Clarification from the agency

ALL US CITIZENS DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.205) for this occupation.

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The Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC) is a two-division campus located in Cincinnati, OH and Fort Thomas, KY serving 15 counties in Southwest OH, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana with 6 Community Based Outpatient Clinics located in Bellevue, KY; Florence, KY; Lawrenceburg, IN; Hamilton, OH; Clermont County, OH, and Georgetown, OH. The CVAMC also supports two off main campus locations in the Cincinnati area via an Eye Center and Mental Health Outreach Community Division.

• Incumbent works to ensure the accuracy of the reporting of all accounting, cost, and budget data and to facilitate the efficient use of allocated funds. Provides financial advise and performs financial assistance work for internal agency operating programs.
• Incumbent is responsible for maintaining appropriate daily transactions and updating records, computer-generated hard copy listing, subsidiary journals, operating ledger accounts and fund control points. VA currently uses the Federal Management System (FMS), which is designed to integrate with IFCAP (Integrated Funds Distribution Control Point Activity, Accounting and Procurement).
• Incumbent must develop and maintain such controls as may be necessary to assure that Accounting records accurately reflect the financial condition of the Cincinnati VAMC.
• Incumbent serves as the technical accounting advisor to the Accounting Technicians. Identifies training needs and develops methods to provide the necessary training of new accounting employees and is available for questions on work from any current employee needing help.
• Incumbent is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Accounting Section relative to matters of policy, interpretation of regulations and procedures which are considered to be of greater than average difficulty.
• Incumbent is responsible for ascertaining that sufficient cash is available for the disbursement of funds of such purposes as travel, supplies, services and equipment.
• Incumbent is responsible for advising on proper procedures to be followed when procedures have not been disseminated or have to be developed locally to meet station needs. Incumbent may be called upon to attend meetings concerning financial matters and inter-service relations.
• Act as a principle staff member of the Financial Management Section and attends both formal and informal management meetings.
• Incumbent is responsible for verifying, analyzing and/or reconciling a very large number of computer generated reports validating General Ledger control accounts to their related subsidiary records maintained in Finance, A&MMS, Voluntary Services, Medical Administration, Research, Prosthetics and Engineering and Facilities Management Services.
• Incumbent is responsible for reconciliations of hard copy documents to reports generated by AEMS/MERS, PAID, IFCAP, FMS, Fixed Asset Sub-System, and other computerized systems affecting the General Ledger.
• Incumbent reviews and recommends amendments and changes to training guides and manuals developed for IFCAP.
• Incumbent is responsible for identifying the needs of the section, including but not limited to manpower, equipment, supplies and space, as well as identify methods to reduce costs in these areas.
• The incumbent will cover during the absence of the Chief, Accounting Section.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: Not eligible
Telework: Not eligible
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Operating Accountant/PD084770
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Physical Requirements: he work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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 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 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, 03/13/2026.


You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• BASIC REQUIREMENTS.
  • A. Bachelor's degree (or higher) in 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, which includes: 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. Your 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. (COPY OF CERTIFICATE REQUIRED)

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 above, provided that:
  • (1) you have successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field, e.g., valuation engineering or financial institution examining;
  • (2) a panel of at least two higher level professional accountants or auditors has determined that you have 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 above; and
  • (3) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, your education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

In addition to the Basic Requirements outlined above, applicants must also meet the specialized experience/education requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience/Education GS-9, Accountant:

• A. Specialized Experience. You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service that equips you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of an Accountant at GS-09 grade level. Specialized Experience is defined as: planning, establishing and maintaining a commercial-type double entry accounting system covering several appropriations, revolving funds, general post funds, personal funds of patients, research, grants and construction appropriations; serving as the technical accounting advisor to the Accounting Technicians; responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the Accounting Section relative to matters of policy, interpretation of regulations and procedures which are considered to be of greater than average difficulty; advising on proper procedures to be followed when procedures have not been disseminated or have to be developed locally to meet station needs; and providing exemplary customer service to internal and external customers. Note: Must be demonstrated in your resume.

OR,

• B. Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level, you must have successfully completed 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this.

OR,

• C. Combination of Experience and Education: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at both grade levels. You must have a combination of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first year) and 6 months of specialized experience, as described above, to meet the total requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position.

Specialized Experience/Education GS-11, Accountant:

• A. Specialized Experience. You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service that equips you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of an Accountant at GS-09 grade level. Specialized Experience is defined as: planning, establishing and maintaining a commercial-type double entry accounting system covering several appropriations, revolving funds, general post funds, personal funds of patients, research, grants and construction appropriations; serving as the technical accounting advisor to the Accounting Technicians; responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the Accounting Section relative to matters of policy, interpretation of regulations and procedures which are considered to be of greater than average difficulty; advising on proper procedures to be followed when procedures have not been disseminated or have to be developed locally to meet station needs; and providing exemplary customer service to internal and external customers. Note: Must be demonstrated in your resume.

OR,

• B. Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level, you must have successfully completed 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this.

OR,

• C. Combination of Experience and Education: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at both grade levels. You must have a combination of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first year) and 6 months of specialized experience, as described above, to meet the total requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position.

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: Work is sedentary, filing and boxing prior and current year papers to move to VA's main records and storage vault is performed regularly. The work is performed in an office setting.

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/.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Accountability
• Arithmetic/Mathematical Reasoning
• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

USA Hire Assessments include a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.