What does a budget accountant do?
Budget accountant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real budget accountant resumes:
- Manage the review, enhancement, and creation of department policy and procedure documentation require for Sarbanes-Oxley auditing and compliance.
- Prepare budgets, reconciliations and outcome reports for grants.
- Facilitate data transfer and reconciliation between systems (TSI/T-II and PeopleSoft).
- Review staffing compensations, medical benefits, professional insurances, headcount, and FTE metrics.
- Collaborate extensively with CPA's office during preliminary and year-end audit/review process to ensure completeness of financial statements and tax returns.
- Develop ROI analysis model for propose capital investments and authore requirements policy and process flow, which streamline decision-making process.
Budget accountant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Budget Accountants are proficient in Financial Data, Fixed Assets, and Journal Entries. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Budget Accountants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Financial Data, 14%
Compile and monitor financial data required to perform the monthly revenue projections analysis in conjunction with the General Appropriation Management Unit.
- Fixed Assets, 14%
Reviewed fixed assets report particularly for projects requiring transfers of assets.
- Journal Entries, 14%
Developed electronic spreadsheets that automatically populated journal entries for Schedule M income adjustments.
- Reconciliations, 13%
Account reconciliations for Engineering Department.
- Budget Preparation, 6%
Assist budget preparation and consolidation for parent company.
- Balance Sheet, 6%
Analyze and interpret financial information detailing balance sheet accounts for twelve hospitals and affiliates.
Common skills that a budget accountant uses to do their job include "financial data," "fixed assets," and "journal entries." You can find details on the most important budget accountant responsibilities below.
Organizational skills. One of the key soft skills for a budget accountant to have is organizational skills. You can see how this relates to what budget accountants do because "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." Additionally, a budget accountant resume shows how budget accountants use organizational skills: "provide leadership in strategic planning, organizational initiatives, structure and implementation. "
Communication skills. budget accountants are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to budget accountant responsibilities, because "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." A budget accountant resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "developed communication with project managers in revenue recognition, and it managers for fixed assets"
Detail oriented. budget accountant responsibilities often require "detail oriented." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." This resume example shows what budget accountants do with detail oriented on a typical day: "conducted detailed analysis of financial statements, presented financial trainings to home care agency administrators, and prepared and analyzed proformas. "
Math skills. A commonly-found skill in budget accountant job descriptions, "math skills" is essential to what budget accountants do. Budget accountant responsibilities rely on this skill because "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures." You can also see how budget accountant duties rely on math skills in this resume example: "automated complex financial statements of financial information & statistics. "
The three companies that hire the most budget accountants are:
- Faith Regional Health Services2 budget accountants jobs
- University of Mississippi Medical Center2 budget accountants jobs
- State Bar of Michigan1 budget accountants jobs
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Compare different budget accountants
Budget accountant vs. Accountant internship
An accounting intern is responsible for assisting an organization's accounting department, observing practical applications and processes, and performing accounting duties under the supervision of tenured accounting staff. Accounting interns support the accounting operations by preparing and organizing financial reports, helping with accounts reconciliation, researching financial and stock market trends, utilizing various accounting software, and managing feedback from their mentors. An accounting intern must be detail-oriented and a fast-learner, immediately adjusting to the company's culture and actively cooperating with the team to ensure a smooth flow of operations.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, budget accountant responsibilities require skills like "reconciliations," "budget preparation," "financial statements," and "capital budgets." Meanwhile a typical accountant internship has skills in areas such as "r," "account management," "renewable energy," and "payroll." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Accountant interns tend to make the most money working in the media industry, where they earn an average salary of $36,253. In contrast, budget accountants make the biggest average salary, $73,025, in the finance industry.The education levels that accountant interns earn slightly differ from budget accountants. In particular, accountant interns are 4.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a budget accountant. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Budget accountant vs. Accountant/consultant
Accountants/consultants perform accounting tasks for organizations or companies. The accountants improve accounting practices and prepare financial statements at the end of every year. They analyze financial data and offer advice on regulatory compliance issues to the finance department. It is their job to make sure that the online system is secure. Most of the day, they organize invoices, prepare statements, and supervising systems. They should be equipped with analytical skills, industry knowledge, critical thinking, and interpersonal communication.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real budget accountant resumes. While budget accountant responsibilities can utilize skills like "budget preparation," "balance sheet," "financial statements," and "capital budgets," accountant/consultants use skills like "account management," "product knowledge," "strong analytical," and "leveraged."
Accountant/consultants earn a higher average salary than budget accountants. But accountant/consultants earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $68,479. Additionally, budget accountants earn the highest salaries in the finance with average pay of $73,025 annually.accountant/consultants earn similar levels of education than budget accountants in general. They're 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for budget accountants in the next 3-5 years?
Thomas King
Department Chair, Director, Master of Accountancy Program, Professor, Accountancy, Case Western Reserve University
Budget accountant vs. Certified public accountant
A certified public accountant (CPA) acts as an advisor to small businesses and chief financial officers to Fortune 500 companies. They typically work for both small and large public accounting firms. They offer advice on many issues, such as accounting and taxation. They aid businesses and individuals to plan and achieve their financial goals. There are several requirements to become a CPA, including having a degree in accounting, passing the CPA examination, and obtaining a CPA license to practice.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from budget accountant resumes include skills like "budget preparation," "financial statements," "capital budgets," and "account analysis," whereas a certified public accountant is more likely to list skills in "cpa," "strong customer service," "customer service," and "state tax returns. "
Certified public accountants make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $92,755. On the other hand, budget accountants are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $73,025.Most certified public accountants achieve a similar degree level compared to budget accountants. For example, they're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Budget accountant vs. Finance analyst/accountant
In a company setting, a finance analyst/accountant is in charge of handling and monitoring financial activities, ensuring efficiency and accuracy. Their responsibilities revolve around preparing financial reports, performing audits and risk assessments, and identifying any errors and inconsistencies, resolving them promptly and efficiently. They also conduct research and analysis to identify new business opportunities, evaluate the existing procedures to determine its strengths and weaknesses, and recommend solutions to optimize operations for financial growth. Furthermore, as a finance analyst/accountant, it is essential to uphold the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between budget accountants and finance analyst/accountants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a budget accountant might have more use for skills like "journal entries," "budget preparation," "balance sheet," and "financial statements." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of finance analyst/accountants require skills like "general ledger accounts," "payroll," "external auditors," and "gaap. "
Finance analyst/accountants enjoy the best pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $78,897. For comparison, budget accountants earn the highest salary in the finance industry.The average resume of finance analyst/accountants showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to budget accountants. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 1.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of budget accountant
Updated January 8, 2025
