Accountant - Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration

Summary The Accountant is responsible for the detailed and efficient operation and control of day-to-day fiscal activities at this facility. The incumbent must be experienced in applying professional concepts and methodologies as well as knowledgeable in functional program characteristics and requirements. This is a career ladder position. This will be filled at the GS-7. Responsibilities The Accountant position is located in a VA Medical Center within the Midsouth Healthcare Network (VISN 9). The Accountant is organizationally aligned within the Fiscal Service. Major duties include, but are not limited to: Plans, establishes, and maintains a commercial-type double entry accounting system covering several appropriations and programs. Develops and maintains controls as may be necessary to assure that accounting records accurately reflect the financial condition of the medical center. Responsible for maintaining appropriate daily transactions and updating records, subsidiary journals, operating ledger accounts and fund control points. Responsible for verifying, analyzing, and/or reconciling a large number of computer generated reports validating general ledger control accounts to their related subsidiary records maintained in Fiscal, Logistics, Engineering, Voluntary Services, etc. Responsible for the preparation, analysis, and submission of a variety of financial statements and reports to local management, VACO management, and other agencies or organizations Develops and furnishes selected accounting date and/or comparative analysis as requested by management or thought useful. Responsible for training new IFCAP and FMS users both inside and outside of Fiscal Service, trouble shooting when problems occur and generating specialized reports for management. Perform other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 8:00AM- 4:30PM Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Accountant/PD30308A and PD30163A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Promotion Potential: This position will be filled at the GS-7 level. This is a career-ladder position. The major duties listed above represent the full performance level of GS-11. At the GS-7/ GS-9 grade level, you will perform assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-11. The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade DOES NOT guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Basis for Selection: Selections for positions will be based on the objective evaluation of the candidates' total qualifications for the position. "Qualifications" means the combination of experience, training, education, skills, knowledges, abilities, personal characteristics, and merit factors deemed to be pertinent to successful performance. Physical Requirements: Work is mostly sedentary but requires considerable typing. walking. speaking on the phone with individuals and in group settings, and working at a computer. Some light lifting, bending and stooping may be required to maintain office files. Work may also require walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and from meetings and conferences away from the worksite Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/03/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Basic Requirements: Individual Occupational Requirements: This occupation also has Individual Occupational Requirements. The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. To qualify for the GS 0510 occupational series, applicants MUST have one of the following: 1. Degree: accounting; or a degree in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting. The 24 hours may include up to 6 hours of credit in business law. (The term "accounting" means "accounting and/or auditing" in this standard. Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.") OR 2. Combination of education and experience: at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. The applicant's background must also include one of the following: Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law; A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; or Completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing, e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24-semester-hour requirement of paragraph A, provided that (a) the applicant has successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining; (b) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that the applicant has demonstrated a good knowledge of accounting and of related and underlying fields that equals in breadth, depth, currency, and level of advancement that which is normally associated with successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in paragraph A; and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, the applicant's education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements. NOTE: CANDIDATES MUST SUBMIT AN UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT OF CONFERRED DEGREE BY THE ANNOUNCEMENT CLOSING. LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements, you must also meet specialized experience as described below to qualify for the Accountant position at the GS-7, GS-9, and/or GS-11 grade level. Specialized Experience for GS7, GS9, GS11 is defined as: Applying professional accounting theories, concepts, practices, principles, methods and techniques to programming, budgeting and financial systems; utilizing analytical tools and research techniques to solve accounting issues and providing recommendations for improvement; knowledge and experience maintaining fund accounts; preparing financial statements and reports; monitoring, analyzing, and reconciling a variety of accounting reports, ledgers, and data utilizing financial management and automated accounting systems; providing training on queries to standard systems and the use of individual applications; project management and delegating assignments to accounting staff; collaborating with systems personnel on designing automated systems to facilitate the processing of data; planning and coordinating accounting closeouts or reorganization events. GS-7 QUALIFICATIONS GS-7 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. OR EDUCATION: 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement (Transcript required) OR COMBINATION OF SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this GS 07 level. GS-9 QUALIFICATIONS GS-9 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. OR EDUCATION: 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree OR COMBINATION OF SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this GS 09 level. GS-11 QUALIFICATIONS GS-11 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. OR EDUCATION: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR COMBINATION OF SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this GS 11 level. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accounting Critical Thinking Interpersonal Skills Problem Solving Technical Competence Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Permanent Employee Status: If you are unsure if you have permanent employee status to be considered for this position, you can verify your status by referring to Box 24 on your most recent SF-50. The box must have a 1 or 2 in order to be considered for this position. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.