This position is located in the St. Petersburg VA Regional Office (VARO), The incumbent serves as an Accountant in the Support Services Division. The purpose of the work is to ensure accurate reporting of all accounting, cost, and budget data, and to facilitate the efficient use of allocated funds for the Regional Office (RO). Assists management in providing analytical and organizational expertise for all division activities, including financial, budgetary, and administrative.

Duties

Examine, certify and audit vouchers submitted for payment, while assessing compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures. Establish and maintain internal controls systems with a special emphasis on the operational areas identified as having a high risk of fraud, waste, and abuse. Ability to communicate either by phone or correspondence with veterans, fiduciary, other offices with inquiry results. Prepare fiscal, administrative, and other statistical reports as deemed appropriate and/or as required and serves on such other projects as directed. Respond to inquiries from Congressional Offices, Regional Counsel and Office of IG. Thorough understanding of the various benefit programs and the payment procedures and regulations applicable to each program administered by the Department. Independently performs reviews for accuracy and consistency of data such as audits, debts, and reimbursement. Ensures that recurring reports are accurately complied and completed on time. Provide technical advice to all Regional Office employees on complex and unusual benefit award adjustments, special payment issues, and accounts receivable actions on the applicable computer applications. Use specific VA computer applications, in additions to Microsoft Excel, Word and other electronic database applications. Perform accounting reviews and payment function checks for discrepancies and advises management with proposes plans to prevent future unassociated funds situations. Provide administration support to management staff for personnel management, budget administration, procurement, and other financial related activities.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A probationary period may be required for employees and supervisors.
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/24/2023. The Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) Individual Occupational requirements and/or group qualification standards covering white collar occupations in the Federal competitive service can be found: Here You will have to meet both the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) and the Specialized Experience as described below: To meet the IOR you must have: Basic Requirements - A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. (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" in this standard. 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 which includes 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; or 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 response 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 response 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. I have supplied a copy of all of my transcripts to support this education claim. AND Specialized Experience: GS-09: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the federal service. Specialized experience is work experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: (1)professional working experience that would typically include basic accounting and budgetary methods and procedures; (2) experience using and inputting data into financial systems: AND (3) experience assisting in the preparation of financial statements and reports. OR Applicants may substitute Graduate Education education to qualify for grade GS-09: Applicants may substitute education for experience with an awarded master's or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college or university, or two full years (36 semester hours or 54 quarter hours) of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. This graduate degree or education must be in accounting or in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration. If you are claiming to qualify based on your education, your application must include an official or unofficial copy of graduate level transcripts that demonstrate this information. OR Applicants may substitute a combination of graduate education and specialized experience to qualify for grade GS-9. If you have some, but not all, of the graduate education described above AND less than one full year of the specialized experience described above, you may qualify by combining the amount of creditable education and experience that you do have. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level, and earned toward a master's degree, may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-9. To calculate, first identify the education you have earned beyond your first year of study as a percentage of a total of two years of study. Then identify the number of months of specialized experience you have as a percentage of 12 months. Add the two percentages. The total must equal at least 100 percent in order to be qualifying. For example, an applicant who has 27 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required beyond the first 18 credit hours earned) and who has 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e., 50% of the one year of specialized experience required) would meet 100% and thus be qualified for the position. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-9. If you are claiming to qualify based on your education, your application must include an official or unofficial copy of graduate level transcripts that demonstrate this information. GS 11 To qualify at the GS-11 level: Applicants must have One year of specialized experience which was equivalent to the (GS-09) level. Specialized experience is defined as: professional working experience that typically include: (1) develop and use spreadsheets to track income and expenses, (2) prepare cost estimates, budget forecasts and other accounting reports; (3) interpret and apply accounting regulation in a large organization; (4) prepare and present accounting procedures or reports; AND (5) implement and monitor procedures to ensure policy compliance. OR Education: A PhD or equivalent degree or three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree may be substituted. This graduate degree or education must be in accounting or in a related field such as business administration, finance, or public administration. If you are claiming to qualify based on your education, your application must include an official or unofficial copy of graduate level transcripts that demonstrate this information. OR Combination of Education and Experience: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education totaling to 100% of the requirements for the position. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). NOTE: 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.

Education

An unofficial or official copy of your transcripts 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: 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://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Contacts

• Address St Petersburg Regional Benefit Office 9500 Bay Pines Boulevard Bay Pines, FL 33744 US
• Name: HRC-Detroit DEU
• Phone: 313-596-7213
• Email: [email protected]