Accountant - Technical Career Field (TCF) Trainee

Summary

The Technical Career Field (TCF) is a national workforce development program within VHA that was designed to replenish technical staff in critically identified positions. The Accountant serves as a participant in the Technical Career Fields Program under the direction of a qualified preceptor. This position is located in the Fiscal Service of the Overton Brooks Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Duties

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** The TCF career fields represent those technical fields where VA-specific knowledge and experience is desirable for success in the field. Individuals selected follow a formal training plan for two years during which they are trained, coached, and supervised by a preceptor. As part of the VA's succession planning, the Technical Career Field (TCF) training program was created to ensure individuals are trained in critical areas that have current or predicted shortages. The program is nationally funded to include salary, benefits and training/travel dollars. At the time of acceptance into the TCF program, trainees will be asked to sign mobility, training, and service agreements. Relocation expenses for acceptance into the training program or for placement are not funded by the TCF program. Please keep in consideration, the training program is meant for those individuals who plan on staying with the VA a minimum of 3 years after completion of their training program. Selectees will be required to complete and sign the following paperwork; Mobility, Training, and Continued Service Agreements. Although not guaranteed, with more than 150 freestanding facilities and hundreds of clinic locations, we will strive to place trainees in positions that will work for their needs and the needs of the VA. This is a developmental position leading to a GS-11, performing assignments intended to broaden skills and provide practical experience leading to progressively more complex assignments performed under progressively less supervision. You will ultimately 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, availability of higher-level work, and availability of funds. Major duties and responsibilities include but not limited to: Performs development assignments involving the review, analysis and processing of accounting documents. Assists in maintaining, analyzing arid reconciling general ledgers and subsidiary ledgers. Assists in preparing related reports and in initiating corrective actions. Provides advice and assistance to technicians, analysts and clerical personnel on transactions requiring professional accounting determinations. Maintains liaison with serviced activities, providing advice on availability of funds, reporting methods and account reconciliations. Studies and charts the flow of accounting documents. Observes and reports on prevailing practices concerning the treatment of selected transactions. Studies, analyzes and interprets manuals and other accounting regulations from higher authority and discusses their application with supervisor. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved

Qualifications

Basic Requirement: The following are basic requirements for appointment as an Accountant - TCF Trainee in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must meet one of the following: A. Bachelor's Degree (or higher) (Transcript Required): 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- B. Combination of education and experience (Transcript and details of experience required): 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 (COPY OF CERTIFICATION REQUIRED); 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; (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. NOTE: (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT AND/OR CLEAR DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: If you do not submit the required document, your application will not be reviewed.) In addition to the Basic Requirements, applicant(s) must meet at least one of the following minimum qualification requirements. Specialized Experience: One (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (i.e., GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: reviewing, analyzing, and processing accounting documents or financial transactions; assisting in reconciling general ledger and subsidiary ledger accounts; assisting in preparing accounting or financial reports and in identifying or initiating corrective action; and providing advice or assistance to technicians, analysts, or clerical personnel on routine accounting transactions. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates, AND hours worked per week. 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 -OR- Substitution of Education for Experience (Transcript Required): Successfully completed one (1) year of graduate-level education where it provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position (i.e., Accountant) or superior academic achievement. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. -OR- Combination of Education and Experience (Transcript Required): Equivalent combination of graduate level education and specialized experience which meets the total experience requirements for this grade level. The education portion must include graduate courses that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Accountant position NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates, AND hours worked per week. 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. Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. -OR- Superior Academic Achievement (Transcript Required): Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) at the baccalaureate level in the qualifying curriculum detailed above is fully qualifying. Applicants who wish to apply under this provision must submit proof from their educational institution that they meet one of the criteria listed below. To qualify for SAA, applicants must have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled and meet one of the following: 1. Rank in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration. 2. A grade-point average of "B" or better (a GPA of 2.95 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. 3. A grade point average of "B+" or better (a GPA of 3.45 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. 4. Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. For a list of recognized honor societies please visit https://www.achshonor.org/. For more information regarding SAA please visit http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-II/s2-e5.asp#e4f. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. 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/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. The work is typically performed in an adequately lighted and climate-controlled office. There are frequent interruptions by phone calls from the medical center staff and or veterans requesting information and assistance with various issues. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Required Documents" below for details. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

IMPORTANT: 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/.

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 assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. 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 questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13061120. 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, 09/16/2026. After submitting the online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder. IMPORTANT: If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements. 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 at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found in your USAJOBS account under the "Track my application" link for the corresponding application. 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 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.