A budget manager oversees an organization’s income and expense process, developing one-year or multi-year income and expense forecasts, monitoring budgets, and reporting variances to executives. The role is common in government agencies and not-for-profit organizations, but can also be found in for-profit companies engaged in project management.
A budget manager oversees an organization’s income and expense process. The work has elements of financial accounting, forecasting, auditing and process supervision. This position can be organization-wide or project-based. The title is very typical in government agencies and not-for-profit organizations, but it can also be a designated role in for-profit companies that engage in project management.
Organizations typically have an operating budget and capital, or plant and equipment. A capital budget tends to be static, as capital expenditures tend to occur according to a specific plan that requires little day-to-day management. Operating budgets, however, are very fluid. These budget types rely on income and expense projections made at the beginning of the year, but can prove inaccurate as the reality of business operations unfolds in real time.
Chief financial officers (CFOs) or chief financial officers often hire budget managers as middle management specialists. The budget manager handles all aspects of developing capital and operating budgets at the beginning of the fiscal year when an organization is planning for the coming year. Your duties do not end with planning for the future. A budget manager also monitors the team, departments or projects to ensure that income and expenses meet budget targets. If revenue is under budget or expenses exceed budget, the budget manager reports the variance to the organization’s executives so that projections and plans can be changed.
Specific duties of a budget manager include developing one-year or multi-year income and expense forecasts across an organization or project. These forecasts are usually broken down by project or department, particularly for operating budgets. After the budget for a fiscal year is approved, the manager works with department and project managers to keep activities within budget parameters. The budget manager interacts with executives frequently on the operating budget, sometimes monthly, to report variances and offer solutions for modifying the budget to reflect actual circumstances.
At the end of the fiscal year, the manager adjusts the budget to actual expenses incurred and revenue generated and provides this information to the organization’s executives and tax professionals. The process starts all over again as the next annual budgets are modified to reflect what happened in the year just passed. Meanwhile, the budget manager is responsible for establishing policies and procedures for reporting income and expenses and managing a budget process that conforms to industry best practices.
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