Summary The Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System is currently recruiting for one (1) Accountant to work for Financial Management Service located in Tucson, AZ. The purpose of this position is to perform the full range of professional accounting work requiring the application of sound accounting principles, theories, concepts, and practices. The Tour of Duty is 8a to 4:30p Monday-Friday, MST (PST during daylight savings) Salary listed is RUS and final salary will be determined based on duty station. Responsibilities The selected candidate will be required to work full-time, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30pm MST (PST during daylight savings) Major duties include, but are not limited to: Provides assistance, performs review, analysis and evaluation of existing and proposed accounting practices. Employee performs special projects and assignments for automated financial systems, daily review of accounting outputs, and maintains oversight of the edit master files. Works closely with systems personnel on the design of automated systems to facilitate the processing of accounting data to assure the results attained meet all accounting requirements. Performs special reviews and analyses to ensure the integrity of the general control system and prepares special reports and financial statements relating to the financial condition of specified program activities. Persuades contacts to accept courses of action and viewpoints on recommended objectives, policies, and regulations. Works independently on continuing assignments or projects that require application of VA generally accepted principles, practices, and theories of professional accounting. Reviews the work of accounting of other fiscal staff to assure accuracy and conformity to policy and procedures, instructing them when necessary on proper methods and assigns projects to be accomplished. Works closely with activities and their designated resource personnel in promoting understanding and effective application of financial management/accounting policies and procedures. Monitors the implementation of new and/or supplemental accounting systems and procedures. Identifies source of problems, impact on other elements in the accounting systems, accounting adjustments required, and recommends procedural changes to preclude reoccurrence of problems identified. Applies corresponding professional accounting knowledge and skills in the application of corrective procedures when necessary and provides technical advice and assistance to budget technicians/analysts in the resolution of problems. Assists program managers in developing accounting data structure and participates in the planning, coordination, direction of meetings and telephone conferences associated with accounting closeouts or reorganization events. Reviews report media, directs and/or prepares and analyzes internal and external statements and reports. Promotion Potential: None Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30pm MST (PST during daylight savings) Virtual: This is a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Accountant/PD13624A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required. Requirements 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 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 Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/30/2024. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Basic Requirements: Accounting Degree: You must have a degree 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 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; (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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, candidates must also meet one of the requirements below. Specialized Experience: GS-11 grade level: Must meet the basic requirements mentioned above and have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes Managing financial analysis for patient account activities; Interpreting regulations, laws and policies regarding Medical Cost Care Recovery in order to provide recommendations to management; Developing and overseeing complex accounting systems; Monitoring patient accounts and ensuring necessary corrective action is taken to reconcile discrepancies; Generating systematic and ad-hoc financial, statistical and accounting reports. This is in addition to the educational requirement. Note: detailed examples of this specialized experience must be reflected in your resume/supporting documents. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-11 level: Three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level: 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-11. 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for 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: The work is primarily sedentary. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of items such as papers and books. The work is typically performed in an adequately lighted and climate-controlled office. 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/. Education 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 The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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 http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. 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.