Accounting Technician

Summary The Accounting Technician position is located in the Fiscal Service at the Durham VA Medical Center (VAMC), Durham, NC. The Incumbent is responsible for a variety of accounting, agent cashier, travel and payroll support functions. Performs clerical, assistant, or technician level work in support of a budget, accounting, auditing, and fiscal and/or financial management function. Performs budget administration support, financial systems support, cash processing, or accounting technician work. Learn more about this agency Duties Duties include, but are not limited to: Accounting Support: Examines, verifies, and maintains financial accounts and accounting data and classifies accounting transactions including the verification of the accuracy and completeness of the accounting data. Reviews and classifies a variety of financial transactions involving the operations of the Medical Center including journalizing corrective actions for erroneous conditions. Determines the general ledger accounts, journals, and subsidiary accounts affected, and the debit and credit entries to be made. Summarizes transactions and prepares control documents or other posting documents reflecting the entries to be made Receives and analyzes various types of documents to determine propriety, validity, budget, expenditure limitation, completeness and correctness of account data. Determines proper cost centers, budget object codes (BOC}, appropriations and fund control points to be entered into a computerized cost accounting system. All documents must be verified for accuracy and completeness of accounting data prior to entry. Also verifies the accuracy and completeness of documents to ensure that service or supplies have been certified as to receipt. Accounts Receivable: Creates bills of collection associated with fiscal transaction processing and records the debt in the proper account and appropriation, and applies diligent follow-up and collection actions. Initiates correspondence to discuss the status of the account when inquiry is made, and/or to support general ledger accounts. Provides accounting technical support to the MAPAC Centralized Revenue Unit (CRU) and Centralized Fee Unit (CFU), in processing appropriate refunds associated with MCCF collections. Support includes management of bank debit voucher for insufficient funds, etc., increase/decrease adjustments to accounts receivable, look up billing information, verification of bank deposits for payments received or refunds received. Agent Cashier Support: Completes all Agent Cashier functions in accordance with applicable Treasury Department rules, VA Regulations and VA Handbook 4010 in specific. Disburses cash payments to patients, employees and other individuals. Examines supporting documents of each disbursement to assure all legal and administrative requirements have been met for such disbursement. Cashes negotiable instruments for hospitalized patients. Performs collection activity that includes receiving, receipting, and depositing of funds to a local bank depository. A determination of the proper appropriation to credit these funds must be made prior to deposit. Utilizes OTCnet for deposit processing. Determines the acceptability of payment documents and cash items aided by knowledge of Treasury Department and VA Regulations. Payroll Support: Assists in payroll support to review time and attendance records of a diversified workforce covering a variety of different types of appointments and employment situations under various pay systems with different entitlements to pay, leave, deductions and benefits based upon pay plans. Responds to written or verbal inquiries from employees and supervisors with accuracy concerning all aspects of pay and leave. Assists in semiannual audits to assure conformity to regulations by coordinating request from VISN payroll with the service. Travel Support: Serves as a backup travel liaison for contact with other Medical Centers, VA Central Office, VISN, and non-VA personnel, as necessary. Provides prospective travelers with the availability of various modes of travel and accommodations, while ensuring that all applicable government regulations and cost savings procedures are followed by counseling and advising personnel on travel procedures and responsibilities, entitlements and other related travel areas applicable to temporary or permanent duty travel. Makes decisions required to prepare orders, arrange itineraries, prepare government transportation requests, lodging requests, determines travel costs, determines per diem costs, and/or subsistence expense, makes travel reservations, arranges for delivery of tickets or picks up, and prepares vouchers in connection with claim for reimbursement. Work Schedule: 8:00AM - 4:30PM, Monday - Friday Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Accounting Technician/PD06218A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized. PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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, 04/17/2026. 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 by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: 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 of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performing clerical, assistant, or technician level work in support of budget, accounting, auditing, fiscal and/or financial management function. Performing budget administration support, financial systems support, cash processing, or accounting technician work. Examining, verifying, and maintaining financial accounts and accounting data, and classifies accounting transactions including the verification of the accuracy and completeness of the accounting data. Reviewing and classifying many types of financial transactions involving the operation of the Medical Center including journalizing corrective actions for erroneous conditions. Determining the general ledger accounts, journals and subsidiary accounts affected, and the debit and credit entries to be made. Maintaining control of receipts and deposits and related tracking mechanisms. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accounting OperationsComputer SkillsCustomer ServiceFederal Funds ProcessingTechnical Competence 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 sedentary in nature with some walking and lifting and carrying of lightweight equipment and materials. 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 There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. Additional information 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. 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. To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Therefore, to the extent a VA job announcement includes language requiring applicants to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to Executive Order 14043, that requirement does not currently apply to this Job Announcement. VA may request information regarding your vaccination status, if selected, for the purposes of implementing other workplace safety protocols, such as masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Expand Hide  additional information 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. Benefits 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. Review our benefits 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.