Accountant (Staff)

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for Accountant (Staff):

A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher 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.

OR

B. Combination of Education and Experience: Must include 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; OR
(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; AND (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 the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes 2 of the following: 1) Analyzing financial data to provide solutions for diverse organization's accounting problems OR 2) Utilizing various automated accounting system software to develop financial reports OR 3) Apply accounting regulations, to include laws, principles, and practices, to implement financial accounting operations. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-11).

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.