Accountant

This position is a Career-Ladder position. The duties described are for the full-performance level. At developmental grade levels, assignments will be of more limited scope, performed with less independence and limited complexity.

The duties may include, but are not limited to

Assist the lead accountant to determine if any new national accounting and financial management systems that are designed, developed, and implemented include the proper accounting and financial requirements prescribed by central guidance agencies.

Assist the lead or supervisory accountant to ensure the systems are configured properly and that transactions post to the proper general ledger accounts.

Work with the National Finance Center, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and agency lead or supervisory accountant to prepare the agency's financial statements.

Assist lead accountant in coordinating agency-specific components of the financial statements, such as the overview, performance measures, imputed costs, elimination entries, and agency-specific information for the financial statements.

Review and interpret financial statements for Agency programs as assigned.

Serve as the agency point of contact with Office of the Inspector General (OIG) during its audit of the agency or consolidated USDA financial statements.

Review and reconcile agency trial balances, subsidiary ledgers with the general ledger and budget cost data; identify and correct erroneous balances and transactions. subsidiary ledgers with the general ledger and budget cost data.

Provide technical assistance and professional advice to managers and others concerned on matters of financial input, accounting controls, and financial reporting responsibilities of the Branch.

Analyze financial and accounting issues and problems. Recommend courses of actions and solutions commensurate to the grade level.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

BASIC REQUIREMENT: 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. -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 oneof 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.

AND FOR THE GS-07 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-05 grade level) that demonstrates: (1) basic knowledge of general ledger accounts and with moderate guidance the ability to execute general accounting transactions and ensuring proper processing by validating the trial balance; (2) With moderate guidance generates a variety of financial reports for examination, analysis and preparing summary entries for processing the core accounting system; and (3) Ability to document basic accounting processes to assist in the preparation of standard operating procedures. -OR- Education Substitution: 1 year of graduate-level education (education must be related and clearly show that it provides the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work; transcripts must be provided in application documents) -OR- Superior Academic Achievement: To qualify based on superior academic achievement, you must have completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution AND 1) have a class standing in the upper third of the graduating class, 2) membership in a national scholastic honor society (excluding Freshman honor societies), or 3) must meet certain GPA requirements.

GPA requirements: 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on official transcripts or as computed based on 4 years of education, or courses completed during the final 2 year of the curriculum; OR 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required course completed in the major field or courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum (GPA will be rounded to one decimal place, e.g., 2.95 rounds to 3.0 and 2.94 rounds to 2.9). -OR- COMBINATION OF EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE AT THE GS-05 GRADE LEVEL: Applicants may have combinations of successfully completed education and specialized experience to meet total qualification requirements.

The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for that grade level. TRANSCRIPTS are required if: This position requires specific coursework or a degree in a specific field to be basically qualified. You are qualifying for the position based on education.

You are qualifying for this position based on a combination of experience and education. You are qualifying for this position based on Superior Academic Achievement. This education must have been successfully completed and obtained from an accredited school, college, or university.

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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.