Job opening: Accountant
Salary: $49 025 - 128 956 per year
Published at: Jan 18 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
PLEASE NOTE: Based on the current hiring restrictions, selectees may be subject to additional approvals prior to an offer being extended.
This position is located at Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Administrative Resource Center, Transaction Management Division. As an Accountant, you will be responsible for administering ARC systems; preparing and issuing annual financial statements and schedules as well as various budget, accounting, and management reports.
Duties
The following are the duties of this position at the GS-12. If you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties, and will receive training to help you grow in this position.
Develop policies, guidelines, procedures, and controls for central and agency accounting related issues. Ensure that procedures are in compliance with statute, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and with guidelines issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Fiscal Service, the Department, and other relevant authoritative sources.
Prepare, review, and analyze financial statements for submission that are in compliance with governing regulations. In addition, the incumbent is responsible for routine financial, budget, and management reports that are submitted to the Department, OMB, the United States Congress, and other stakeholders.
Assist in the development and implementation of effective cash management and reporting policies and procedures for Fiscal Service stakeholders relating to the cash accounts of the Treasury.
Responsible for specific reconciliation, reports, and or audit support which are relied on in part or in whole to produce daily, monthly, or other periodic statements. This may include reconciling a variety of general ledger accounts, resolving accounting problems, and ensuring appropriate actions are taken to correct problems.
Qualifications
You must meet the following requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé.
Specialized experience: For the GS-12, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service that is directly related to the position and which has equipped the candidate with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this grade must include 3 of the following:
- Operating, maintaining or monitoring financial management systems; AND
- Researching and analyzing accounting documents; AND
- Interpreting and applying accounting policies and procedures; AND
- Independently conducting special studies or specialized projects and assignments.
Specialized experience: For the GS-11, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service that is directly related to the position and which has equipped the candidate with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this grade must include:
- Interpreting and applying accounting standards, policies, and procedures; AND
- Preparing reconciliations, reports or audits; AND
- Participating on audits, reviews, or management requested studies of financial statements or operations.
OR You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree
OR You may qualify by a combination of experience and education. To combine education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the requirement must equal at least 100 percent. . Only graduate level education in excess of the first 36 semester hours (54 quarter hours) may be combined to be considered for qualifying education.
Specialized experience: For the GS-09, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service that is directly related to the position and which has equipped the candidate with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this grade must include:
-Examining, analyzing and interpreting accounting data, records, and reports; AND
- Participating on audits, reviews, or specialized projects or studies of financial statements and operations; AND
- Experience in operating and maintaining automated accounting systems sufficient to process accounting documents or perform research and analysis.
OR You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree.
OR You may qualify by a combination of experience and education. To combine education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of the first 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) may be combined to be considered for qualifying education.
Specialized experience: For the GS-07, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service that is directly related to the position and which has equipped the candidate with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this grade must include:
- Operating, maintaining or monitoring financial management systems; AND
- Preparing reconciliations, reports or audits.
OR You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: completed at least 1 full year of graduate level education (18 semester hours, 27 quarter hours or equivalent) or have a bachelor's degree and meet one of the following requirements for superior academic achievement: A GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses or those completed in the last 2 years of study, or a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all courses in the major field of study or those courses in the major completed in the last 2 years of study, or rank in the upper one third of the class in the college, university, or major subdivision, or membership in a national honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.
OR You may qualify by a combination of experience and education. To combine education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the requirement must equal at least 100 percent.
Options for qualifying based on a combination will be identified in the online questions.
In addition to the above requirements, you must meet the following time-in-grade requirement, if applicable:
For the GS-12, you must have been at the GS-11 level for 52 weeks.
For the GS-11, you must have been at the GS-09 level for 52 weeks.
For the GS-09, you must have been at the GS-07 level for 52 weeks.
For the GS-07, you must have been at the GS-05 level for 52 weeks.
Education
Education Requirements:
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. 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.