What skills should a Budget Analyst put on a resume?

O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Mathematics, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, and Judgment and Decision Making among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Budget Analyst list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, Adaptive Planning, Budget monitoring systems, Budgeting, forecasting, and planning software, and Business Objects Data Integrator. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Budget Analyst work?

O*NET records 19 titles for this occupation, including Budget and Policy Analyst, Budget Officer, Budget Planning Analyst, and Budget Coordinator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Budget Analyst need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 77% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Budget Analyst role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Budget Analyst resume example

A resume for a Budget Analyst needs to show the work itself: examine budget estimates for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with procedures and regulations. Day to day that means work like this: analyze monthly department budgeting and accounting reports to maintain expenditure controls; provide advice and technical assistance with cost analysis, fiscal allocation, and budget preparation. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Budget and Policy Analyst
Budget Officer
Budget Planning Analyst
Budget Coordinator
Cost Analyst
Financial Services Officer
Fiscal Analyst
Fiscal Budget Analyst
Budget Admin
Budget Administrator
Budget Engineer
Budget Examiner
Budget Specialist
Cost Accountant
Financial Management Analyst
Fiscal Agent
Fiscal Officer
Program Analyst

O*NET records 19 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Analyze monthly department budgeting and accounting reports to maintain expenditure controls.
Provide advice and technical assistance with cost analysis, fiscal allocation, and budget preparation.
Review operating budgets to analyze trends affecting budget needs.
Compile and analyze accounting records and other data to determine the financial resources required to implement a program.
Examine budget estimates for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with procedures and regulations.
Summarize budgets and submit recommendations for the approval or disapproval of funds requests.
Consult with managers to ensure that budget adjustments are made in accordance with program changes.
Direct the preparation of regular and special budget reports.
Interpret budget directives and establish policies for carrying out directives.
Perform cost-benefit analyses to compare operating programs, review financial requests, or explore alternative financing methods.
Match appropriations for specific programs with appropriations for broader programs, including items for emergency funds.
Seek new ways to improve efficiency and increase profits.

13 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Analyze monthly department budgeting and accounting reports to maintain expenditure controls, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Provide advice and technical assistance with cost analysis, fiscal allocation, and budget preparation, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Review operating budgets to analyze trends affecting budget needs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Compile and analyze accounting records and other data to determine the financial resources required to implement a program, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Accounting software
Adaptive Planning
Budget monitoring systems
Budgeting, forecasting, and planning software
Business Objects Data Integrator
Business performance management BPM software
Deltek Costpoint
Email software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Everest Software Advanced
Extensity MPC
Financial reporting software
FRx Software Microsoft Forecaster
Fund accounting software

59 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Desktop computers
Laser printers
Notebook computers
Personal computers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Accounting
Microsoft Visual Basic
SQL
Adaptive Planning
Budget monitoring systems
Budgeting, forecasting, and planning

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Critical Thinking
02Mathematics
03Active Listening
04Complex Problem Solving
05Judgment and Decision Making
06Reading Comprehension
07Speaking
08Management of Financial Resources
09Active Learning
10Monitoring

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Economics and Accounting
Mathematics
English Language
Administration and Management
Administrative
Computers and Electronics
Customer and Personal Service

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

77%Bachelor's Degree
13%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
8%Master's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Budget Analyst do?: Examine budget estimates for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with procedures and regulations. Day to day that includes work like analyze monthly department budgeting and accounting reports to maintain expenditure controls and Provide advice and technical assistance with cost analysis, fiscal allocation, and budget preparation.
What skills should a Budget Analyst put on a resume?: O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Mathematics, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, and Judgment and Decision Making among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Budget Analyst list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, Adaptive Planning, Budget monitoring systems, Budgeting, forecasting, and planning software, and Business Objects Data Integrator. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Budget Analyst work?: O*NET records 19 titles for this occupation, including Budget and Policy Analyst, Budget Officer, Budget Planning Analyst, and Budget Coordinator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Budget Analyst need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 77% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Budget Analyst role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.