How To Become A Budget Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a budget analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

John Clark Ph.D., CFA, CFP

Budget analysts work for the finance departments of companies and are responsible for evaluating budget proposals. Their job is to make sure funds are optimally allocated, expenses are worth the investment, and money is spent where it is needed.

If you are considering taking on the role of a budget analyst, you must be someone who loves mathematics, obviously. But, surprising as this might seem, you also need to be good with words, as your job will entail communicating with stakeholders regarding their petitions and persuading management to approve your requests.

You need a degree in a finance-related field and experience in handling budgets to be considered for this position. To be successful at it, you need to get a kick out of resolving problems, have keen attention to detail, and be passionate about dissecting the world in your mind with analytical thinking.

What general advice would you give to a budget analyst?

John Clark Ph.D., CFA, CFP

Chair, Dept. of Finance, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

Show you have experience. Doing an internship is a great way to increase your starting salary. I always advocate for doing applied research, this is research that you can show has implications for society - science for the sake of science is not good science! Obtaining an MS degree is also a good way to increase your salary, especially if your MS degree is relevant to your future job.

ScoreBudget AnalystUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $56,598

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.5

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.01%

Asian 8.87%

Black or African American 12.38%

Hispanic or Latino 15.32%

Unknown 4.72%

White 57.69%

Gender

female 54.35%

male 45.65%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

6.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a budget analyst

Explore budget analyst education requirements

Most common budget analyst degrees

Bachelor's

70.1 %

Master's

17.0 %

Associate

9.4 %

Start to develop specific budget analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Management	8.46%
Budget Analysis	6.39%
Financial Reports	4.75%
Financial Data	3.94%
PowerPoint	3.87%

Complete relevant budget analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New budget analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a budget analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real budget analyst resumes.

Research budget analyst duties and responsibilities

Write and document SAS, SPSS and SQL programs to automate standard processes.
Manage accounting data of expenditures in ledgers; ensure all transactions are re-serve for obligation.
Manage virtual war room database and prepare advanced PowerPoint presentations for high-level briefings.
Manage credit card revenue reporting and reconciliations for multiple credit card merchant accounts which include recommending and implementing process improvements.

Prepare your budget analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your budget analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a budget analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable budget analyst resume templates

Build a professional budget analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your budget analyst resume.