Staff Accountant

Summary

The position is located within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Financial Services Center (FSC), Business Office (BO), Cost Accounting Section (CAS) where the incumbent serves as a Staff Accountant responsible for all accounting, maintenance, and analyses of the Enterprise Fund/cross-servicing activities of the Center.

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Duties

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This is a bargaining unit position.

The initial application review cut-off for this job announcement is 50 applications. The first 50 applications received will be considered first. Applications received after the initial cut-off number (50 applications) may not receive consideration unless otherwise requested by management. If management requests additional certificates, applicants will continue to be reviewed in groups of 50 in the order they applied.

Major Duties:

• Gather, review, analyze, and reconcile pertinent data from multiple systems that have monthly expenditures, transactional data, cost assignments for non-labor cost, and revenue by product line / sub product line allowing proper cost allocations.
• Provide financial/cost reports to management, service POCs, and budget analysts ensuring timely, accurate, and complete FYTD profit/loss reports.
• Provide analysis to FSC senior management, budget analysts, and other FSC staff related to FYTD profit/loss reports, income statement report data, and monthly general ledger entries.
• Administer OFS request for new, modified, and departed users to update the FSC LTTE system.
• Provide expert LTTE administrative maintenance and user support including hour moves as requested.

Work Schedule: Mon - Fri 8:00 am - 4:30 pm.

Compressed/Flexible: Available with supervisory approval.

Telework: Ad hoc telework (situational telework) available as determined by the agency policy.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Staff Accountant/ PD20040A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required.

Physical Requirements: The work is principally sedentary.

Requirements

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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 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.
• 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 ( 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.

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text. The resume builder can help you create a resume.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/23/2026.

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

Individual Occupational Requirements: This position includes an Individual Occupation Requirement. Individual Occupational Requirements are requirements that must be met, in addition to the specialized experience and/or education requirement. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. Evidence of the Individual Occupational Requirement must be reflected in your application materials (resume/transcript).

Individual Occupational 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.

AND

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. Specialized Experience is defined as: Experience gathering, analyzing, researching, and reconciling data and interfaces from multiple systems to support accounting related cost allocation reporting and analysis; executing measures to improve efficiency and effectiveness of accounting operations; and performing advanced functions in accounting applications, such as administration, data maintenance, and user support.

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

• Communication
• LES of Accounting
• Cost Accounting
• Client Orientation
• Financial Analysis

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 for this vacancy, 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 meet the well-qualified criteria below:

1. Independently conducting complex cost accounting and financial analyses involving multiple, integrated financial/accounting systems; identifying significant trends, anomalies, discrepancies, or variances; determining their financial impact; and developing well-supported conclusions and recommendations.
2. Independently developing, evaluating, and implementing cost allocation methodologies and processes involving multiple product lines, service areas, or organizational components, including determining appropriate direct and indirect cost assignments and recommending improvements to existing allocation practices.
3. Resolving complex accounting and financial system problems involving integrated or automated accounting applications; researching the underlying causes of system or data issues; determining appropriate corrective actions; and implementing or recommending system, workflow, or process modifications to improve accounting and reporting requirements.
4. Providing authoritative financial and cost accounting analysis and advice to management or senior-level stakeholders, including analyzing profit/loss information, income statement data, general ledger activity, program execution, or historical financial trends to support management decision-making.
5. Independently developing, evaluating, or strengthening accounting processes, internal controls, standard operating procedures, or financial management practices to improve the accuracy, reliability, efficiency, and effectiveness of accounting operations and financial reporting.
6. Demonstrating ability to communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders verbally and in writing to remediate issues, educate, and promote sound cost allocation methodologies.

Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Austin, TX. This includes all locations that fall within a 50 mile driving distance from 8000 Metropolis Drive, Building B, Austin, TX 78744.

Education

There is no education substitute or requirement for the GS-12 level.

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:

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:

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.

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave : Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

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. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period (OR INSERT "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 INSERT "trial period"), your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.