Clarification from the agency

ALL US CITIZENS DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.

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 position may be filled as virtual (i.e., the employee may work at a VA facility or VA-leased space other than the facility that is hiring the employee and may telework) and is authorized for telework. VA supports the use of telework and filling virtually to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. Telework eligibility and potential duty location may be discussed during the interview process. Virtual position may be available for highly qualified applicants. Applicant must be willing to comply and report (RTO) to the closest VA Medical Facility.

Position Description Title/PD#: Accountant~30163A

Conditions of employment

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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:

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;
2. A certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor, obtained through written examination; 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; 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.

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-11 grade level.

Specialized Experience for GS11: 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 this occupation. Specialized experience 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; advising and presenting briefings on finances; developing and providing training on queries to standard systems and the use of individual applications; project management and delegating assignments to accounting staff; reviewing the work of accounting staff to assure accuracy and conformity to policy and procedure and providing feedback for improvement; collaborating with systems personnel on designing automated systems to facilitate the processing of data; planning and coordinating accounting closeouts or reorganization events.

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:

To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS 11. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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.

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.

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/.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.

Documents Accepted:

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Other (1)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Documents Required:

• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Transcript

Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application.Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).You will not be contacted for additional information. Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.

Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply. Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.

Applications are accepted online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.

Next steps