A budget analyst studies and examines a company’s financial records in relation to their budget, in order to determine if it’s being properly utilized. A budget analyst bases their work on the reports sent in by the company’s different departments, in which they describe their estimated budgets – afterwards, the budget analyst must take all the data into consideration to determine if the budget is in abundance in any of the departments, or if it should be increased for the next fiscal period. The budget analyst normally uses data from the previous years in order to plan get a good grasp of a company’s financial status.
Becoming a budget analyst has some strict educational requirements – a candidate will need to present at least a Bachelor’s degree in a finance-related area, such as finances, economics, or accounting. Some companies may require a Master’s degree in a specific area, and this is becoming a more and more popular requirement – budget analysts are generally expected to hold a high degree of education. Prior experience doesn’t play a role as major as that of the candidate’s education in most cases, as some find high-profiled employment directly after graduating.
Budget analysts can earn between $40,000 and $57,000 annually. The median salary for 2009 was $55,000, and the position offers some great options for those seeking further career development. The rate at which a budget analyst’s salary grows in accordance to the number of years they’ve been employed is also very high, meaning that a budget analyst’s salary grows very rapidly in the first few years of their job, and continues to grow later on.