Should I Consider Becoming a Budget Clerk?

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A budget clerk might also be called a budget analyst. However, the duties might vary. A budget clerk keeps track of all daily transactions of an organization along with comparing and preparing budgets based on previous financial information gathered. Along with computer skills, you will also need basic accounting skills and familiar with different formats of reports.

Overview

Budget clerks go over financial information to prepared budgeting analysis based on sales, expenditures, payroll, material costs, and other operational costs. They perform computer ratios and percentage comparisons to prepare tables, charts and graphs to show where the money is coming and going out. With this information, they comprise a budget based on previous comparisons and future forecasts to budget finances more efficiently to ensure a better outcome for the company’s bottom line.

Mathematics and analytical skills are required for a budget clerk. The duties may vary from one company to the next, but overall budgeting is the process of breaking down, analyzing and setting goals for a better return of finances.

Budgeting clerk requires bookkeeping, computer, some administrative, communication and analytical skills. A budgeting analyst usually has a bachelor’s degree in accounting. However, a small company might employ someone with high-school level bookkeeping skills, performing limited duties of the budgeting clerk job description.

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, a budgeting clerk can earn a median salary of $69,000 annually with a college degree. The job market is expected to grow by 6% from 2012 to 2022, which seems a bit low, considering accountant in general is expected to grow as much as 22%. That said, the budgeting clerk has limited job duties in general and if this job is combined with other jobs, this is not necessarily a negative career forecast.

The Value of College

We all have heard that if you attend college, you will make more money. This is true, but only to the extent that you must manage and plan your career. To be able to produce and analyze a company’s spending habits and draw up reports and tables is a valuable skill that only college degree programs will teach you. The budgeting clerk helps a company strategize, so they can improve their spending habits. This directly leads to an increase in revenue and sustainability of the company’s finances.

Oftentimes, the difference in key performance comes from college graduates who have additional experience beyond high school basics, and who can catch significant errors in planning. The knowledge and skills between the two can be vast and make the difference in the company’s future forecasts. For the most part, it is the smaller companies that use the limited assets of those who have not attended college because they can get them to do the work cheaper. If you think about it, wouldn’t it be better planning for the company to spend a little more money to acquire a college-educated professional to analyze their budgeting processes? That would certainly improve the overall bottom line and be a conservative step that would protect the company from major risk.