Definition: Public Finance Officer Job Description

What are the missions of the Public Finance Officer? What training courses to follow to exercise this profession? What are his outlets and his salary? The answers are provided to you by this job description of Public Finance Officer.

Public finance officer profession

Civil servant, attached to the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, discover the profession of Public Finance Officer in detail: mission, salary, possible training, retraining.

What is a Public Finance Officer?

The public finance officer can be entrusted with different missions depending on where he works and according to his position.

Its missions will relate to the management and control of taxes or to compliance with regulations in force in the financial sector.

In addition to his numerous administrative missions, he is nonetheless in contact with the public by working at the counter to welcome and inform taxpayers.

The Public Finance Officer can work at the public finance center (property tax and mortgage service) or a specialized public treasury service. They work in an office (cash desk, mortgage conservation service, property tax center, etc.) or in the field, in airports, bus stations, ports and at border booths.

Three professions are represented under the name of public finance officer:

Customs official

In this case, the professional performs administrative tasks for the control branch of commercial operations and field missions for the surveillance branch.

Administrative Agent of the Public Treasury and Taxes

In this case, the public finance officer participates in keeping the accounts of the State and the municipalities by following the operations of payment of expenditure and collection of receipts.

Control assistant of the DGCCRF

In this case, the public finance officer ensures compliance with regulations relating to competition and consumption, but not only. It provides telephone and physical reception for consumers, handling mail, etc.

Public finance officer missions

Customs official

• Control of commercial operations
• Monitoring and control of international trade operations
• Collection of sector taxes
• Works on documents in sectors of indirect contributions (tobacco and alcohol, precious metals, petroleum products)
• Fight against fraud such as drug trafficking, counterfeiting, animal or plant species, prohibited goods, etc.

Administrative Agent of the Public Treasury and Taxes

• Checks the accounts of the State, municipalities and regional councils
• Analyzes the accounting documents of companies and individuals
• Payment of expenses (salaries, market, public)
• Day-to-day corporate tax management and collection

Deputy of the DGCCRF control

• Monitoring the quality and safety of products and services
• Ensures compliance with competition and consumer regulations
• Telephone and physical reception of consumers
• Mail processing
• First level accounting and administrative management
• Classification of accounting.

Qualities to become a Public Finance Officer

It is imperative that the public finance officer be comfortable with numbers and demonstrate rock-solid concentration, as the slightest mistake can have serious consequences.

Most of the positions held by a finance officer require a good knowledge of applicable law and regulations. To stay abreast of developments in the sector, the professional must have a great curiosity to be informed on a daily basis.

Finally, the tax officer works in constant contact with the public. He must have great listening skills and great human and interpersonal skills.

Training to become a public finance officer

To become an Administrative Officer of Public Finances, it is necessary to pass the category C competition, which can be taken while holding a certificate or an equivalent diploma.

Once admitted, the candidate follows a 6-week training course in a specialized center.

To take the competition, you must:

• Enjoy their civic rights and not have in the bulletin n ° 2 of their criminal record any entries incompatible with the exercise of their functions
• Be French or a national of a member state of the European Union or the European Economic Area
• Enjoy all of your civic rights and be in a regular position with regard to the provisions of the national service code
• Have a clean criminal record

To pass this competition, you must pass the admissibility test in the form of multiple choice questions, assessing general knowledge and mathematical concepts. The customs competition adds an additional test: an essay.

It is also possible to go through an internal public service competition.

Salary of a Public Finance Officer

The salary depends on the grade and step. In addition to this main remuneration, which increases with seniority, various allowances and bonuses are added.

The average net monthly salary of an administrative agent is around $ 1,800 for a man or a woman, varying from $ 1,500 to $ 2,200 over the course of his career.

(Source: Insee statistics).

Opportunities and evolutions of the Public Finance Officer

Thanks to his civil servant status, the public finance officer can evolve through internal competitions which can lead him to the profession of public finance controller, or even inspector.