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Budget accountant skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Richard Hale,

Dr. George Young

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical budget accountant skills. We ranked the top skills for budget accountants based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.5% of budget accountant resumes contained financial data as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a budget accountant needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 budget accountant skills for your resume and career

1. Financial Data

Here's how budget accountants use financial data:

Compile and monitor financial data required to perform the monthly revenue projections analysis in conjunction with the General Appropriation Management Unit.
Analyzed expenses on a monthly-to-yearly basis relative to fiscal planning and budgeting activities through collection and assembly of financial data.

2. Fixed Assets

Here's how budget accountants use fixed assets:

Reviewed fixed assets report particularly for projects requiring transfers of assets.
Managed fixed assets and prepared property and sales and use tax returns.

3. Journal Entries

Journal entries can be defined as an act of keeping or making records of any transactions either economic or non-economic. The journal entries are made in the accounting systems of an organization. The entries are filled with two main fields; debit and credit. The debit and credit must be equal at the end of a journal entry else it is not considered correct. The journal entries also keep the date of transactions and the names of the accounts that were affected by the transactions.

Here's how budget accountants use journal entries:

Developed electronic spreadsheets that automatically populated journal entries for Schedule M income adjustments.
Formulated journal entries and oversaw posting of ledger accounts for Distribution Division.

4. Reconciliations

Here's how budget accountants use reconciliations:

Account reconciliations for Engineering Department.
Perform reconciliations between Filemaker s overtime databases against Payroll s ADP system and prepare departmental overtime reports.

5. Budget Preparation

Budget preparation is a calculative process between the finance department and the spending department. It indicates the start of the budget process and supervises departments and agencies for developing revised assessments (for the past year) and budget estimates (for the coming year). Budget preparation makes the organization responsible for its expenses, lessens costs, and provides for a worst-case scenario. It works as an assessment tool that can visually explain if you have sufficient funds to operate or to grow.

Here's how budget accountants use budget preparation:

Assist budget preparation and consolidation for parent company.
Managed budget preparation for division medium term planning.

6. Balance Sheet

Here's how budget accountants use balance sheet:

Analyze and interpret financial information detailing balance sheet accounts for twelve hospitals and affiliates.
Maintained balance sheet and cash-flow statement for annual budget.

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7. Bank Accounts

Here's how budget accountants use bank accounts:

Managed cash for various correspondent bank accounts including a Federal Reserve account and supervised the domestic and international wire activities.
Drafted reconciliation statements of cash/bank accounts to identify accounting discrepancies and provided periodic reports to the senior management.

8. Financial Statements

A financial statement is a report of an individual or a company that includes all the information about the declared assets, the use of money, income, and also the contribution of shareholders over a certain period.

Here's how budget accountants use financial statements:

Conduct independent analyses to identify issues comparing financial statements and statistical key figures.
Worked on feasibility studies and proforma financial statements for potential clinic sites.

9. Capital Budgets

Here's how budget accountants use capital budgets:

Coordinated operating and capital budgets for 24 Health Care Agencies located within the Southeastern United States.
Coordinate preparation of annual operating and capital budgets for various departments and monitor actual performance against the budget and projections.

10. Account Analysis

Here's how budget accountants use account analysis:

Rent tenant revenue account analysis for a subsidiary company owed by HACEP.
Prepared inter-company reconciliation/balance account analysis.

11. Medicare

Medicare is a federal government insurance program that offers health care coverage to people who are 65 and above. In some cases, younger people with disabilities whose status is identified by the SSA can also avail the insurance program. Medicare covers the health expenses of people who are not able to afford it plus it protects the payee from rising health care costs.

Here's how budget accountants use medicare:

Have experience with the preparation of work papers for input into the Medicare Cost Report and the State Chapter 160 report.
Researched and developed policies around Medicaid and Medicare billings and prepared Medicaid cost reports.

12. Variance Analysis

Here's how budget accountants use variance analysis:

Update templates with actual results of operations and preparation of periodic variance analysis report.
Assist profitability and variance analysis for products.

