Governmental Accountant Salary Information
Career News September 24, 2013A government job can be highly advantageous. As a stable industry, many people who begin working for the government make it a life-time career, with steady promotions, sick leave, vacation pay, bonuses and retirement income. A tax resolution representative may have a median pay of $30,000 a year while a supervisory auditor earns a comfortable $92,000 a year.
Starting Wages and Demand for Workers
Starting wages may vary in accordance to whether you work for the state or a federal agency. The best compensated accountants work within the federal executive branch. Their job duties entail securities and contract intermediation and brokerage or financial investments. Generally, the federal government pays slightly more than the private sector, for the accountants, within the same job capacity and degree of experience.
State accountants are paid slightly less, but this is not always true. The highest paid accountants work within the New York City metropolitan area, in San Francisco, California and Nassau, New York. Accountants living within the New York City metropolitan area can expect to receive an annual median salary range of $89,270 per year. San Francisco public accountants have a median salary of $86,270 per year.
A number of states have increased their demand for accountants and auditors over recent years, some by as high as 36%. These states include Texas, Idaho, Utah, Maryland and Virginia. The demand in Utah has increased by 35$ while Maryland and Texas both have a 26% increase.
Currently, the greatest number of government accounting jobs open are for budget analysts. With many of the positions open within the armed forces in the Civilian Department, you can expect a salary range of $31,318 to $61,678 a year, depending on your GS rating.
Duties entail gathering, extracting, reviewing and consolidating a variety of narrative information and statistical data, cross-checking the accuracy of budget and program data in related budgetary forms and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite.
Your Career Goals and Outlook
The requisites for acquiring a government accounting job are similar to the requirements within the private sector. While you can often get a city or state job with a bachelor’s in economics, finance or business, federal jobs generally prefer a master’s. You must also pass your CPA exam for any government accounting job.
As there are so many different types of accounting jobs within government departments, it’s best to do an online job search to find the capacity that meets your interest. After attending any interviews, you are given, be sure to follow up by speaking to each interviewer within three days to let them know how serious you are about the job.
One of the biggest differences between working for the private sector and applying for a government job is that public accounting jobs rarely offer internships or on the job training. For this reason, it is best to work for a private firm two or three years before applying for a government job.
The federal government is the nation’s largest employer of accountants. A job with the government provides security and excellent benefits. There are as many opportunities for promotion within the government as there are for a private firm, with job growth expected to continue through the year 2018.
