What Does a Budget Manager Do?

A budget manager is in charge of a company’s revenue and expense process. Financial accounting, forecasting, auditing, and process supervision are all aspects of the job. This position can be for the entire organization or for a specific project. The title is common in government and nonprofit organizations, but it can also be a designated role in for-profit companies that manage projects.

An operating budget and a capital budget, or facilities and equipment budget, are common in organizations. Because capital expenditures are usually made according to a specific plan that requires little daily management, a capital budget tends to be static. Operating budgets, on the other hand, are constantly changing. These budgets are based on revenue and expense projections made at the start of the year, but they can be inaccurate as the reality of business operations unfolds in real time.

Budget managers are typically hired as middle-management specialists by chief financial officers (CFOs) or directors of finance. At the start of the fiscal year, when an organization is planning for the coming year, the budget manager is in charge of all aspects of the development of the operating and capital budgets. His responsibilities do not, however, end with future planning. A budget manager also keeps an eye on the staff, departments, and projects to make sure revenue and expenses stay on track. If revenue falls short of projections or expenses exceed them, the budget manager informs the organization’s executives so that projections and plans can be adjusted.

A budget manager’s specific responsibilities include developing single or multi-year revenue and expense forecasts for the entire organization or project. For operating budgets, these forecasts are usually broken down by project or department. The manager works with department and project managers to keep their activities within budget parameters once the fiscal year’s budget has been approved. The budget manager meets with executives on a regular basis to discuss the operating budget, sometimes monthly, to report variances and propose ways to adjust the budget to reflect current circumstances.

The manager adjusts the budget to reflect actual expenses and revenue at the end of the fiscal year and shares this information with the organization’s executives and tax professionals. The process then starts all over again, with future yearly budgets being adjusted to reflect what happened the previous year. Meanwhile, the budget manager is in charge of developing policies and procedures for reporting revenue and expenses, as well as overseeing a budgeting process that follows industry best practices.