysts typically need at least a bachelor's degree in fields such as business, social science, psychology, or mathematics. Because developing a budget requires numeracy and analytical skills, coursework in accounting, economics, and statistics is helpful.
Sometimes, budget- or finance-related work experience may be substituted for formal education.
Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations
Budget analysts working in federal, state or local government may earn the optional Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) credential from the Association of Government Accountants (AGA). CGFM candidates must have at least a bachelor’s degree, abide by the AGA’s Code of Ethics, pass examinations, and complete a designated period of professional-level experience in governmental financial management. To maintain certification, CGFMs must complete continuing education.
Although the CGFM is not required, having a designation may help with career advancement.
Job Outlook
Employment of budget analysts is projected to grow 3 percent from 2022 to 2032, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
About 3,600 openings for budget analysts are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Employment
Calls for efficient use of public funds will lead to continued demand for budget analysts to estimate program costs, develop budgets, and explain their findings to legislators and the public. Demand for these workers is somewhat tied to the government funding that is allocated for these positions. However, budget analysts manage resource allocation and will be needed even during times of tight budgets.
Contacts for More Information
For information about the Government Financial Manager certification, visit
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This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of budget analysts.
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|
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|
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|
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|
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|
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|
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|
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