To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/03/2025.
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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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.
You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week.
Individual Occupational Requirement:
A)
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". Similarly, "accountant" should be interpreted, generally, as "accountant and/or auditor.");
OR;
B)
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:
- 1. Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality. This can include up to 6 hours of business law (Transcript required); OR;
- 2. A certificate as CPA or a CIA, obtained through written examination (Documentation required); OR;
- 3. 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 (Documentation required); 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.
GS-09 Grade Level Requirements:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the
GS-07 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: exercises judgment in resolving commonly encountered work problems and making deviations; provides administrative support or business accounting systems for payroll, purchases, maintenance, sales, and services.
OR;
Education: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-09 level. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree.
(Transcript required)
OR;
Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-09 level.You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 year of graduate-level education is creditable.
(Transcript required)
GS-11 Grade Level Requirements:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the
GS-09 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: validate a variety of accounting data, reconcile accounts and prepare balance sheets, supply financial statements, plan and conduct studies to determine the requirement for updated financial information, interpret reports and other financial data for program review and analysis, assist management officials in interpreting and applying recorded financial data for management decisions, and establish and maintain local accounting systems for centralized programs.
OR;
Education: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-11 level. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
(Transcript required)
OR;
Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 year of graduate-level education is creditable.
To calculate, first determine the total qualifying education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then determine the experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; finally, add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for that grade level. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
- Accounting Operations
- Analytical Reasoning
- Control of Funds
- Financial Systems
- Internal Controls
- 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/.