Accountant

Description:

The incumbent serves in a Veterans Service Integrated Medical Center (VISN) 4 Medical Facility. Wilmington, Altoona, Butler, and Erie the position will be reporting to Assistant Finance Officer, Chief Finance Officer, Associate Director, and Medical Center Director.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/12/2026.

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

Basic Requirements

• 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:
  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.

In addition to meeting the basic education requirements, you must possess the required specialized experience, education, or combination of experience and education as identified below:

GS-07

• Specialized Experience: You must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Tracking on-going operations and solving problems that arise; Studying existing reports, accounts or instruction to streamline operations or provide reports with greater detail; preparing specific instructions for on-going operations; and documenting accounting system features designed by higher grade accountants. Analysis of accounting and control systems and functions for programs that are stable, where pertinent issues are known and where there are few conflicts in the interpretation of conditions observed. OR
• Education: 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement.

GS-09

• Specialized Experience: You must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assists in maintaining, analyzing and reconciling general ledgers and subsidiary ledgers. Assists in preparing related reports and in initiating corrective actions. Provides advice and assistance to technicians, analysts and clerical personnel on transactions requiring professional accounting determinations. Analyzes current procedures and systems to determine if improvement or simplification is needed. OR
• EDUCATION: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-9 level which is completion of two (2) years of progressively higher level graduate education or a Master's Degree or equivalent graduate degree which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Accountant. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR
• COMBINATION EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-9 level. ( TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. For example, an applicant with 6 months of appropriate experience equivalent to GS-7 (50 percent of the experience requirement for GS-9) and 27 semester hours of appropriate graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement for GS-9, in excess of that required for GS-7) would be qualified for a GS-9 position (assuming that there is no evidence that the attended college or university requires more than 18 semester hours as equivalent to a year of graduate study).

GS-11

• SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: providing direction to lower graded accountants, accounting interns and accounting technicians on non-routine to complex transactions such as making inquiries into the accounting databases, advising on propriety of funds, preparation of accounting
  adjustments and review of monthly status reports; overall responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the accounting program
• EDUCATION: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-11 level which is completion of three (3) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Accountant. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR
• CO MBINATION EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. NOTE: Only education beyond the second year of graduate education can be used in combination with specialized experience to qualify for this grade. If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required.

Preferred experience: Understanding and applying GAAP (General Acceptable Accounting Principles), knowledge of financial statements (balance sheet, statement of cash flows), proficiency in utilizing accounting software, the ability to analyze and interpret financial data and novice to intermediate moderate proficiency with spreadsheet applications to include creating and editing a pivot table and creating a table using V-Lookup.

To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-XX. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.