Summary The position is located in the Resource Management (RM) Finance Section of the Member Services (MS). The employee performs a variety of complex accounting duties utilizing knowledge of professional accounting principles and procedures to complete assignments. The employee will be responsible for the overall accounting, analytical and technical support for the Member Services programs serviced in Atlanta, GA, Canandaigua, NY, Topeka, KS, Fort Riley KS, Hot Springs South Dakota, and Waco, TX. Responsibilities This job announcement will remain open for 5 business days. The initial application review cut-off for this job announcement is 100 applications. The first 100 applications received will be considered first. Applications received after the initial cut-off number (100 applications) may not receive consideration unless otherwise requested by management. Major duties include but are not limited to: Maintains an integrated, double entry accounting system for the MS in accordance with the standard Government and Veteran Affairs regulations Develops, interprets, recommends, and implements fiscal and accounting policies, procedures and reports Advises and assists management on accounting and financial management matters Operates as a technical expert and advisor for the Financial Management System (FMS) accounting system Determines the nature of errors and makes adjustments in the correct appropriation to a variety of interrelated accounts Prepares reconciliations of the general ledger to subsidiary accounts, accruals, adjusting journal entries, accounting reports and special reports as requested by management Manipulates data into several spreadsheets to disseminate information to managers/other departments for review, analysis and use in updating and/or responding to required processes Updates employee debt collections, inputs salary offsets and other employee pay related issues and is involved in many other program audits involving costs, obligation and receivable accounting issues Leads in various accounting functions/projects and provide guidance, knowledge and assistance to other team members to accomplish functional project goals and objectives. In the absence of the supervisor, may assign work to other staff members, providing guidance, direction, and assistance on work assignments Updates employee debt collections, inputs salary offsets and other employee pay related issues and is involved in many other program audits involving costs, obligation and receivable accounting issues Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Remote: Must reside within 50 miles of a VA Medical Center (does not include Outpatient Clinics (CBOC), Vet Clinics, etc.) in the contiguous U.S. or a Member Services location in the following cities: Atlanta, Georgia; Topeka, Kansas; Fort Riley, KS; Canandaigua, New York; Waco, Texas. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Accountant/PD00232A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation 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, 10/15/2024. 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-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: This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) that must be met and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the below IOR will be rated not qualified. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): 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; 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. (Transcript must be submitted with student name, courses attempted, credit hours received in applicable coursework and major; degree conferred date must also be on transcript if degree has been awarded) In addition to meeting the basic entry qualification requirements, applicants must have specialized experience and/or directly related education. You must meet 3 out of the 5 following examples of specialized experience. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: (1) Processing VHA Account Receivable transactions (2) Using Federal financial systems; FMS, VISTA, IPPS, and G-Invoicing (3) Managing and processing VHA obligations and payment financial transactions (4) Completing daily and monthly VHA reconciliations (5) Performing a variety of accounting duties utilizing knowledge of professional accounting principles and procedures to complete assignments OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. 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. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond the second year. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages; must equal to 100 percent. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accounting Accounting Operations Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Decision Making 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: The work is primarily sedentary with some carrying of computer reports, boxes, and ledgers 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/. Education A transcript 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 here: 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://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.