Staff Accountant

Staff Accountant

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Portland, Oregon

Salary Range: $54370 - $104610 Per Year

Job Summary: The position is located at Portland VA Medical Center, Portland Campus, in Fiscal Service, Accounting section. The incumbent performs technician level work in direct support of budget, accounting, auditing, fiscal, and/or financial management function.

Major Duties:

• This position involves a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-11, however a selection can be made at any of the following grade levels: GS-07, GS-09 OR GS-11. At the GS-07 grade level, you will perform assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. At the GS-09 grade level, you will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-11. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance. The major duties include but are not limited to: Formulates a variety of financial reports; serving as a member of a management team for organizations serviced and recommending the establishment of policies and procedures affecting the accounting system. Advises management on regulatory requirements and changing program operations. Devises accounting structures and procedures to satisfy regulatory or legislative changes. Assists management in applying financial data and recommending alternatives to resolve difficult problems, reconciling cash, accounts receivable. accounts payable, and other general ledger accounts; correcting all differences between the subsidiary ledger balances and the control account balances in the general ledger. Provides accounting information and guidance to program officials; developing a segment of an automated accounting system. Prepares procedural instructions for the development or implementation of automated accounting systems, reviewing. analyzing, and validating domestic and/or foreign business industry financial and statistical data. Uses appropriate costing methodologies to recognize, determine. accumulate and report costs of activities on a regular basis for management information purposes. Prepare cos1 analysis for various areas in the Medical Center by analyzing buying and selling agreements to ensure the VA recoups all costs. Assists in performing financial audits, analysis, and evaluations of the financial operations and related procedures as part of the Fiscal Service Quality Assurance System, which includes Accounting, Employee Accounts, Agent Cashier, Voucher Audit, General Post Funds, Real Property and Patient Funds. Assists in the preparation, analysis, and submission of a variety of financial statements, reports and audits to local management, VACO management. and other agencies or organizations which includes the Annual Report of Real Property, Annual Report of Depreciation, and other recurring and non-recurring reports and audits. Assist in verifying, analyzing and/or reconciling a very large number of computer generated reports which includes, but not limited to, RCS-JO Trial Balance, RPO 820 Control Point Listing, RPO 821 Operating Ledger Update Listing, RPO 82S Analysis of Reimbursable Earning and Collections, RPO 826 Status of Funds, RPO 827 CALM Monthly Journal, RPO 830 Listing of Cost and FTEE, RPO 83I Listing of Modifications and Deletions, RPO 860 Accounting Reconciliations, RPO 861 Reconciliations of Reimbursable Earnings, RPO 865 Reconciliations of General Ledger Accounts, RPO 885a Obligation by Subaccount, RPO 887 Obligation by Control Point, Cost Center, and Subaccount, and Interoffice General Ledger Accounts. In the absence of the Chief. Accounting, incumbent will coordinate workload activities and provide guidance on technical issues. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 7:30am - 4:00pm PST Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Staff Accountant/PD20241A, PD20240A, and PD21539A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade and specialized experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 04/29/2026. 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Basic Requirement: All applicants must meet one of the following 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; OR 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. In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements, applicants must also meet the grade specific requirements listed below: Specialized Experience GS-07: You must have one 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 typically include: applying accounting principles, theories, and concepts; understanding cost accounting and auditing principles, processes, and procedures; extracting data to conduct complex analyses and interpretations from accounting systems; and analyzing subsystems in accordance with generally accepted accounting procedures as well as federal laws, rules, and regulations to meet the requirements of local programs or to solve a variety of accounting problems. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Please see Education section for requirements; OR, Applicants may qualify based on superior academic achievement: Applicants must be in the upper third of their graduating class; OR have a GPA of 3.0 or higher; OR be a member of an Association of College Honor Societies. Please see Education section for requirements; OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Please see Education section for requirements. Specialized Experience GS-09: You must have one 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 typically include: applying accounting principles, theories, and concepts; utilizing cost accounting and auditing processes; extracting data to conduct complex analyses and interpretations from accounting systems; analyzing subsystems in accordance with generally accepted accounting procedures, federal laws, rules, and regulations to meet the requirements of local programs or to solve a variety of accounting problems; and assisting computer programmers in the development, modification, or analysis of automated systems as they relate to current automated systems and functional accounting requirements. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Please see Education section for requirements; OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Please see Education section for requirements. Specialized Experience GS-11: You must have one 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 typically include: applying advanced accounting principles, theories, and concepts; utilizing cost accounting and auditing principles, processes, and procedures; extracting and analyzing complex data from accounting systems to support responsible decision-making; providing expert analysis of subsystems in accordance with generally accepted accounting procedures, federal laws, rules, and regulations to fulfill requirements of local programs and resolve diverse accounting challenges; collaborating with computer programmers on the development, modification, or analysis of automated systems to ensure alignment with functional accounting requirements; and staying current on policies and regulations such as Comptroller General's Decisions, OMB Regulations, Treasury Regulations, and GAO policies and procedures . OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Please see Education section for requirements. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Please see Education section for requirements. 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/.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12941552. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 04/29/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. 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 in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit

Application Deadline: 2026-04-29