What Is the Function of a Budget Officer?

A budget officer is a trained professional who works to keep the budget balanced for a company over a set period. The budget officer is responsible for verifying how the funds are being spent, ensuring that the company’s plans that require funding are possible within the budget limits and that the annual report for the company is created with truthful and reliable figures. The budget officer is often expected to plan and makes changes to the budget if it needs to improve over time.

A budget officer is responsible for managing and analyzing every transaction the company makes. This includes both purchases or general expenses and earnings or sales income. A budget officer must determine the impact of each transaction on the company’s financial accounts, as a company should not go into debt due to purchases. He is also responsible for verifying each transaction to ensure it is legitimate and completed.

A budget officer is also responsible for implementing accounting systems in a company to ensure the transactions, budgets and overall finances are maintained in a consistent manner. The implementation process includes compiling and analyzing the needs of the company through previous accounting data and using the available resources provided by the accounting and financial departments in the company. If the company uses a software program, the budget officer modifies the accounting systems to suit the company’s needs.

Each department in a company will have its own budget. A budget officer must analyze each department’s budget to ensure there are enough available funds to operate each month. If not, the budget officer must consult with the department managers to see how budget adjustments can save funds during a single month to stay on track. These modifications ensure the budget remains steady, so the long-term financial planning for the department and company are not affected.

A company must write an annual report once a year to reflect on the past year’s financial status. The annual report includes budgets for all of the expenses, purchases and salaries paid to keep the business operative, and all of the income statements that show how much the company has earned. The budget officer’s responsibility in this regard includes examining the budgets in the report for completeness, figure accuracy and check to see if the annual report meets with the company’s financial procedures and regulations.