ACCOUNTANT

Announcement may be used to fill similar positions within 90 days of the closing date.

This position is also being announced concurrently under Merit Promotion (MP) procedures vacancy number: M24-FK-12272748-CFO. Applicants who wish to also be considered under MP must apply to both vacancies separately.

About this agency

Qualifications:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS for this position include:
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 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; 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 non-conformance 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 Basic Requirements noted above, applicants must also meet and demonstrate the specialized experience listed below:

Specialized Experience (Credit for Specialized Experience on resume must reflect 40 hours/Full-time per week for each period of work):

GS-11: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal Government. Specialized experience includes:

• Processing AP and AR accounting operational tasks: Experience processing transactions in Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable sub-ledgers, including receipts, disbursements, research and resolution of cash suspense accounts (unallocated or unidentified funds);
• Reconciliations sub-ledger to general ledger: Experience using technology (i.e., excel pivots, complex excel formulas, etc.) to prepare sub-ledger (i.e., Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable) reconciliations to general ledger accounts to ensure proper recording of financial data in automated software systems; and
• Accounting journal entries: Experience in preparing manual journal entries to record financial activity using generally accepted accounting principles.

OR

If you are substituting education for experience to qualify for at this level, you must have 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.

OR

If you are combining both education and experience to qualify for this level, equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level.

GS-12: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Government. Specialized experience includes:

• Processing AP and AR accounting operational tasks: Experience processing Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable transactions, including receipts, disbursements, research, and resolution of cash suspense accounts (unallocated or unidentified funds);
• Reconciliations sub-ledger to general ledger: Experience using technology (i.e., excel pivots, complex excel formulas, etc.) to independently prepare sub-ledger (i.e., Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable) reconciliations to general ledger accounts to ensure proper recording of financial data in automated software systems. This includes proposing issue resolutions when discrepancies are noted and presenting recommendations for process improvements related to findings to senior management;
• Accounting journal entries: Experience in preparing manual journal entries to record financial activity using generally accepted accounting principles; and
• Accounting journal entries: Experience in analyzing financial information independently.

Education cannot be substituted for experience at the GS-12 grade level.

For qualification determinations, your resume must contain the following for each work experience listed:

• Organization/Agency's Name
• Title
• Salary (series and grade, if applicable)
• Start and end dates (including the month and year)
• Number of hours you worked per week
• Relevant experience that supports your response to the specialized experience that is stated in the job announcement

If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you will not receive consideration for this position.

NOTE: Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications and your application may be marked as incomplete/ineligible and you will not receive consideration for this position.

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). 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.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. Please visit the following links for more information:

• http://www.naces.org
• http://www.fceatlanta.com

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined here.

All requirements must be met by 01/26/2024, the closing date of the announcement.

Responsibilities:

Please Note: Employees will be required to report to their assigned office location at least 2 day per week for non-supervisory positions and 3 days per week for supervisory/managerial positions unless the position advertised is designated as a remote-only position.

This position is located in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Controller Division, within the Insurance and General Accounting Unit. The Department is responsible for servicing all of the Bank's loans, guarantees, and insurance programs and certain administrative accounting functions. Both Credit Servicing Units are responsible for the financial records and the various accounting, servicing and data functions of the insurance program. Responsibilities include recording shipment report data, application of premium and fees, payment of commissions to brokers, recording insurance activity on the standard general ledger and maintaining related subsidiary records, accrual and deferral of fee income, refunding over payments, and monitoring accounts pertaining to insurance shipment and premium. Administrative accounting responsibilities include recording and billing for sponsor travel reimbursements and employee debt.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• In a developmental capacity, works as the information broker that services, monitors, disburses, applies, refunds, and bills on EXIM's portfolio of direct loans, guarantees, rescheduled and restructured loans, payment certificates, claims and insurance. Monitors, tracks and takes the necessary actions to ensure that all financial and/or accounting transactions are recorded properly in the applicable system in a timely manner to ensure the continuing accuracy of the servicing unit and entire division. Performs research and analysis, reconciliation, examination, and interpretation of credits and their agreements to ensure accurate outstanding balances, maturity dates, principal outstanding, accruals, and repayment schedules. Reviews, analyzes, and provides input to ensure data is accurate. Applies sound knowledge and understanding of accounting concepts and procedures on general administrative accounting and Federal Credit Reform Act specific accounting.
• In a developmental capacity, research and processes cash related transactions such as: payments of principal, interest, fees, and premiums, funds for the sale of repossessed assets, claim recoveries, participant share payments, interagency receipts, and unallocated and unidentified funds. With some management supervision, works as one of the primary information brokers responsible for the billing, refunds, cash application, write-offs, further rescheduling, and participant share refunds.
• Assist in the performance of procedural or system design studies involving all functions performed in the office. Performs information systems file reconciliations validating the data integrity of credits to ensure accurate outstanding balance, maturity dates, principal outstanding, accruals, and repayment schedule are accurate and in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles. Reports findings and recommendations to management to initiate proper actions to resolve problems. Assist in the testing of system improvements providing results to supervisor for approval for the deployment of financial system changes related to the area of portfolio servicing to ensure accurate processing and support for EXIM's initiatives.
• Responds to a wide variety of ordinary and complex accounting questions and problems generated from a large and diverse customer base internal and external to EXIM. Provides timely customer service to exporters related to payment matters and system questions. Invoice, monitor outstanding invoices, and collect payment for travel sponsored by exporters to allow the agency to effectively oversee the portfolio without incurring undue travel expenses.
• Provides accounting assistance to various parties, makes recommendations to create, change or improve existing system processes and sets ups, instruction manuals, and procedures that are inadequate, conflicting, out of date or unclear.