Accountant
Open 09/03/2026 to 09/08/2026
Location: Washington, DC
Salary: $70,623 - $91,815 per year
The Division of Central Accounting Operations is responsible for a broad range of systems, operations, controls and reports related to the central accounting functions in compliance with federal accounting standards and Treasury guidance. These include maintaining the departmental general ledger control accounts, balancing the control and subsidiary ledger records of the centralized accounting system in order to fairly reflect the assets, liabilities and net position of the Department.
- Performs reconciliation of assigned accounts using established methods, identifying and correcting routine discrepancies, and referring unusual or recurring problems to a senior accountant or supervisor.
- Reviews accounting transactions for accuracy and conformance with standard coding structures and prepares routine adjusting entries under review.
- Prepares monthly schedules and assists in closing out accounting records in coordination with staff, following established closing calendars and standard procedures.
- Maintains working knowledge of the Department's accounting sub-systems sufficient to extract data, generate standard reports, and identify basic data errors for referrals.
- Responds to routine inquiries from decentralized components regarding account status, standard reporting procedures, and use of the core accounting system's standard query functions.
- Performs recurring analysis of financial reports to identify discrepancies and reports findings to the supervisor or lead accountant for resolution.
Conditions of employment
- Must be a U.S. Citizen.
- Must be at least 16 years old.
- Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.
- Candidate required to obtain the necessary security/investigation level.
Qualifications
Basic Requirements for Occupational Series 0510 Accountant:
A. 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-
B. 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 oneof 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;
- 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 the Basic Requirements described above, you must have the Specialized Experience described below.
For GS-09: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-07, in the Federal Service. Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the duties of the position successfully, 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.
Qualifying specialized experience for the GS-09 includes the following:
- Using an automated system to review, adjust, or prepare accounting data in transaction files, ledgers, accounts, summary reports or financial statements;
- Analyzing a variety of accounting data sources (such as general ledger accounts) and adjusting discrepancies accordingly;
- Developing automated accounting instructions and procedures for routine transactions;
- Preparing, analyzing, interpreting and presenting accounting data;
- Assisting with the design, implementation, and assessment of internal control processes.
-OR-
Education: A master's or equivalent graduate degree; or have completed 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; or LL.B. or J.D., if related.
-OR-
Combination of experience and education: A qualifying combination of specialized experience and education as described above. The total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of the first 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) may be combined to be considered for qualifying education.