Staff Accountant

All qualifications and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. IDEAL CANDIDATE STATEMENT: The ideal candidate for the Staff Accountant possesses a mastery of the concepts, principles and practices of accounting and financial management. The candidate demonstrates meticulous analytical skills and shows initiative conceiving new approaches and/or resolving issues using independent judgment. Exemplary communication skills desired. BASIC EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENT: To be qualified for this position, applicants must meet the basic educational requirements below. 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; or 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. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Applicant must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of a Staff Accountant at the GS-12 grade level. Specialized experience includes: Experience preparing and analyzing financial statements, crosswalks and notes, and working with financial accounting systems and applications; and Experience applying proprietary and budgetary accounting knowledge to review and validate accounts at the transaction level and prepare journal vouchers; and Experience reviewing and analyzing the U.S. Treasury reports to include GTAS (Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System), TROR (Treasury Report on Receivables) and/or General Fund. This experience must be fully supported and articulated in your resume to receive consideration. Please ensure that your resume information is specific, detailed where appropriate, and complete. Please do not cut and paste the position description, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume, as this will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. Substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience may not be used for the GS-12 grade level. For more detailed information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management’s website here. 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; religious; 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.
This position is in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Finance Branch, Financial Reporting Section. The Office of the Chief Financial Officer provides agency wide accounting and financial management services to the Agency. The incumbent of this position performs a variety of accounting duties, utilizing a professional knowledge of accounting principles, theories and procedures. This is a developmental position leading to the full performance grade of GS-0510-13.