Accountant

Summary

Are you a graduating student or a recent grad?  Join our Pathways Recent Graduate Program! This one-year program offers professional and technical training, mentoring and developmental opportunities.
We are currently filling 2 vacancies, but additional vacancies may be filled as needed.

Duties

This position is in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, which provides policy leadership in strategic planning, budgeting and financial management to GSA. As an Accountant, you will:

• Review financial and/or management reports and assist in interpreting trends, spotting abnormal fluctuations and determining and/or recording required adjustments.
• Evaluate reports and data to determine that the effect of transactions are being properly charged to the appropriate user.
• Participate in ensuring that the day-to-day operations of the system or segments thereof are carried out in accordance with accounting principles, policies, and objectives of the accounting system.
• Analyze transactions in terms of their effect on assets, liabilities, and equity of the particular program and direct the correction of errors.
• Serve as a point of contact or reference in the handling of routine problems, either providing solutions derived from the direct application of well-established principles and practices or referring the problem to the supervisor.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• US Citizenship or National (Residents of American Samoa and Swains Island)

If selected, you must meet the following conditions:

• Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non­Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.
• Register with the Selective Service, if you are a male born after 12/31/1959.
• Serve a one-year trial period, if required.
• Undergo and pass a background investigation (Tier 2 investigation level).
• Have your identity and work status eligibility verified if you are not a GSA employee. We will use the Department of Homeland Security’s e-Verify system for this. Any discrepancies must be resolved as a condition of continued employment.
• Signed participant agreement is required for employment under this Program.

Qualifications

To evaluate your qualifications, your resume must clearly demonstrate how you meet the specialized experience described below. Your resume must not exceed two pages. To ensure your qualifications can be fully evaluated, we recommend including the following information: 

• Name, address, telephone number, email address;

• Job Title (if Federal Service, provide series and grade; if not in GS plan, provide GS equivalent grade);

• Relevant work experience—should include employer name, job title, start and end dates (month/year), the number of hours worked per week and descriptions that explain how you meet the required qualifications in the job announcement.

• Education, certifications or licensures—If the job announcement requires any education, certifications or licensures, make sure to include the required information and any required documents like transcripts.

Your resume should contain enough information to make a valid determination that you fully meet experience requirements for each grade level you are applying to. If you do not provide enough information for us to determine your qualifications, you may be rated ineligible.

If you have volunteered your service through a National Service program (e.g., Peace Corps, Americorps), we encourage you to apply and include this experience on your resume.

The GS-05 salary range starts at $41,400 per year.

The GS-07 salary range starts at $51,283 per year.

If you are a new federal employee, your starting salary will likely be set at the Step 1 of the grade for which you are selected.

This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcript(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcements to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment.  

Accountant Basic Education Requirement: (you must meet A or B)

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; AND; (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.

Refer to OPM’s Accounting Qualification Standard for more information.

To qualify at the GS-05 level

To qualify at the GS-05 level, you need to meet the Accountant Basic Education Requirement listed above.

To qualify at the GS-07 level

To qualify at the GS-07 level, you must meet the Accountant Basic Education Requirement listed above AND at least one of the following:

Specialized Experience: at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is work that provided a general knowledge of accounting procedures; review and analysis of prepared financial reports; and responsibility for entering and maintaining subsidiary ledgers; OR

Education Substitution: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate level education (18 semester hours or the equivalent) in accounting and/or auditing, or in a related field such as business administration, finance or public administration; OR

Combination of Education and Experience: combination of graduate level education and appropriate experience that together meet the qualification requirements of this position; OR

Superior Academic Achievement (SAA).  To claim SAA, submit documentation of one of the following:
1.      Class standing -- You must be in the upper third of your graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.
2.      Grade-point average (rounded to one decimal point) of:

1. 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of your curriculum; or
2. 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in your major field or the required courses in your major field completed during your final 2 years of the curriculum.

3.      Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society in one of the national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies.

Education

Note: 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

Candidates will not be hired based on their race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.

Applicants are encouraged to make their resume searchable in their USAJOBS.gov profile. This will allow Federal hiring specialists and hiring managers across agencies to find their resume as part of agency recruitment campaigns or staffing searches.

This position is ineligible for the bargaining unit.

If you are selected at a grade lower than the full performance level, you may be promoted up to that grade level without having to re-apply or compete against other applicants.

Relocation-related expenses may be approved on a case-by-case basis.

Additional vacancies may be filled through this announcement in this or other GSA organizations within the same commuting area as needed; through other means; or not at all.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

You will have access to many benefits including:

• Health insurance (choose from a wide range of plans)
• Life insurance coverage with several options
• Sick leave and vacation time, including 11 paid holidays per year
• Thrift Savings Plan (similar to a 401(k) plan)
• Flexible work schedules
• Transit and child care subsidies
• Flexible spending accounts
• Long-term care insurance
• Training and development

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.