13. Financial Analysis

Here's how budget accountants use financial analysis:

Prepare financial analysis and reconciliation of expenditure, and purchasing card expenditures to guard against possible purchasing violations.
Preformed financial analysis to evaluate investment decisions.

14. Close Process

A close process is the necessary closing steps required to prepare the accounts for recording the transactions of the next period. Its purpose is to reset or close the temporary account balances on the general ledger, and the accounting system for a company's financial data including income statement and accounts payable.

Here's how budget accountants use close process:

Execute the month end close process, including preparation of month end accrual entries and the reclassification of entries.
Support month-end close process by working closely with Accounting and other departments to provide input on necessary accruals/reclass.

15. Medicaid

Here's how budget accountants use medicaid:

Monitor to ensure proper management of Medicaid Pending eligibility.
Worked closely with the Accounts Receivables Auditor and CFO to ensure Medicaid limitations were not exceeded.

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What skills help Budget Accountants find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on budget accountant resumes?

Dr. Richard Hale

Associate Professor of Accounting, Berea College

When we meet with practitioners, the most commonly requested skills are:
-The ability to think critically about situations
-Good communications skills in writing
-The ability to speak in public and present ideas
-Working well with others
-The ability to work independently

Notice that these skills are not dependent upon any particular technology or discipline.
An advantage we have at Berea College, a liberal arts college, is that we incorporate these foundational skills into all we do.
Indeed, we also have our students master working with spreadsheets, develop skills in data analytics, and study all aspects of the business from Management, Economics, Finance, and Marketing.
As accounting is the business language, our students have more excellent business knowledge than other studies.

A key distinction for Berea College students is that all students must work for the college while they attend.
These jobs may vary from raising livestock to working in Accounts Payable. But all Berea graduates have years of practical work experience.
A core component of a Berea College education is to value the labor experience. We believe they enter the post-collegiate workforce with a significant advantage over their peers.

What hard/technical skills are most important for budget accountants?

Dr. George Young

Director, Florida Atlantic University

Besides becoming fluent in accounting, which is the language of business, students should take every opportunity to learn more about spreadsheet software such as Excel and increase their skills in using Tableau. These types of software enable accountants to analyze, summarize, and communicate their results in an understandable manner.

What budget accountant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Gary P Braun

Professor, California State University - Chico

Technology, technology, technology - there are different forms of this, but the intersection of data analysis and technology seems like the place that has the most bang for the buck. Perhaps I am overstating it here, but in my 35-plus years in the accounting world, there has been a continuous march toward the use of computer technology tools. My advice would be to either do a graduate program that has a focus on technology or to pick up certifications in specific tools. Another option would be to find free resources on these topics (MOOCs, for example). Also, for students wanting to be certified, I would say another great use of time is to get the hours needed to sit for the exam and to take the exam ASAP.

What type of skills will young budget accountants need?

Elizabeth Gordon

Chair and Professor, Temple University

Preparing accounting students for their future means focusing their education on developing their critical thinking, decision making, and judgment, and truly thinking like an accountant requires critical thinking skills to be able to make judgments, to create and to use the information to solve problems and make good decisions. After all, accounting is not about rote memorization or data processing - tasks that do not require a university education. A university accounting education should foster curious and adaptive problem solvers with strong analytical skills and technical knowledge of accounting.

What soft skills should all budget accountants possess?

Charles Makar

Instructor of Business, Misericordia University

Communications skills (oral and written).

Do you want to know more?

List of budget accountant skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a budget accountant resume and required skills for a budget accountant to have include:

Financial Data
Fixed Assets
Journal Entries
Reconciliations
Budget Preparation
Balance Sheet
Bank Accounts
Financial Statements

Capital Budgets
Account Analysis
Medicare
Variance Analysis
Financial Analysis
Close Process
Medicaid
Budget Reports

Trial Balance
Budget Analysis
Tax Returns
Cost Centers
Identify Trends
Budget Variances

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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