Clarification from the agency

Current permanent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs ONLY.

Videos

The Accountant position is located in a VA Medical Center within the Midsouth Healthcare Network (VISN 9). The Accountant is organizationally aligned within the Fiscal Service. The major duties of this position include but are not limited to:

• Displays knowledge of and applies new and old VA accounting principles, concepts, and methodologies to routine day to day operations.
• Receives data submitted to finance, analyze for accuracy, and record in accordance with policy by processing appropriate transactions.
• Maintains accurate financial records and validates data through the completion of periodic reconciliations.
• Provides back-up support and training to Accounting Technicians and other Accountants.
• Communicates efficiently/effectively with external customers as well as internal Finance staff.
• Periodically completes reports for management or other stakeholders. Promptly notifies management of irregularities.
• Builds and maintain healthy working relationships with internal and external customers.
• Obtains access to and safeguards data provided in financial and subsidiary systems.
• Responsible for maintaining appropriate daily transactions and updating records, subsidiary journals, operating ledger accounts, and fund control points.
• Assists with the internal and external audits and reviews.

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 | 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM CST
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Accountant/PD70293A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of items such as papers or books.

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
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/04/2026.

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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5.
• For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7.
• For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9.

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.

• Examples of appropriate SF-50s include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Individual Occupational Requirements: This occupation also has Individual Occupational Requirements. The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. To qualify for the GS 0510 occupational series, applicants MUST have one of the following:

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; (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.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: In addition to the Time-in-Grade Requirement and Individual Occupational Requirement, you must also meet the specialized experience/education requirement as described below to qualify for the Accountant position at the GS-7/9/11 grade levels.

Specialized Experience for GS-7, GS-9, GS-11 is defined as:

• Applying professional accounting theories, concepts, practices, principles, methods and techniques to programming, budgeting and financial systems.
• Utilizing analytical tools and research techniques to solve accounting issues and providing recommendations for improvement.
• Knowledge and experience maintaining fund accounts.
• Preparing financial statements and reports.
• Monitoring, analyzing, and reconciling a variety of accounting reports, ledgers and data utilizing financial management and automated accounting systems.
• Advising and presenting briefings on finances.
• Developing and providing training on queries to standard systems and the use of individual applications.
• Project management and delegating assignments to accounting staff.
• Reviewing the work of accounting staff to assure accuracy and conformity to policy and procedure and providing feedback for improvement.
• Collaborating with systems personnel on designing automated systems to facilitate the processing of data;
• Planning and coordinating accounting closeouts or reorganization events.

GS-7 QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT

GS-7 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience as stated above equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

OR

EDUCATION: 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement

OR

COMBINATION OF SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this GS 07 level.

GS-9 QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT

GS-9 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience as stated above equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

OR

EDUCATION: 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree

OR

COMBINATION OF SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this GS 09 level.

GS-11 QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT

GS-11 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

OR

EDUCATION: 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

OR

COMBINATION OF SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: You must have one year of specialized experience as stated above equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position.

• Control of Funds
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Principles of Accounting

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.