How to hire a fiscal officer

Fiscal officer hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring fiscal officers in the United States:

In the United States, the median cost per hire a fiscal officer is $1,633.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new fiscal officer to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a fiscal officer, step by step

To hire a fiscal officer, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a fiscal officer:

Here's a step-by-step fiscal officer hiring guide:

Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
Step 3: Make a budget
Step 4: Write a fiscal officer job description
Step 5: Post your job
Step 6: Interview candidates
Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new fiscal officer
Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

Post a fiscal officer job for free, promote it for a fee

Identify your hiring needs

The fiscal officer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

Determine employee vs contractor status

Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

A fiscal officer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, fiscal officers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

This list shows salaries for various types of fiscal officers.

Type of Fiscal Officer	Description	Hourly rate
Fiscal Officer	Financial managers are responsible for the financial health of an organization. They produce financial reports, direct investment activities, and develop strategies and plans for the long-term financial goals of their organization.	$17-37
Controller/Business Manager	A controller/business manager is responsible for evaluating the overall business and financial transactions in an organization. Controller/business managers conduct data and statistical analysis on market performance and identify opportunities that would generate more revenue resources for the business... Show more	$38-72
Corporate Controller	A corporate controller is a professional who is responsible for supervising the overall daily accounting operations of an organization. Integral to the financial health of the organization, corporate controllers are required to help the organization with strategic financial decisions through forecasting reports and financial statements... Show more	$47-100

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Oversight
- Payroll Taxes
- Financial Management
- Fiscal Management
- Reconciliations
- General Ledger
- Financial Analysis
- Grants Management
- Internal Controls
- Fiscal Policies
- Budget Preparation
- Journal Entries
- Financial Data
- Financial Operations
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Manage procurement functions deposits, journals and fund transfers in PeopleSoft for department.
- Manage A/R of roughly 3 million dollars each fiscal year and disburse into three funding streams.
- Establish investment objectives to efficiently manage IPO proceeds within state risk parameters.
- Supervise two employees and the reconciliation of the subsidiary ledgers: A/P, A/R, payroll and all human resource issues.
- Prepare cash management report and maintain reconciliations and journal entries.
- Set up district outstanding debt payment ACH wires.
More fiscal officer duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in your fiscal officer job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A fiscal officer salary can vary based on several factors:

Location. For example, fiscal officers' average salary in mississippi is 38% less than in district of columbia.
Seniority. Entry-level fiscal officers earn 53% less than senior-level fiscal officers.
Certifications. A fiscal officer with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a fiscal officer's salary.

Average fiscal officer salary

$54,261yearly

$26.09 hourly rate

Entry-level fiscal officer salary

$37,000 yearly salary

Updated December 25, 2025

Average fiscal officer salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Alaska	$68,124	$33
2	California	$66,150	$32
3	New York	$61,894	$30
4	Maryland	$60,211	$29
5	Hawaii	$58,377	$28
6	Michigan	$54,294	$26
7	Ohio	$53,403	$26
8	Massachusetts	$51,605	$25
9	Oregon	$49,816	$24
10	Virginia	$49,688	$24
11	Kansas	$48,081	$23
12	New Mexico	$47,535	$23
13	Kentucky	$44,225	$21

Average fiscal officer salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	East-West Center	$69,575	$33.45
2	Portland State University	$65,458	$31.47	2
3	Mayor Ethan Berkowitz	$57,751	$27.76	3
4	County Of Los Angeles Public Library	$57,575	$27.68
5	Michigan State University	$57,399	$27.60	6
6	City of Baltimore	$56,011	$26.93	18
7	Friends of Crown Heights Day Care Centers	$55,300	$26.59
8	Army National Guard	$55,023	$26.45	83
9	Pennsylvania State Treasurer	$54,348	$26.13	21
10	University of Alaska	$53,893	$25.91	16
11	Meharry Medical College	$51,344	$24.68
12	The Ohio State University	$49,246	$23.68
13	SHASTA COUNTY	$48,952	$23.53	5
14	Summit County	$48,779	$23.45	5
15	Ohio State University Medical Center	$48,113	$23.13
16	State of West Virginia	$48,048	$23.10	19
17	Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania	$48,037	$23.09
18	The Family Partnership	$45,809	$22.02
19	Kansas State University	$43,334	$20.83	2
20	University of Maine	$35,218	$16.93	4

Writing a fiscal officer job description
A good fiscal officer job description should include a few things:
- Summary of the role
- List of responsibilities
- Required skills and experience
Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a fiscal officer job description:
Fiscal officer job description example
+ Department: Research Laboratory of Electronics HQ

+ School Area: VP Research

+ Employment Type: Full-time (Hybrid)

+ Employment Category: Exempt

+ Visa Sponsorship Available: No

+ Schedule:

Email a Friend Save Save Apply Now

Information on MIT's COVID-19 vaccination requirement can be found at the bottom of this posting.

ASSISTANT FISCAL OFFICER, Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), to join the fiscal team of a large, interdisciplinary laboratory with a diverse sponsor base and annual activities exceeding $50M and more than 200 federal and industrial sponsor proposal submissions per year. Will collaborate with the senior fiscal officer on pre-award administration on the development and submission of research proposals; act as a primary information and operations resource for principal investigators (PIs); interact with PIs to develop research proposal budgets and administrative content for proposals; collaborate with the manager for fiscal administration on a portfolio of PIs for post-award administration; monitor the financial performance of active grants and contracts and provide regular updates and projections for PIs to verify the proper distribution of resources and use of funds; provide financial analysis and oversight and prepare reports for PIs, senior administrators, and sponsors; and continually monitor accounts to ensure compliance with MIT and sponsor policies/requirements, including during the close-out period.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED: bachelor's degree; at least three years' accounting/finance experience; related experience with federal contracts and financial administration experience in an academic research environment; high-level proficiency with Excel and familiarity with other MS Office programs; strong customer service skills and focus; excellent organizational and communication skills; meticulous attention to detail; willingness to learn new business methods and computational skills; demonstrated record of assuming greater responsibility over time; and ability to work both independently and as a member of a productive, collaborative, and innovative team in a fast-paced and challenging environment. PREFERRED: research proposal processing and pre-award administration experience; knowledge of enterprise financial systems, grants management tools, and multidimensional databases; and MIT experience. Job #21786-7 Hybrid work schedules are available. reposted 10/12/22
Post your job
To find the right fiscal officer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with fiscal officers they would recommend.
- Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit fiscal officers who meet your education requirements.
- Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
Post your job online:
- Post your fiscal officer job on Zippia to find and recruit fiscal officer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Recruiting fiscal officers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.
It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new fiscal officer
Once you've selected the best fiscal officer candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.
Go through the hiring process checklist
- Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
- Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
- Define job responsibilities and requirements
- Establish budget and timeline
- Determine hiring decision makers for the role
- Write job description
- Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
- Promote the job internally
- Process applications through applicant tracking system
- Review resumes and cover letters
- Shortlist candidates for screening
- Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
- Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
- Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
- Conduct background checks on top candidates
- Check references of top candidates
- Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
- Extend offer to top candidate(s)
- Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
- Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
- Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
- Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a fiscal officer?

Recruiting fiscal officers involves both the one-time costs of hiring and the ongoing costs of adding a new employee to your team. Your spending during the hiring process will mostly be on things like promoting the job on job boards, reviewing and interviewing candidates, and onboarding the new hire. Ongoing costs will obviously involve the employee's salary, but also may include things like benefits.

Fiscal officers earn a median yearly salary is $54,261 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find fiscal officers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $17 and $37.

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Updated December 25, 2025

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