U.S. Department of the Interior

Accounting Technician

No longer accepting applications

Help Help

Duties

As an Accounting Technician within the Office of Accounting & Financial Management, some of your specific duties will include:

  • Examines financial documents for proper accounting classification and authorization.
  • Reviews documents for missing or incompatible information.
  • Enters various travel and financial documents such as travel payments and concur profiles; advises travelers, and resolves various travel documents and issues.
  • Analyzes, inputs, logs, travel financial and statistical data from a variety of sources.
  • Responds to inquiries and resolves problems via ticketing systems.

Help Help

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Key Requirements

  • Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
  • Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
  • Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period.
  • More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.

Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position

  • A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
  • Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

DEFINITIONS:

Experience: One year of work experience is twelve months working full-time (at least 35-40 hours per week). Part-time experience can be prorated (i.e., a year at 20 hours per week is credited as 6 months of experience). If your position consisted of mixed duties, experience credit is given for the percentage of time that you spent on qualifying duties (i.e., if you held a position for 2 years, full-time, consisting of 25% personnel work and 75% budget work, and then applied for a budget position you could calculate your experience as follows: 2 yrs; 2 months, 24 months x 75% [percentage of time spent on budget duties] = 18 months of qualifying experience.).

Undergraduate Education: One year of full-time academic study is 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. This education must have been successfully completed and obtained in an accredited business, secretarial, technical school, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent was a prerequisite.

Gs-05

Applicants must meet one of the following to qualify for the GS-5 level:

  • One year of specialized experience in or directly related to the position to be filled that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. To be creditable, the required specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-04 level in the Federal service.

Examples of GS-4 level work may include: 1) reconciling monthly register printouts with individual accounting transaction listings; 2) initiating, coding and processing accounting adjustments to transfer charges and achieve proper accounting effect on erroneously recorded transactions; 3) reviewing, classifying and recording disbursement documents, progress payments, discounts, and credit obligations in subsidiary ledgers.

  • OR
  • A full four years of progressive, successfully completed education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent was a prerequisite may be used to meet the qualification requirements for GS-5. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university.
  • OR
  • Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and specialized experience may be used to meet the qualification requirements for GS-5. Only progressive education in excess of the first 60 semester hours, 90 quarter hours, or the equivalent (i.e., beyond the first two years) of a course of study is creditable toward meeting the qualification requirements for GS-5. (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO COMBINE UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION & SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE)

Gs-06

Applicants must meet the following to qualify for the GS-6 level:

One year of specialized experience in or directly related to the position to be filled that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. To be creditable, the required specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal service.

Examples of GS-5 level work may include: 1) analyzing daily error listings for documents not accepted into automated accounting system, isolating sources of error, making corrective entries and reprocessing transactions; 2) computing transportation charges and applicable discounts for each item and total amount for each voucher and initiating journal voucher for adjustment; 3) reconciling monthly listing of accounts payable with the general ledger, researching cause of discrepancy and initiating adjustment action.

Gs-07

Applicants must meet the following to qualify for the GS-7 level:

One year of specialized experience in or directly related to the position to be filled that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. To be creditable, the required specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-06 level in the Federal service.

Examples of GS-6 level work may include: 1) validating, monitoring, controlling and maintaining accounting transactions and records for multiple accounts; 2) reconciling subsidiary ledgers to general ledgers of accounts having a variety of transactions, researching discrepancies between ledgers and making adjustments; 3) maintaining control accounts and subsidiary accounts and processing accounting transactions for a wide variety of functions.

You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

  • 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.
  • Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.usgs.gov/about/organization/science-support/human-capital/how-foreign-education-evaluated-federal-jobs .

Additional information

Reasonable Accommodation Requests

If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire.

Other Information

  • Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.
  • Identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation on the part of management to promote the employee selected at some future date. Promotion will depend upon administrative approval and the continuing need for and performance of higher-level duties.
  • Under Executive Order 11935, only United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may compete for civil service jobs. Agencies are permitted to hire non-citizens only in very limited circumstances where there are no qualified citizens available for the position.
  • USGS employees are subject to Title 43, USC Section 31(a) and may not: (a) have any personal, private, direct or indirect interest in lands or mineral wealth of lands under survey; (b) have any substantial personal, private, direct or indirect interests in any private mining or mineral enterprise doing business with the United States; or (c) execute surveys or examinations for private parties or corporations.
  • The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361.
  • DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.
  • The Department of the Interior (DOI) places a high value on diversity of experience and cultural perspectives and encourages applications from all interested eligible candidates. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are fundamental principles that guide the Department and allow us to successfully achieve our mission.
  • THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

Additional Information Continues on How You Will Be Evaluated Section

Read more

  • Help Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Additional Information Continued

Agency Benefits:

  • USGS has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework in accordance with the DOI Telework policy and with supervisor approval. The official worksite for the selectee is the duty station identified in this vacancy announcement. The selectee will typically report to this duty location on a regular and recurring weekly basis.
  • For additional information on our internal telework policy, please reference the Department of the Interior Telework Handbook at: https://www.doi.gov/telework/policies.
  • Working for the U.S. Geological Survey offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; health, life, dental, vision, and long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System.

How You Will Be Evaluated

  • Basis of Rating: Category rating will be used in the ranking and selection process for this position. The quality categories are Best Qualified and Qualified. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessment required for this position. Your responses must be substantiated by your resume. If you do not respond to the application questions you may be rated ineligible. Veterans' preference rules for category rating will be applied.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Arithmetic/Mathematical Reasoning
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Self-Management
  • Teamwork
  • Admin Support
  • Written Communication
  • Administrative Regulations/Procedures
  • Information Management
  • Interpersonal Communication
  • Office Automation
  • Financial Management
  • Travel
  • Technology Application

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and occupational questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

  • NOTE: Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

To preview the announcement questionnaire, click here https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12442754
  • Seniority level

    Entry level
  • Employment type

    Full-time
  • Job function

    Accounting/Auditing and Finance
  • Industries

    Government Administration

Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at U.S. Department of the Interior by 2x

See who you know

Get notified about new Accounting Technician jobs in Reston, VA.

Sign in to create job alert

Similar jobs

People also viewed

Looking for a job?

Visit the Career Advice Hub to see tips on interviewing and resume writing.

View Career Advice Hub