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Accountant-Pathways Recent Graduate

General Services Administration
Office of the Chief Financial Officer
This job announcement has closed

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.

Location of position: General Services Administration, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Kansas City, MO

We are currently filling one vacancy, but additional vacancies may be filled through this announcement in this or other GSA organizations within the same commuting area.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
11/23/2022 to 12/06/2022
Salary
$36,575 to - $58,894 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 05 - 07
Location
Kansas City, MO
Few vacancies
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Occasional Travel
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Recent graduates - The initial length of the job is one year but may become permanent.
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
23STFA047LHOTR
Control number
690947900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Recent Graduates: If you completed a qualifying degree within the previous two years, you may apply. If you are a veteran who was prevented from applying during the 2-year period due to your military service, you may apply if your degree was completed within the last 6 years. Enrolled students: If you will complete your degree requirements by closing date of this vacancy, you may apply

Duties

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In an Accountant developmental capacity, you will perform the following duties:

Duties at the GS-05 Grade Level

  • Review limited types of financial documents and reports and works with higher-level accountants to develop solutions to increasingly more difficult problems.
  • Serve as liaison for accounting, budgeting and entitlement matters.
  • Examine accounting data and reports to increase familiarity with the content. Report the financial information produced by the payroll and other interfacing systems for use by management and clients.
  • Observe the management of operating programs and organizations in order to develop the knowledge and skills required to suggest approaches to be taken and avenues to be explored in putting accounting data to effective management use. Observe joint reviews with senior accountants and program managers to ensure procedural compliance with accounting principles, laws, regulations, and policies.
  • Review laws, regulations, policies and directives promulgated by higher authority to become familiar with their content until experience and knowledge of local activity increases sufficient to then determine the impact of these regulations and directives locally.

Duties at the GS-07 Grade Level

  • Evaluate reports and data to determine that transactions are being properly charged to the appropriate user. Coordinate the issuance and distribution of prescribed financial reports and identifies exceptions requiring management attention.
  • Review existing reports and accounts to identify any inaccuracies and providing feedback orally or in writing as requested.
  • Analyze accounting transactions in terms of their effect on assets, liabilities and equity of the particular program and correct routine errors.
  • Maintaining liaison and effective day-to-day working relationship with operating officials to improve work flow, clarify instructions, correct errors, and learn about operational problems to be resolved.
  • Ensure day-to-day operations of the accounting system or segment thereof are carried out in accordance with established accounting principles, policies, and objectives.
  • Review routine accounting activities including accounting automated systems, accounting data, transactions, ledgers, accounts, summary reports, and financial statements.

This position has job functions that must be executed within a specific geographic location. The official duty station is a federal facility, leased space, or an alternative worksite (typically the employee’s home). Positions include routine telework and remote work arrangements that are geographically specific to:

  • Kansas City, MO

The duty station will be located within the geographic area described.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • US Citizenship or National (Residents of American Samoa and Swains Island)
  • Applicant must provide college transcript(s)

If selected, you must meet the following conditions:

  • Receive authorization from OPM on any job offer you receive, if you are or were (within the last 5 years) a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch.
  • Serve a one year probationary 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.

Qualifications

For each job on your resume, provide:

  • the exact dates you held each job (from month/year to month/year)
  • number of hours per week you worked (if part time).

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.

For a brief video on creating a Federal resume, click here.

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.

Accountant Qualifications:

Basic Requirements: You must have either A or B, or C:

  1. Degree in accounting
  2. 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
  3. A combination of college level education and experience.

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; or
  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.

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

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.  

Qualifications at the GS-05 Grade Level

The GS-05 salary range starts at $36,575 per year. Applicants who meet the basic requirements described above, meet the GS-05 level qualification requirement.

Qualifications at the GS-07 Grade Level

The GS-07 salary range starts at $45,306 per year. In addition to the Basic Requirements, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience in basic accounting systems, methods, practices, and procedures. OR 1 year of graduate-level education OR Superior Academic Achievement.

Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) at the baccalaureate level is fully qualifying at the GS-07 level. 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://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

Bargaining Unit Status: 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 are not approved and will be your responsibility.
GSA is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility that goes beyond our compliance with EEO regulations including: 
  • Valuing and embracing diversity, promoting equity, inclusion and accessibility, and expecting cultural competence; and
  • Fostering a work environment where all employees, customers and stakeholders feel respected and valued.
Our commitment is: 
  • Reflected in our policies, procedures and work environment;
  • Recognized by our employees, customers and stakeholders; and
  • Drives our efforts to recruit, attract, retain and engage the diverse workforce needed to achieve our mission.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will use a method called Category Rating to assess your application. Here’s how it will work:

You will be scored on the questions you answer during the application process, which will measure your possession of the following competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities:

  1. Knowledge required to gather and analyze operational accounting data for a variety of reports.
  2. Ability to apply established accounting principles, theories, techniques and methodology in order to resolve problems of a technical nature.
  3. Knowledge of the structure, policies, procedures and operating details of an accounting system.
  4. Knowledge of basic accounting systems, methods, practices, and procedures.

Your answers to the questions will be used to place you in one of the following categories and standard score ranges:

  • Best Qualified = Candidates scoring between 95 - 100
  • Well Qualified = Candidates scoring between 85 - 94 (Well Qualified for CTAP/ICTAP)
  • Qualified = Candidates scoring between 70 - 84

We will verify your answers to the questions in your resume. If your resume doesn’t support your answers, we may lower your score, which could place you in a lower category.

Within each category, veterans will receive selection priority over non-veterans.

Additional hurdle assessments, such as narrative responses or other assessments, may be administered to applicants who meet the requirements of the first hurdle, e.g., the minimum qualification requirements. If additional assessments are used, you will be provided with further instructions.

If you are eligible under Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan or GSA’s Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP/CTAP), you must receive a score of 85 or higher to receive priority.


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