Senior Budget Analyst

MBTA; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in transportation is seeking a Senior Budget Analyst to oversee critical financial operations within the IT department. The role involves budgeting, accounting, and procurement tasks, requiring strong analytical and organizational skills, as well as expertise in financial tools and processes. This position demands a bachelor’s degree and relevant experience, with distinct opportunities for professional growth and contribution to financial integrity.

Qualifications

• Four years of relevant experience in financial planning and analysis or budgeting.
• Experience preparing journal entries, accruals, and budget forecasts.
• Familiarity with Capital and Operating budget processes.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and submit all monthly accounting entries for the department.
• Approve purchase requests and validate them against budget.
• Prepare the Monthly Reporting Pack (MRP) and communicate with management.

Skills

Organizational Skills

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

Attention to Detail

Customer Service

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration

High School Diploma or GED with 7 years of experience

Associate degree with 3 years of experience

Master’s degree in a related subject

Nationally recognized certification in a related field

Tools

Microsoft Excel

PeopleSoft

ServiceNow

Job description

The Senior Budget Analyst is one of the key members of the IT Administration Team overseeing critical financial disciplines for the department including accounting, reporting, and fiscal management. This position will be responsible for accounting, reporting, budgeting, and forecasting across the department’s various Operational and Capital budgets. The Senior Budget Analyst works closely with the Department’s executive team and staff as well as MBTA Accounting, Budget, Finance, and Procurement Departments to ensure budget and procurement operations are accurate and delivered efficiently and within the budget and contractual parameters.

The Senior Budget Analyst will be able to work independently with little supervision. This person must be exceedingly well organized, flexible and detail oriented. This position will have access or exposure to confidential information, financial data, and internal audits.

• Approve purchase requests for the department on a daily basis by validating the request against planned expenses from the existing Operating or Capital budgets.
• Prepare and submit all monthly accounting entries for the department, including accruals, contract amortization, and other ad-hoc entries as needed.
• Prepare the Monthly Reporting Packing (MRP) for the department, showing current year to date actual balances, year-to-date budget balances, and variance explanations.
• Prepare a monthly full year forecast and communicate with senior management so that remaining spending for the fiscal year will match the budget.
• Effectively communicate progress, issues, and resolutions, verbally and in writing to management regarding budget issues and policies.
• Update the ServiceNow project tracking module on a monthly basis with actual expenses for Capital projects and communicate project to date spend and available funding to senior management.
• Compile quarterly capital cash flows, which includes monthly projections for the current year and annual projections for future years.
• Prepare capital accrual journal entries on a quarterly basis.
• Prepare departmental reports, budget spreadsheets, variance reports, charts, tables, and graphs for presentations.
• Participate in meetings with both internal and external financial staff regarding all aspects of project budgets, funding, and other finance-related issues.
• Prepare, revise, and format budget-related excel spreadsheets, power point presentations, and other written documents at the request of the IT executive team.
• Prepare, maintain, review, monitor, submit, and justify the annual Operating Budget for the IT Department.
• Create and configure work orders along with associated cost centers for every project expenditure.
• Work with accounting to execute journal entries, reduce overspent work orders, and apply indirect costs.
• Assist with annual charter submissions to request Capital funding.
• Assist with processing purchase orders and requisitions using PeopleSoft Financial Systems.
• Assist with all data collection, input and updating for financial, statistical and performance data.
• Proofread documents and ensure accurate, consistent communication and data prior to distribution.
• Ensure security, integrity, and confidentiality of data.
• Perform all other duties and projects that may be assigned.

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Four (4) years of relevant experience in financial planning and analysis (FP&A), budgeting, or accounting, or related field—ideally in an IT or corporate finance environment.
• Experience preparing journal entries, accruals, and budget forecasts.
• Familiarity with Capital and Operating budget processes.
• Expertise with MicrosoftExcel, ability to write formulas that draw information across sheets and make conditional formatting rules (vlookup, index/match, and pivot tables).??
• The ability to pass the MBTA AdvancedExceltest.
• Effective organizational, analytical, multi-tasking and time management skills.
• Meticulous attention to detail with emphasis on accuracy and quality.
• Proficient in Word, Excel, PeopleSoft, and other project/program controls applications.
• Excellent customer service and conflict resolution skills.
• Strong communication skills.
• Ability to work within a team environment and building strong working relationships.

• A High School Diploma or GED with an additional seven (7) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor’s degree requirement.
• An associate degree from an accredited institution an additional three (3) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor’s degree requirement.
• A master’s degree in a related subject substitutes for two (2) years of general experience.
• A nationally recognized certification, or statewide/professional certification in a related field substitutes for one year of experience.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Experience working for a public agency.
• Experience with ERP/accounting systems.
• Familiarity with financial reporting tools or systems.
• Experience using ServiceNow or similar project tracking tools
• Relevant experience in financial planning and analysis (FP&A), budgeting, or accounting, or related field in an IT or corporate finance environment.
• Experience with databases.