Skip to main content
U.S. flag
 

Accountant

Department of Veterans Affairs
Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management
Office of Management, Office of Benefits, VBA Finance Center

Summary

This position is located at the Veterans Benefits Administration Finance Center (VBAFC) and is organizationally aligned within the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Management. The incumbent serves as an Accountant under the supervisions of a Supervisory Accountant and is responsible for conducting professional accounting activities and providing financial management support for VA benefit payment programs and all systems administered or influenced by the VBA Finance Center.

Overview

Help
Accepting applications
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$100,059 - $130,080 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel up to 25% of the time for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
CCLQ-13052738-26-AJT
Control number
883844800

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

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

Duties

Help

  • Administers, monitors, and evaluates accounting systems used to track, reconcile, and report VA benefit program funds.
  • Performs reconciliations between general ledger and subsidiary systems; verifies totals, resolves variances, corrects rejected transactions, and ensures data integrity across accounting environments.
  • Serves as Certifying Officer for daily and recurring beneficiary payments; ensures funding availability and accuracy, reviews, and approves transactions.
  • Conducts funds control, cost analysis, forecasting, and prepares financial statements and reports to support program decisions.
  • Reviews and updates accounting operational procedures to ensure compliance with laws, regulations, and policy; recommends improvements and supports modernization.
  • Analyzes work-process impacts on accounting systems; identifies system requirements and recommends enhancements.
  • Supports evaluation, testing, and validation of new or modified accounting system processes; ensures system accuracy and compliance.
  • Communicates complex accounting and system information to stakeholders; provides training and guidance to staff and others.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Ad-hoc telework (situational telework) available as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Accountant / PD38825A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Help

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: The work is primarily sedentary and requires regular use of a personal computer. Manual dexterity and visual acuity are necessary for data entry, document review, and system analysis. Duties require reading detailed and sometimes difficult printed or handwritten material for extended periods. Occasional standing, walking, or movement to meeting locations is required. No special physical demands are associated with this position.
  • You may be required to serve a probationary period
  • 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.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a one-year probationary period or two-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 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, 09/14/2026.

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

Individual Occupational Requirements: This position includes an Individual Occupation Requirement. Individual Occupational Requirements are requirements e.g., experience or education, for particular occupational series or positions within a series and are used in conjunction with a group coverage (generic) standard. Applicants who do not meet the Individual Occupational Requirements are ineligible for further consideration. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

  • 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
  • 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:
    • 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

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
  • Applies federal accounting principles and authoritative guidance (GAO, Treasury, OMB, VA directives) to resolve complex and recurring accounting issues within benefit payment programs.
  • Administers and reconciles integrated, automated accounting systems, ensuring accuracy and integrity of general ledger, subsidiary records, and financial transactions across multiple appropriations.
  • Performs budget analysis, cost analysis, forecasting, and planning to support funds control, verify funding availability, and certify beneficiary payments.
  • Evaluates and documents internal controls, serves as audit liaison, and drives process improvements through automation and system enhancements.
  • Communicates complex accounting concepts clearly, both orally and in writing to stakeholders, delivers presentations, and training, and collaborates with internal and external partners to resolve financial management issues.
Note: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list series and grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 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.

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/.

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Hines, IL. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 5000 S. 5th Avenue, B215, Hines, IL 60141.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. To be found well qualified, applicants must meet the following qualifications:

  • Demonstrates ability to interpret and implement federal regulations and directives in day-to-day accounting operations.
  • Demonstrates experience with automated financial systems and resolving discrepancies through reconciliation techniques.
  • Demonstrates ability to prepare and analyze financial statements and reports to inform program decisions.
  • Demonstrates success in identifying and implementing improvements to accounting processes and internal controls.
  • Demonstrates experience delivering presentations, training, and collaborating with internal and external partners to resolve financial management issues.
Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

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.

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
  • Accounting Operations
  • Arithmetic/Mathematical Reasoning
  • Attention to Detail
  • Budget Administration
  • Compliance
  • Control of Funds
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Internal Controls
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Oral Communication
  • Principles of Accounting
  • Problem Solving
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork
  • Technical Competence
  • Written Communication


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.

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.

Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans?

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

Agency contact information

Alexandra Terrell
Phone
518-852-7392
Email
alexandra.terrell@va.gov
Address
Office of Management, Office of Benefits, VBA Finance Center
5000 S. Fifth Ave
B215
Hines, IL 60141
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.va.gov/jobs/

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.