Accountant

Full Job Description

The incumbent serves as an Accountant responsible for ensuring specific modal administrators receive professional accounting and financial reporting services.

Accounting operations are maintained and monitored in accordance with current accounting policies and standards prescribed by government regulations.

Incumbent utilizes knowledge of Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB), Treasury Financial Management (TFM), and OMB Circulars A-136 and A-11 in performing position duties.

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: 1) Twenty-four semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate types 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; 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 as stated above, 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 above; 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 THE ABOVE BASIC REQUIREMENT you must demonstrate in your application that you possess at least one year of Specialized Experience equivalent to the FV-H (FG/GS 12) level.

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE includes experience applying Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), regulations and policies - Examining, analyzing, and interpreting accounting data, records, and reports; analyzing and reconciling general ledger accounts for accurate reporting involving the resolution of problems relating to all aspects of accounting, i.e., payables, payroll, receivables, and the financial system; preparing monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports.

Applicants should include specialized experience within their resume. Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. Major Duties:

Performs multiple, varying, and complex assignments under the minimal direction of a manager or team lead. May act as a Project Manager for large projects or programs.

Analyzes and reconciles transactional data within the financial accounting system and external source systems to ensure proper accounting flow and financial reporting.

May prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports on a national level, which are submitted, directly to DOT, OMB, and OFM.

Resolves problems relating to all aspects of accounting by adhering to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and other guidance received from Treasury, OMB, and OFM.

May analyze and reconcile general ledger accounts for accurate reporting involving the resolution of problems relating to all aspects of accounting; i.e., based on the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and guidance received from Treasury, OMB, and OFM.

Must interpret regulations and adapt regulations to meet reporting requirements and the various system limitations.

Provides written explanation to auditors, management, program managers, and others reviewing the statements concerning the complex data contained in the reports.

Applies experience and comprehensive knowledge to plan and conduct functional activities for projects and programs.

Develops and recommends approaches to address current and anticipated problems and issues.

Identifies, analyzes, and develops solutions to intricate accounting problems or new requirements, which occur in the ongoing processing of data to the accounting system.

Provides requirements for processing complicated financial transactions which relate to all aspects of the general ledger accounts.

Plans and organizes the necessary steps or methods to be used to report financial information needed for the monthly, quarterly, and annual statements.

Identifies methods to improve cost, quality and timeliness of organizational activities through business process re-engineering.

Leads work of other accountants or technicians to accomplish the goal of obtaining data during the reporting period, which correctly reflects the status of financial operations.

Identifies differences and determines appropriate corrective actions. Independently plans time. Identifies, plans, and organizes available resources to accomplish projects/programs/activities.

Makes optimal use of resources to complete activities within established schedules. Contacts are internal and external.

May act as a point of contact to provide advice and guidance on the applications of policies and procedures.

May be called upon to communicate FAA positions on policies and procedures internally and externally.

Contacts included employees in the DOT Operational administrations, other ESC customers, policy officials, managers, and professionals, as well as the same level of contact with personnel in other Government agencies such as Treasury, OMB, OPM, and GSA.

Established policies/procedures provide guidance for most assignments, but allow considerable discretion for employee to select the most appropriate approach(es) or develop new approaches.

Assignments regularly require interpretations of internal and external policies and extrapolations from precedents.

Resolves most problems and work issues without the assistance of a manager, project/program manager, team leader, or more experienced professional.

Develops and recommends approaches to address current and anticipated problems and issues. Works with management and/or more experienced professionals to solve problems.