Accounting Technician

The primary purpose of the accounting technician is the technical work of collecting, recording, and maintenance of general ledger accounts and subsidiary records in support of accountants, auditors, and financial officers. This position performs a variety of duties which includes four areas of responsibility: (1) Accounting Support, (2) Accounts Receivable Support, (3) Travel, and (4) Agent Cashier Support.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 01/23/2024.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Makes suggestions to management regarding more efficient work methods; Notifies and advises management in a timely manner of situations needing immediate action or potential problems related to the billing and revenue activities; Develops a positive working relationship with appropriate agencies, co- workers, clinical and administrative staff, customers, program officials and other private industry vendors; Takes the initiative to establish contacts that are beneficial to the success of the program and reflect favorable on the medical center; Coordinates, reviews, audits and reconciles travel, convenience check, purchase card, and other transactions; Reviews and analyzes reports, classifies errors, takes corrective action to balance reports, verifies corrected copy and determines the source of processing deficiencies and recommends corrective procedures; Determines all transactions are properly processed and that total activity agrees with predetermined control totals.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Process Control

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; religions; 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.

Note: 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.

Physical Requirements: The work is principally sedentary, in a highly automated environment. It is usually accomplished while seated at a desk or table. Some work may require walking in an office
or warehouse setting. Work may also require walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and attendance at meetings and conferences. Incumbent may be required to carry small file boxes into storage, lift a cash box, carry light items or drive a motor vehicle. Typical safety precautions, such as pulling file drawers, dropping equipment, etc., are to be observed. Electrical safety precautions must be observed in working around computers.

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/.

Responsibilities:

Major Duties include but is not limited to:

• Performs clerical, assistant, or technician level work in support of a budget, accounting, auditing, fiscal and financial management function
• Performs budget administration support, financial systems support, cash processing, and accounting technician work
• Examines, verifies, and maintains financial accounts and accounting data and classifies accounting transactions including the verification of the accuracy and completeness of the accounting data across multiple appropriations
• Responsible for the maintenance, auditing, and reconciliation of the general and subsidiary ledger accounts, for the preparation of accurate and timely reports, and for the control of funds
• Researches, interprets, and verifies which appropriation and general ledger accounts a document and subsequent accounting transactions will affect
• Prepares reconciliations of the general ledger to subsidiary accounts, accruals, adjusting journal entries, accounting reports and special reports
• Maintains control of receipts and disbursements
• Ensures the timely preparation of reports for Department of Treasury, VA Headquarters, and local management
• Receives and analyzes various types of documents to determine propriety, validity, budget, expenditure limitation, completeness, and correctness of accounting data
• Reviews and classifies many types of financial transactions involving the operations of the Medical Center including journalizing corrective actions for erroneous conditions
• Documents financial transactions to assure a proper audit trail
• Monitors and makes input to current vendor file so that vendors may be paid promptly
• Compiles and verifies data, frequently developing worksheets to improve the accuracy and completeness of information
• Coordinates, reviews, audits and reconciles government travel, convenience check, purchase card, and other transactions
• Inspects purchase orders and requisitions and all financial components making corrections when necessary
• Completes tasks associated with the recovery of receivables such as payments made in error, overpayments made to vendors or benefit recipients, items rejected and returned, returned of authorized advances, and other alternative streams of revenue
• Manages new bills of collection needing audit or possible return to the initiating service
• Prepare write-offs and waiver request in compliance with Debt Collection Manual Procedures
• Makes suggestions to management regarding more efficient work methods
• Notifies and advises management in a timely manner of situations needing immediate action or potential problems related to the billing and revenue activities
• Develops a positive working relationship with appropriate government agencies, co- workers, clinical and administrative staff, veterans, program officials and other private industry vendors
• Responsible for written correspondence prepared by the non-health care debt program, ensuring accuracy, professional appearance and appropriate protocol is met before submitting for appropriate higher-level approval and signature
• Traces and resolves discrepancies
• Incumbent will perform a complete verification of the cash accountability and undeposited collections
• Verifies accountability for the overall cash advance daily by preparation of a replenishment voucher to ensure there is an adequate supply of cash to meet legislated disbursements
• Examines all remittances for omissions and discrepancies before any deposits can occur and take the necessary steps to resolve any problems that would preclude the timely processing of fund deposits
• Reviews vouchers for reimbursement of beneficiary travel expenses (mileage reimbursement) provided to veterans to and from the medical facility
• Other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4;30 pm
Position Description/PD#: Accounting Technician/PD60690-A and PD60690A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required