Accountant (IS-0510-13)

Accountant (IS-0510-13)

Application Deadline: 26 March 2025

Department: Office of Finance & Accounting

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Washington, DC

Reporting To: Accounting Supervisory

Compensation: $120,579 - $156,755 / year

Description

OPEN DATE: March 12, 2025

CLOSING DATE: March 26, 2025

POSITION TYPE: Trust Fund

APPOINTMENT TYPE: Indefinite

SCHEDULE: Full Time

DUTY LOCATION: Washington, DC
Position sensitivity and risk: Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Open to all Qualified Applicants

What are Trust Fund Positions?

Trust Fund positions are unique to the Smithsonian. They are paid for from a variety of sources, including the Smithsonian endowment, revenue from our business activities, donations, grants and contracts. Trust employees are not part of the civil service, nor does trust fund employment lead to Federal status. The salary ranges for trust positions are generally the same as for federal positions and in many cases trust and federal employees work side by side. Trust employees have their own benefit program, which may include Health, Dental & Vision Insurance, Life Insurance, Transit/Commuter Benefits, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, Annual and Sick Leave, Family Friendly Leave, 403b Retirement Plan, Discounts for Smithsonian Memberships, Museum Stores and Restaurants, Credit Union, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center (Child Care), Flexible Spending Account (Health & Dependent Care).

Conditions of Employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Check and Subsequent Background Investigation for position designated.
• Complete a Probationary Period.
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer.
• The position is open to all candidates eligible to work in the United States. Proof of eligibility to work in U.S. is not required to apply.
• Applicants must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

OVERVIEW

This position is located organizationally in General Accounting and Reporting (GAR), Office of Finance and Accounting (OF&A), Under Secretary for Administration, Smithsonian Institution (SI). SI is a diverse museum and research complex dedicated to the increase and diffusion of knowledge. OF&A is responsible for the management and integrity of SI's: - financial assets - financial operations - financial reporting - financial records - financial policies and procedures - central accounting and financial services The GAR team is primarily responsible for accounting activities among SI central offices, such as the Smithsonian Facilities, Office of Advancement and Office of Investments. This position: - advises on accounting matters - analyzes and resolves complex problems - prepares specialized accounting data, records, reports and procedures - operates and inspects accounting systems - supports internal and external audit processes - develops and trains individuals in areas of expertise

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Account Analysis & Reconciliation

• Prepares assigned schedules for interim and final audit cycles, reviews for consistency with prior years, and analyzes anomalies.
• Prepares, analyzes, interprets, and presents accounting data and resolves complex and controversial accounting problems.
• Analyzes a variety of unique financial transactions and statements for propriety and/or budgetary accounts and determines potential impact on funding sources or the financial position of the Smithsonian or a specific Unit.
• Prepares fund balance reconciliations that agree with U.S. Treasury, identifies causes for differences, and implements corrective action.
• Reviews and evaluates proposed Inter-agency agreements, ensures proper set-up within the financial systems, and ensures that lAAs are closed out.
• Develops journal entries to reflect complex and/or unusual transactions related to endowments, fixed assets, investments, federal budgetary and proprietary, debt, cash, business activities, etc.
• Prepares reconciliations of assigned sub-ledger systems to general ledger and executes corrective actions for reconciling differences.
• Reviews and approves reconciliations on assigned accounts and ensures clearing of reconciling items taking into consideration interdependencies between functions and processes.

Financial Reporting

• Prepares financial statements or portions of statements monthly ensuring they cross-tie with the footnotes and conducts period-to-period comparisons identifying differences and anomalies.
• Prepares assigned footnotes for annual reporting, federal and trust, which tie to the financial statements.
• Prepares and validates financial reports for net asset reports, various US Federal reports, and contributions and inter-unit transactions.
• Generates reports from the subledger to validate balances reflected in the general ledger.
• Prepares, updates, and monitors Trust Fund Advance reports.
• Designs and develops ad-hoc single use or first-time financial reports.
• Conducts monthly and year-end closing process for the accounting periods.

Management Advisory Services

• Serves as expert authority in the application of accounting standards to specialized mission-related programs and recommends solutions to management problems.
• Advises management on complex financial and managerial accounting methods and procedures for grants, endowments, capital expenditures, obligations, and budgetary and proprietary.
• Participates in meetings with various museums to increase awareness of Unit operations, builds a positive working relationship, and fosters cooperation within the Smithsonian community.
• Participates in internal meetings providing input on potential accounting risks or variances.
• Researches issues offering practical and creative solutions and reports findings to management to understand the root cause of the issue and potential impacts of recommended courses of action.
• Assesses financial operations and makes best-practices recommendations to management.
• Explains their findings by meeting face-to-face with organization managers and individual customers.

Policies and Procedures

• Prepares or updates accounting policies and procedures and prepares associated training.
• Conducts training on relevant accounting topics.
• Reviews and interprets document, records, reports and processes to ensure conformity with generally accepted accounting principles, new operating procedures, and revised regulations.
• Reviews procedures to ensure the adequacy and accuracy of financial reporting. Reviews, changes, and/or improves existing instructions, manuals, and procedures which are inadequate, conflicting, out-of-date, or ambiguous. Participates in the ongoing review of automated and manual systems to identify and implement process improvements.
• To address audit findings, establishes or revises standard operating procedures to incorporate changes; socializes these changes to appropriate groups; and monitors them to ensure that changes are implemented

Performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Experience required for this position is as follows:

• Mastery of a professional knowledge of the theories, concepts, principles, standards, and practices of accounting sufficient to conduct difficult assignments involving interfaces and inter-relationships between and among programs, systems, functions, and policies.
• Knowledge of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Knowledge of U.S. Federal financial regulations, procedures, and budget processes.
• Knowledge of automated accounting and financial systems.
• Ability to apply fund accounting methods to non-appropriated funds i.e., Trust Fund.
• Ability to communicate verbally to advise management on complex financial and managerial accounting methods and procedures.
• Ability to communicate in writing to prepare policies, procedures, and comprehensive reports that present financial or research finding.

Education completed outside the United States must be deemed equivalent to higher education programs of U.S. Institutions by an organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. This documentation is the responsibility of the applicant and should be included as part of your application package.

Any false statement in your application may result in rejection of your application and may also result in termination after employment begins.

Join us in "Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery."

Resumes should include a description of your paid and non-paid work experience that is related to this job; starting and ending dates of job (month and year); and average number of hours worked per week.

What To Expect Next: Once the vacancy announcement closes, a review of your resume will be compared against the qualification and experience requirements related to this job. After review of applicant resumes is complete, qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager.

Relocation expenses are not paid.

The Smithsonian Institution provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation should contact OHRTrustBranch@si.edu. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. To learn more, please review the Smithsonian's Accommodation Procedures.

The Smithsonian Institution is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe that a workforce comprising a variety of educational, cultural, and experiential backgrounds support and enhance our daily work life and contribute to the richness of our exhibitions and programs. See Smithsonian EEO program information: https://www.si.edu/oeesd.