DutiesSpecific duties include: - Serves as a Certifying Officer for daily Veteran and beneficiary payments, analyzes payment vouchers to accounting reports, and verifies funding
- Analyzes and interprets laws, regulations, decisions, and directives of other governmental bodies which have an impact on VBAFC's C&P and EDU Benefit Programs financial accounting and reporting systems
- Ensures all entries used to record accounting events are accurate and meet guidance provided by Treasury and others
- Plans, organizes, monitors, controls, and executes projects of short-term and long-term duration to ensure its quality and timely completion
- Assists in developing, maintaining, and administering a complex set of automated systems/subsystems to produce accurate and timely financial/accounting information
- Responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the official accounting records and documents for all VA Benefit Programs
- Analyzes mandatory or discretionary funding and projection of needs based on historical trends and expected growth
- Performs and provides analysis and advice on financial matters associated with control of funds for Management officials and administrators
- Solves complex reporting problems encountered in the review, analysis, reconciliation, and consolidation of various accounting and financial reporting applicable to VBAFC appropriations and funds
- Serves as the VBA Finance Center business lead and representative in the development, implementation, and operation of all systems affecting the programs supported by the Center
- Estimates, monitors, and reports on status and progress of work and meets established milestones and deadlines for completion of assignments, projects, and tasks
- Researches, learns, and applies a wide range of qualitative and/or quantitative methods to identify, assess, analyze, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of work products
- Responsible for the application of appropriate problem-solving techniques, work methods, practices, and procedures, and identifies the parameters of a viable solution
- Assists in the development of business requirements
- Performs as a liaison for both internal and external audits
- Responsible for Finance Center website modifications and maintenance
- Estimates, monitors, and reports on status and progress of work and meets established milestones and deadlines for completion of assignments, projects, and tasks
- Provides financial advice and assistance for internal agency operating accounting programs to include research in direct support of the mission and organization objectives
- Provides technical training and professional assistance to VBA Finance Center staff on accounting policies and procedures
- Articulates and communicates assignments, projects, problems to be solved, actionable events, milestones, and/or programs issues under review, and deadlines/timeframes for completion
- Performs financial or management reporting functions for which the Center is responsible
- Develops guidance to supplement guidelines received from VA Central Office, OMB, GAO, or Department of Treasury
- Initiates written communication and independently composes documents, correspondence, and reports involving complex or technical information, standard operating procedures, and business requirements
- Independently prepares reports from a variety of sources identifying problem areas and containing analysis and recommendations for improvement
Promotion Potential: None .Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday, 8am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Available Virtual: This is a virtual position Position Description/PD#: Accountant (Senior Accountant); GS-0510-13, 41859-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required RequirementsConditions 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
QualificationsTo qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/08/2024. 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. To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50). The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50 that indicates proof of status, and shows Time in Grade (for example, you were a career or career-conditional employee) and identifies your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). 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 also submit your most recent promotion or within-grade increase in addition to your recent SF-50. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. DO NOT submit Award SF-50's and/or General Adjustment SF-50's as they cannot be used to prove time-in-grade. - For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-13 Grade Level:- Specialized Experience: You must have 1 year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 in order to qualify for this position. Specialized experience includes:
- The work level is characterized as broad and highly difficult assignments requiring the full range of accounting, reporting, and analytical duties. The incumbent must have extensive professional knowledge of the theory, principles, concepts, and practices of accounting to apply this knowledge to broad and difficult assignments. This entails the ability to develop and promulgate accounting policies and standards covering all financial system operations or to resolve problems of above average difficulty in maintaining accounting systems. The incumbent must have a thorough knowledge of governmental accounting practices and procedures including those established by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Treasury, OMB, and GAO to design, modify, administer, or analyze accounting systems or programs. The incumbent must exercise initiative, resourcefulness, and mature judgment. Deals tactfully and convincingly with Management, staff members, and others within and outside of the organization regarding the coordination of policies and operating procedures. The work is characterized by solving accounting problems in particularly difficult and responsible circumstances. The Accountant may have major responsibilities in accounting systems development, design, or operations and maintains responsibilities with overall responsibility for VBA Finance Center system operations. The work includes advising the Center Director, Deputy Director, and staff as well as preparing written regular or special purpose reports that accurately reflect findings and recommendations regarding accounting and financial system operations. The incumbent typically works with a variety of accounting and financial systems in environments where there is significant interface with automated management systems. The Accountant is an expert in multiple aspects of VA Benefit Program accounting and its application and financial reporting.
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Basic requirement:
The 0510- Accounting series has a basic individual occupational requirement (IOR). In addition to meeting the specialized experience, you must meet the the IOR and fully support your qualification by uploading documentation to your application. The IOR for the Accountant (Senior Accountant) GS-0510-13 is as follows:
Basic Requirements- 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 - 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.
Volunteer Experience: 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. Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week. Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary but involves use of a personal computer. A degree of manual dexterity and visual acuity enough to utilize these tools are required. Occasional standing, bending, walking, and stooping may also be experienced. Some slight physical effort is required in that incumbent lifts and carries reference books, working papers, and similar items to and from meetings. A moderate amount of standing and walking is required in getting to and from meeting places away from the worksite. The incumbent may become fatigued due to reading difficult types of printed and handwritten material over an extended period. No special physical demands are required For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. EducationEducation must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit. Additional informationVA 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.
The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.
Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits. Review our benefits Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
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