ACCOUNTANT

Summary

This vacancy is for a GS-0510-12, ACCOUNTANT located in the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, PPC FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING and REPORTING BRANCH in TOPEKA, Kansas.

Duties

You will serve as an ACCOUNTANT and be responsible for reviewing, analyzing, reconciling, and performing quality checks on accounting documents, military personnel and payroll records, and financial accounts. In this role, you will apply professional accounting principles and appropriation law to ensure accurate financial reporting, system compliance, and successful audit outcomes.Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team. Typical work assignments include: Examining, analyzing, researching, and reconciling a wide variety of complex payroll accounting transactions, adjustments, and associated law and policy to ensure accurate recording and reporting of payroll activities. Identifying and establishing payroll and financial accounting process improvements, which includes the analysis of current processes, developing of improvements, implementing new and revised procedures and monitoring results. Applying accounting knowledge and understanding of accounting principles, appropriation law, procedures, and other regulatory guidance to assure accuracy of financial reporting and payments to and on behalf of military members. Designing and/or refining various components of a complex accounting system to fit local and changing needs or conditions. Preparing complex financial reports and information for submission to the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, other federal agencies, and audit organizations. Identifying and implementing payroll and financial accounting process improvements, and developing clear standard operating procedures and desk guides. Performing peer reviews of accounting staff work papers and documenting review findings, recommendations, and follow-up actions in official correspondence and memorandums. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. Reasonable Accommodation Information

Qualifications

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: 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. Additional Requirement: To qualify at the GS-12 grade level, applicants must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the federal sector. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work. Some examples of specialized experience include: Professional knowledge of, and skill applying accounting theories, concepts, principles, and standards sufficient to design and develop accounting and financial information systems, operate, maintain, improve, and evaluate established systems, including the development of operating policies, procedures and standards CG-wide. Address the adequacy of system design, the adequacy of current data in providing financial information, or ways to use the system to satisfy new information requirements. May work with internal control operations to address the efficiency and economy with which funds are obligated, transferred, controlled, and reported. NOTE: Education cannot be substituted for experience at this grade level. ** TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH YOUR APPLICAITON PACKAGE. ** **NOTE: All experience statements (i.e., duties, specialized experience, or related applicable assessment) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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, religious, 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.

Education

This position does have a positive education requirement. If you are including education on your resume, report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Required Documents section for detail. Are you qualifying based on education? Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) from an accredited institution. Once selected & prior to appointment, applicants must provide an official college transcript. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the U.S. (see FOREIGN