Careers in Budgeting

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List of Top 4 Careers in Budgeting

Below is the list of some of the top jobs in budgeting that you can opt for in your finance career.

List of Top 4 Careers in Budgeting

Overview of Budgeting Career

Budgeting is a strategic implementation of the business plan of a company or a project to achieve the desired goals and objectives. Budgeting also means forecasting the future of the company by creating appropriate budgets to take care of the financial needs in the long term. Budgeting is important because of the following reasons –

Aids in planning and crisis management, i.e., it allows the company management to take appropriate actions when a crisis arises.
Encourages building a long-lasting relationship with other departments since the budgeting manager needs to take the help and inputs from the other departments to complete the budget.
It helps in having a clear understanding amongst the employees in the organization as they are made aware of the budgetary allocations in the next financial year. Also, this process helps in creating synergies with other departments like Operations, Accounts, Credit, Investments, and HR.
Motivates the sales teams to achieve their targets and goals.
It helps control the company's financial position by analyzing the expected and actual budget variances.
It is a vehicle to measure the performance of the employees.

Let us now look at the top 4 budgeting career options in detail -

Career #1 - Financial Planning & Analysis

Financial Planning & Analysis takes care of the company's budgets in the FP&A department. Every company has its FP&A department to take care of the financial projections and periodically prepare a business plan to showcase the future roadmap.

Financial Planning & Analysis - Job Description

Responsibilities	Responsible for building detailed business plans and ensuring that the company has no liquidity problems in the long term.
Designation	FP&A Manager
Actual Role	Ensure the company's future is secured and sufficient funds are available for running the business and making arrangements for the fundraising requirements the company might require.
Top Companies	All large corporations.
Salary	The median annual salary for a valuation analyst will be between $80,000 to $1,00,000.
Demand & Supply	It is a highly demanded profile since it requires extensive financial planning skills and experience working on large databases.
Education Requirement	CFA/CPA / MBA/ Valuation Expert from Tier -1 Universities with at least 5-10 Yrs of Exp.
Recommended Courses	CPA/ MBA / CFP/ CFA
Positives	Chance to take part in the growth strategy meetings of the company along with the top management.
Negatives	Extensive data crunching and working on excel sheets can be boring.

Career #2 - Financial Analyst

A financial analyst is a professional who analyses the company's financial position.

Financial Analyst - Job Description

Responsibilities	To do the business analysis and develop a report showcasing the strengths and weaknesses.
Designation	Financial Analyst
Actual Role	He will support the senior analyst all day today, working on preparing cash flows or drafts on policies.
Job Statistics	As per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/), the number of jobs in this category was 2,96,100 as of 2016 and is expected to grow by 11% from 2016 to 2026.
Top Companies	All large corporations and bulge bracket investment banks.
Salary	The median annual salary for a financial analyst as of May 2018 was $ 85,660, per the US Bureau of Labour statistics.
Demand & Supply	Demand for a financial analyst is growing rapidly since a professional role requires extensive financial and accounting skills.
Education Requirement	A bachelor’s degree or an MBA from a reputed college.
Recommended Courses	CFP or MBA, or CPA
Positives	High growth potential in the future with heavy compensation and an exciting job profile ahead.
Negatives	Long working hours and high pressure.

Career #3 - Budget Analyst

Budget Analyst advises companies on how to prepare financial budgets and how to organize their finances.

Budget Analyst - Job Description

Responsibilities	Responsible for preparing detailed budgets in coordination with the management and other departments.
Designation	Budget Analyst
Actual Role	To build a detailed business plan & budget for the company in which clear funds will be allocated to the activities in the next year.
Job Statistics	As per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/), the number of jobs in this category was 58,400 as of 2016 and is expected to grow by 7% from 2016 to 2026.
Top Companies	All Large Corporates.
Salary	The Median annual salary for a budget analyst will be $ 76,220 as per https://www.bls.gov/.
Demand & Supply	Highly demanded profile since the budgets form an integral part of the financial decision-making and strategy formulation.
Education Requirement	CFA/CPA/MBA/Valuation Expert with 10+ Yrs of Exp in Budgeting.
Recommended Courses	CFA/CPA/MBA from Tier –I University
Positives	Preparing detailed business plans helps the analyst to know all the insights of the company and also the roadmap for the future.
Negatives	Extensive working on spreadsheets can be boring.

Career #4 - Management Accountant

Management Accountant works very closely with the management and the budgeting manager.

Management Accountant - Job Description

Responsibilities	To analyze the movements in the budget periodically and work out the variance by comparing it with the actuals.
Designation	Management Analyst or Cost Accountant
Actual Role	Is to oversee the budgets prepared by the analyst and give his comments on the same.
Job Statistics	The Bureau of Labor Statistics has displayed no data.
Top Companies	All large Corporates.
Salary	The median annual salary for the same can be anywhere between $ 75,000 to $1,00,000.
Demand & Supply	Highly demanded role since the variances in the expected and actual budgets must be communicated to the management adequately.
Education Requirement	CFP/CPA / MBA from Tier -1 Universities with at least 15 Yrs of Exp.
Recommended Courses	CPA/MBA/CFA
Positives	Work very closely with senior management.
Negatives	Justifying the variances in the budgets and the assumptions used in preparing the business plans can be very difficult if things don’t go well.

Conclusion

Budgeting is one of the most crucial roles in any organization as it lays down the path or the road map for the company to plan its strategic decisions.